It’s been a ruff week for United Airlines.
After being blamed for the death of a bulldog puppy which suffocated in the overhead bin on Monday on one flight then accidentally sending one passenger’s pet to Japan in place of another animal, the scandal-hit airline found itself in another canine-related snafu on Thursday.
During a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to St Louis, Missouri, flight attendants suddenly became aware of a dog in the hold which should not have been there.
The animal was mistakenly boarded onto the plane instead of a flight to Akron, Ohio.
To rectify their mistake, the pilot diverted the entire flight to Ohio to drop the animal off safely.
It is not clear how far into the three-hour flight they made the decision to stop and drop the animal off.
United Airlines diverted a flight from New Jersey to St Louis to drop off a dog at Akron Airport in Ohio (above) which had been accidentally boarded
United has reimbursed every passenger on board as compensation for the inconvenience.
In a statement, the airline said the dog had been reunited with its owner. They are yet to come forward to identify themself.
It is the third dog-related incident in a week for the airline which has struggled to regain its reputation after a doctor was filmed being dragged off a plane bloodied and beaten last year.
On Monday, Kokito the Bulldog puppy suffocated in the overhead bin after being placed there by his owner who claims she was forced by United Airlines flight attendants to stow him away.
Despite her protestations, the woman said the United flight attendant told her she must put the dog in the overhead bin.
At first, United claimed the flight attendant had no idea there was a dog in the bag when she gave the order.
On Monday, Kokito the Bulldog puppy suffocated in his owner’s bag in the overhead bin. The owner claims a United flight attendant forced her to put him there
On Tuesday, Irgo the German Shepherd (left) and Lincoln the Great Dane (right) were mixed up by staff. Irgo was accidentally sent to Japan and had to be flown home on a corporate jet and Lincoln ended up in Wichita, Kansas
After other passengers confirmed they had heard the dog owner clearly stating that there was, the airline changed its statement to say the flight attendant simply did not understand what the woman was saying.
On Tuesday, two other dogs belonging to other passengers ended up on the wrong side of the world in a colossal mix-up.
Irgo the German Shepherd was meant to fly with his owners to Wichita, Kansas, from Portland, Oregon, stopping off at Denver on the way.
Instead, he was sent by mistake to Naruto, Japan.
When his owners in Wichita went to collect him, they were greeted instead by Lincoln, a Great Dane whose family live in Japan and were on their way there without him.
United rushed to fix the mistake and flew Irgo, who has an ear infection, back to the US on board its corporate jet.
Lincoln was forced to slum it in the hold of an ordinary flight.
Irgo’s owner Kara Swindle told DailyMail.com on Friday she would pursue legal action against the airline.
Anna Beck, Lincoln’s Texan owner who lives in Japan with her military husband, said she had not yet decided what to do.
United Airlines has not addressed its animal-related issues as a whole