Delta Keeps Dog 'Hostage' for 33 Hours After Misplacing Paperwork

Delta Air Lines has become the most recent airline carrier to garner not-so-great headlines after allegedly keeping a woman's puppy "hostage" for 33 hours. Mary Nguyen, 25, sent her German Shepherd, Bunny, to her husband's home in Guatemala; when the dog arrived from Minneapolis, the airline would not release her to Nguyen's spouse.

In order to ensure Bunny arrived safely, Nguyen went through an arduous and expensive process, hiring Pet Air Carrier, a company that specializes in international pet air travel. After paying Pet Air Carrier $3,000 in fees to transport Bunny via Delta Air Lines, Nguyen — who resides in Minneapolis — drove to Wisconsin to make sure the paperwork was properly endorsed before shipping her pet.

When Bunny arrived in Guatemala City, officials would not release her because she had been separated from her paperwork, which included vaccination records and a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection. While Delta officials had the dog's paperwork in an online system, according to MarketWatch, they stated that they needed the physical copy in order to release the dog which had been left, ostensibly by the airline, in the United States.

To add insult to injury, Nguyen claims that Delta demanded another $3,000 before they would release Bunny. After an onerous 33 hours of phone calls to the airline, Bunny was released into the care of Nguyen's husband.

A Delta spokesperson told MarketWatch, “We know that pets are important members of the family and are working directly with the customer.” The airline also told CBS News that they were planning to reimburse Bunny's travel costs.

H/T: MarketWatch

.