Kitten Freezes To Death In Delta Airplane Cargo Area

Ugh! This is so sad, but a fair warning to anyone considering placing their pets in the cargo area of an airplane.
This past Saturday, Heather Lombardi arrived at the Hartford’s Bradley International Airport in Connecticut expecting to pick up the newest addition to her family, a Sphynx cat named Snickers, being flown in from a breeder in Utah.
What Heather didn’t expect was Delta airlines officials handing her an ice-cold cat carrier with an ice cold cat inside!
Heather was horrified as officials explained the plane’s cargo hatch in the supposedly climate-controlled cargo area had been stuck during the flight! Heather had to move quick, explaining:

“I immediately put her into my coat, grabbed my kids by the hands and ran out of the airport. I cranked up the heat [in the car], putting all the vents on her as I rubbed her, trying to warm her up.”

Unfortunately, it seems no matter how quick Heather moved, the damage was already done and Snickers was pronounced dead upon arriving at a veterinarian office.
So sad!
Since the traumatic incident, Heather says Delta officials have been mostly unresponsive to her situation and, after paying an extra $290 for a supposedly “climate-controlled cargo area”, has not been offered a refund!
Despicable Delta!
A Delta spokeswoman says the company is “extremely empathetic with the customer. We’ve offered our support to her, and we’ve been doing everything we can to work with her”, but is assessing “all the factors associated with the animal’s transport to determine if there was a process failure on our part or if circumstances were beyond our control.”
Everything…except offer a refund apparently, which is the LEAST the company can do!
Although this is a deeply saddening story, hopefully it will help others avoid the same tragedy. Heather says: