Airport worker fired after refusing to load dog

[Hum]

RENO, Nev. (AP) ? Airport baggage handler Lynn Jones saw the sad look on the listless, emaciated dog sitting in a pet carrier and knew something was wrong. Then she saw that its body was covered with sores and its paws were worn raw.

"It was so thin, it made me cry," she said.

If that dog gets on that plane, she remembered thinking, it would certainly die. And when she refused a supervisor's orders to load it onto the Texas-bound flight, she was fired.

Now, a month after the incident at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, the dog has recovered. And Jones, while her former employer and airport officials have praised her for her actions, remains without her old job.

Peggy Hohl, vice president of employee services for Jones' former employer, Airport Terminal Services Inc., based in St. Louis, said in an email that the company is taking the matter "very seriously."

A statement posted on the company's web site said officials were investigating, and that the company "commends this employee's situational awareness and her desire to raise the concern on behalf of the canine."

"ATS is reviewing the actions of all employees involved to determine if the appropriate action was taken," it said.

When she was working in the cargo area several weeks ago, she saw the pet carrier and the dog.

When she told her supervisor about it, she said, he insisted she load the pointer bound for Corpus Christi, Texas, because its paperwork was in order and its condition was none of her concern.

"I kept telling my supervisor, `That dog is going to die if it gets on that plane,'" Jones said.

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[Japlabot]

The title makes it sound like she is adverse to handling dogs, but this proves not to read a thread by it's title, there is more to the story here, and she did 100% the right thing. I hope the airline demotes the supervisor and puts her in charge. You need people who can look at a situation subjectively to solve problems, rather than blindly following the job description just so you can get that monthly pay cheque.

[Seizure1990]

And they still haven't re-hired her? Sounds like they don't want to, and are just BSing until the media storm passes and they can continue being a big, callous, money-making machine.