When airline representatives green-lighted a puppy's boarding onto a plane from Honduras, the pup’s Chicago-area adopted parents thought the rest of the trip home would be smooth sailing.
That came to a screeching halt, they said, when the trio re-entered the United States in September. At the customs gate, an agent caught what a United Airlines representative had missed: the Maltese puppy, named Caesar, received his rabies shot only 12 days earlier. Federal regulations require a full 30 days before entry.
Father Hector Abouid, a priest at St. George's in Cicero, said the airline later admitted its mistake but still put the cost on him and his wife.
They had to pay for a second flight to fly the puppy back to Honduras. After Caesar waited out the rest of the required timeframe with Father Abouid's relatives there, he then would have to pay to fly the dog back on a third flight.
“When I went to the airlines, I asked them, ‘Is there anything I need to know?’ Father Abouid told NBC5 Responds. “We went to the United office, who did not give us the right information. We checked in and the clerk did not give us the right information. … As a consumer, I come to you because I am going to be traveling with the dog in your plane, not in my plane—so you should know what regulations you should have in your plane.”
Father Abouid and his wife said neither their vet in Honduras nor the UAL reps seemed aware of the federal Centers for Disease Control requirements regarding rabies vaccinations, which changed in August of 2014.
They said they trusted the airline to know the requirements, and if United had not allowed Caesar on board the flight to Houston, their inconvenience and cost would have been much less.
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The couple’s request for a refund for their additional costs was at first denied by UAL, until NBC 5 Responds inquired about the case. Soon after our contact, UAL reversed its decision and fully refunded Fr. Hector his costs, and also flew Caesar back to Chicago at no additional cost.
“I feel us trying to contact NBC 5 Responds to get our voice out there—that’s what you did,” Father Abouid said. “All I wanted was they acknowledge and recognize the mistake and try to find a way to compensate for the mistake.”
“Our Customer Care team has been working with Fr. Abouid since early Sept. to rearrange Caesar’s travel to Chicago and we’re pleased that they were reunited on Sept. 17. As a courtesy because of the confusion about the vaccination requirements, we’ve refunded the fees Fr. Abouid paid,” a UAL spokesperson said in a statement to NBC5 Responds.
The happy reunion happened on Sept. 17. Caesar, now of Cicero, is happily adjusting to his new home.
“He’s already got miles in the mileage club!” Father Abouid joked.
