United Airlines Foots The Bill To Fly Dog Missing For Four Years Back To Family

It’s not every day you see a dog flying first class – for free – on an airplane. But that’s exactly what passengers on a flight from Iowa to Louisiana witnessed Wednesday, as United Airlines footed the bill to reunite a dog with his family after going missing four years ago.

ABC News reports (warning: link video autoplays) that United pulled out all the stops when it came to reuniting Sam, a Yorkshire terrier, with his family in Louisiana.

The ordeal began in 2011, when the family says Sam went through a hole in their backyard fence into the surrounding wooded area. The family tried everything they could to find the dog, but had no luck.

That is until this April when an animal control officer in Cedar Rapids, IA, spotted the pup and brought him to a local shelter.

“The Yorkie was in fair condition, but was straggly and weighed only 5 1/2 pounds,” according to the press release from the city of Cedar Rapids. “Despite the dog’s condition, Animal Care and Control staff was able to determine that the Yorkie had a microchip.”

http://consumerist.com/2015/04/30/united-airlines-foots-the-bill-to-fly-dog-missing-for-four-years-back-to-family/

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2015/04/29/stolen-dog/26571747/