Delta sends dog to multiple wrong cities

(FOX5NY) - Delta is the latest airline to send a pet to the wrong city. In this case, several cities.

A family from Idaho was expecting their 8-week-old puppy from a breeder in Virginia. Instead, the dog was sent to Detroit, Los Angeles and then Salt Lake City before finally arriving in Boise.

The dog's new owner received a call on Saturday evening from someone claiming to be a Delta employee.

Josh Schlaich says the caller said, “Hey, just wanted to let you know the dog’s flight has been delayed, and the dog is going to stay the night here. They said, ‘Here’s the number of a person who’s going to take care of it. His name is Chris. You need to call them if you want any more information. Thanks, bye.'”

Schlaich says the number was disconnected and when he tried to call Delta he was hung up on several times. He finally got a response after contacting the airline through its Facebook page.

He was told the dog would arrive on Sunday afternoon. The dog finally arrived Sunday evening but was safe and in good health.

Delta apologized and issued a refund saying in a statement: "We know pets are important members of the family and apologize for the delayed shipment of a dog, which is now in the hands of its owner, after it was routed to the wrong destination."

The airline says it has initiated an immediate review to understand what went wrong.

This incident follows a series of mishaps by airlines involving animals, including the death of a dog on a United Airlines flight to LaGuardia Airport after a flight attendant forced a family to put the dog in the overhead luggage compartment.