An air passenger’s dog has been found dead in the cargo hold on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport.
According to Fox News, Air France-KLM confirmed the animal had been travelling on one of its flights from Amsterdam on Tuesday.
The owner was described as being ‘devastated’ to find her pet, reported to be a husky, had died when she went to collect it.
The animal is believed to have died from a lack of oxygen sometime during the nearly 11-hour flight after being placed in the aircraft’s cargo area, according to TMZ.
In a statement to Fox News, the airline said the cause of death cannot be confirmed until after the scheduled necropsy.
An airline representative said: "A dog was found dead in the cargo hold of the KL601, after a flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles on March 19.
"The dog’s owner has been notified and we express our condolences. In co-operation with the local health authority in the US, the CDC, the dog was initially examined to ensure there was no immediately obvious public health threat.
"The dog was loaded correctly according KLM’s pet policy. We have to wait for the results of the necropsy to determine the cause of death," the statement read.
Animal rights campaign group PETA repeated its call for a ban on animals kept in the hold of an aircraft.
