An Ohio woman is outraged after Air Canada straight up lost her dog and then sent out a startling email in response to her complaint.
Here's how the events went down-
Jutta Kulic originally of Medina, OH promised her friend before she died of cancer that she would find a home for Larry, her two-year-old greyhound. And she did, in Campbell River, British Columbia.
That's where Larry was headed this week- on a flight from San Francisco to Vancouver- when the flight was unexpectedly canceled and an Air Canada employee decided to take Larry for a walk, despite Kulic's specific instructions not to let the pup out of his zip-tied crate unless he was in a secured space.
"I very clearly instructed them never, ever to open the door and let the dog out of that crate, unless he’s in a completely enclosed room,” Kulic said told the Huffington Post. "Air Canada had been given those instructions explicitly, more than one time, when I dropped off the dog,” she said from her home in California.
Clearly, those instructions were given a good old heave-ho, and the dog escaped as soon as his crate was opened.
It took Air Canada several hours to grow the balls to call Kulic and tell her the news. When they finally did, they promised her that full efforts were underway to find the dog.
As Kulic waited for more news, she took to social media to voice her complaints about Air Canada's treatment of the situation. Her complaints caught the attention of several California-based media outlets, including CBS13, who reached out to Air Canada looking for answers.
Instead, CBS13 got this response from Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick:
- CBS13
“I think I would just ignore, it is local news doing a story on a lost dog,” the Air Canada email read. “Their entire government is shut down and about to default and this is how the US media spends its time.”
The response appears to be intended for an internal co-worker.
CBS13 shared the response with Kulic, who, naturally, was shocked.
“I thought it was incredibly callous and I also was horrified that they would think that of our government."
She went on to say she was offended on two levels: "[B]oth a personal level and then also on a national level. I was greatly insulted. I’m not sure I know what else to say.”
Air Canada's Facebook page has since been pummeled with comments and fiery demands. Some animal lovers have even threatened to boycott the airline until they find the dog.
But Kulic said she's heard "a couple solid reports" on social media that Larry was hit, though she hasn't "talked to anyone who can confirm he was killed," Canada.com reports.
Kulic said she's forgiven the employee who let the dog out, maintaining that they were “trying to do something nice and they made a huge mistake.”
As for Mr. Fitzpatrick, she thinks he deserves the boot.
“Everybody has asked me whether I think the Air Canada employee who took the dog for a walk should lose their job and I said ‘no, someone was trying to do something nice and they made a huge mistake.’ I don’t want that to ever happen again,” she said.
“But I’ll tell you, I think the person that sent this email should go somewhere else.”
