Woman abandons French bulldog in airport car park after being told it couldn’t fly

Passenger tried to claim the pet was an emotional support animal

A woman abandoned her French bulldog in an airport car park after she was told it wouldn’t be allowed to board a flight, according to police.

The dog was “found unattended in a stroller” at the Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania on Friday morning, the Allegheny County Police Department wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Police were called at around 5.30am.

A microchip was found on the dog, but the owner couldn’t be contacted.

The woman was flying to a resort and claimed the pet was an emotional support animal, according to Sgt Jason Donaldson, but airline staff remained unconvinced.

They told the passenger that the dog would need to be placed in a crate to fly with them, but instead the woman left the animal “near short-term parking and proceeded to board a flight”.

The dog, which is understood to be around seven years old, is described as being in good health and is currently at a local animal shelter being looked after, Sgt Donaldson told news channel WTAE.

On social media, a number of people asked whether the dog was available for adoption. One user wrote: “This is the best thing that could have ever happened to that baby. Now it has a chance to find a real home and to be loved.”

Another said: “To the person who abandoned this darling doggo is concerned I hope karma does it’s thing.”

It’s not clear where the woman was travelling or which airline she was flying with. Pittsburgh airport declined to comment, telling The Independent that it was deferring all comment on the matter to Allegheny County Police Department.

The police department said that a charge of animal abandonment is “expected to be filed against the owner by the dog warden”.

Under Pennsylvania state law, “intentionally” or “knowingly” abandoning an animal is considered animal cruelty, and anyone convicted of abandoning or attempting to abandon a dog must pay a fine of $300 to $1,000.

Not all travellers are so ambivalent about their pets. In March, a woman defended her decision to buy her dog a business class seat on a flight, describing the pet as her “daughter”.

Fifi the miniature dachshund got to travel in style with her owner, Helen, on an 11-hour flight from Hong Kong to Istanbul.

Video shared to the dog’s official Instagram page revealed her being wheeled through Istanbul airport before gazing out the aircraft window onto the clouds below from 40,000 feet.