A great deal of our adoptions are done for people overseas and sometimes this can involved extensive travel time that we, and the adopters of the dog, tend to worry about and with good reason. It is a long time for a dog to be in an unfamiliar environment.
We tend to try to look at the situation as that the dog in question might be a little uneasy for the flight, but a much greater life is awaiting them on the other end. This one day of being scared and in the dark will be totally worth it when you think about what a glorious situation they are going to get at their "furrever home" once they finally get through customs.
There was a relatively famous story a few years ago about a family on a 3.5 hour flight that had their dog in a carry bag that was approved for travel on United in the cabin. For one reason or another, the flight attendant came along and told the family that the bag must be places in the overhead compartment and could not be stored at the family's feet.
We've all been through this on flights although not necessarily with a dog: The very strict rules they have over seemingly arbitrary things like a seat leaning 3 inches back is not safe but "fully upright" is somehow different. How if you push something a quarter of an inch further forward it is now "completely under your seat." I was once told that I couldn't take my shoes off in an exit row because people could trip over them which is just crazy because if this plane managed to crash land and the exit row came into play i seriously doubt the entire line of people are going to burn alive because a pair of Adidas made the door inaccessible.
Nearly went off on a rant there. This family had a mere 3.5 hour flight in the United States and apparently their dog was the barky kind that could not be made to stop making noise. The details are tough to come by actually but in the end, the dog was put into an overhead bin and later would die up there. The family blames the flight attendant, the flight attendant claims ignorance that there was a dog in the bag at all (unlikely and she is almost certainly lying) but there are some factors that the news stories about this are not taking into consideration and even though I am an animal lover of the nth degree, I think it is wrong to blame the airline in this situation.
It is extremely tragic that this would happen but from the stories that I have read, when the flight attendant told them that they had to put the dog in the overhead bin, the apparently didn't put up a fight at all. Then, for the entire duration of the flight they stayed in their seats and just left it up there. They would later claim that there was extreme turbulence on the flight so they could not stand up to get him out but other people on the flight tell a different story.
If that was me, for starters I would have never handed the dog over in the first place to be put into an overhead bin. I would have made whatever concessions necessary in order to get the dog to fit under the seat in front of me. There is also the question about the case being too large for the flight and the family lied about it when they booked the ticket for the dog. There is a reason why they have very specific sizes that these things can be and lying about it hoping no one will notice is not a good strategy. Then we have the biggest part of the problem and what is most likely to have lead to the death of the dog anyway and that is the breed.
French Bulldogs are notorious for having breathing issues and this is the reason why almost every airline in the world will not allow them to be transported at all. It isn't entirely understood why this particular breed doesn't seem to be capable for handling changes in pressure and the artificial air that is inside of airplanes, and it is still very rare that they die because of it. However, everyone who travels with a French Bulldog is aware of the fact that snub-nosed dogs, and especially French Bulldogs are much more likely to experience problems on the plane.
The family knew the risks and they presumable have to sign a waiver relieving the airline of any responsibility before it will be allowed on the plane. They almost certainly had to lie about the dog's breed since nearly every airline in the world considers most Bulldogs to be a banned breed.
As cruel as it may sound, I think the family was looking for a way to score some money out of United because there are many things that they could have done to prevent this. For me, there would be no way in hell you are sticking my dog in the overhead bin, period. Even if this means that you are kicking me off the plane there is no way it is going to happen.
Then, when according to the family the dog was barking and crying in the bin they just left him up there stating that they were not allowed to retrieve him because the fasten seat belts light was on. Again, this would in no way stop me from doing so even if it gets me shouted at by a flight attendant who doesn't really have any power anyway. They say that you are not allowed to take the pet out of the carrier at all ever but guess what, in this very stressful situation I would do it anyway.... What are they gonna do? Arrest me on the other end for the crime of comforting a scared dog? I think that one would likely get thrown out of court.
If the flight attendant actually did realize that the case had a dog in it this would be a really heartless and stupid move on her part. She may not have known though since the story doesn't indicate who it actually was that placed the carrier in overhead storage - I'm thinking it was the family who placed it there.
At the end of all of this it is terribly tragic that this puppy met its untimely end on a flight but there were so many ways in which it could have been prevented... the first one would be paying attention to the fact that this is a banned breed for a reason and the kennel size requirements are also there for a reason.
United Airlines has a terrible reputation already and I have flown with them a few times - they are not good. I do think that the lion's share of the blame in this situation lies on the heads of the family though. It is important that we not rush to point the finger at the airline here because it is already so difficult to get a commercial airline that will accept pets at all, let alone in the cabin... We don't need to create situations that will result in them not allowing pets at all, which is what many airlines have done over the years.