A one-year-old dog that was apparently abandoned at the Des Moines airport Thursday is now in safe hands.
The dog was found tethered outside the airport after her owner could not bring her aboard a flight, Today reported Friday.
According to the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa’s CEO, Tom Colvin, staff received a call from airport employees alerting them about the pup. The owner apparently did not have a proper travel kennel for the dog.
The person tried to board with the dog but was not allowed to do so. The individual left, but returned a while later alone and boarded the flight, Colvin explained.
Officials eventually learned the person’s name and are now investigating the matter regarding the dog, whom rescuers have named Allie.
“Allie is incredibly sweet and is now safe in our care and loving attention from our staff team. The incident is still an active investigation, and more details will be released as they are able to be shared. This pup is just one of the 10,000+ pets the ARL has cared for already this year,” the ARL wrote in a social media post on Friday.
Video footage shows someone hugging and scratching the brown and white dog’s back as she wagged her tail vigorously:
Allie is not available to be fostered as officials look into what happened but she appears glad to be in such good hands, Colvin noted.
“(She’s) very friendly and loved everybody from the airport staff that came out, brought her a blanket, stayed with her, loved her, giving her all the attention until our animal services officers came out and picked her up,” he stated.
The ARL’s followers expressed their opinions on the matter, one person writing, “I’d walk home with my dog before I’d ever leave her tied up at an airport.”
“I mean a quick google search shows that most airlines require a dog kennel and give pretty clear expectations on the kennel requirements. At least it was warm yesterday, poor girl,” another commented.
If the dog is not claimed once the investigation is complete, she will be put up for adoption, Colvin explained.
A similar instance occurred recently when a dog abandoned at the San Francisco airport was adopted, Breitbart News reported Monday.
“The dog later had a wonderful stroke of luck when United Airlines Captain William Dale decided to take him home to join his family,” the outlet said.