United Airlines Nearly Kills Pet, Aims For Streisand Glory Instead Of Paying Vet Bill
from the bad-airline!--bad! dept
As the saying goes, there are many ways to skin a Streisand effect. Wait, no, that's not right, but the point is that attempts at silencing speech resulting in an explosion of that speech are quite varied. From railing against parody Twitter accounts, to attempts to silence negative online reviews, to professional sports leagues trying to keep documentaries from going live, it seems we all have something to learn from Senorita Streisand and her icy wrath.
But few such lessons include puppies, such as this one that reader IAsimov alerts us to, in which United Airlines nearly killed an owner's beloved dog and agreed to pay her vet bills, but only if she signed a non-disclosure agreement. Janet Sinclair brought her pets, Sedona the greyhound and Alika the cat, on a cross-country trip using UA's "PetSafe" program, which makes several promises about how the animals will be treated and what type of conditions they'll be exposed to. It would appear, to put it mildly, that the airline failed to keep their promises.
But, according to Sinclair, her pets were not safe. In fact, she says, the comfort stop nearly killed them. As she sat in her window seat looking out onto the tarmac of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Sinclair says she saw a cargo employee kick Sedona’s crate six times to shove it under the shade of the plane’s wing instead of gently moving it there.Sedona, fortunately, did not die, and the dog was taken to a vet, who was able to bring the dog back to health. The bill for the vet's work was $2,700, for three days in intensive care to treat heat stroke. Her vet was quite clear in stating that the condition of the dog was not due to any preexisting conditions, despite what United Airlines originally claimed, and was solely the result of the dog's treatment during the flight. The airline offered to pay the bill...but only if Sinclair agreed not to tell anyone what good dog-killers they are. Sinclair declined.
Urged by a fellow passenger, Sinclair began documenting what was happening to her animals. The video she recorded periodically shows her pets left outside, not in a temperature-controlled vehicle. According to the National Weather Service, the high in Houston that day was 94 degrees. When they touched down in Boston, Sinclair said her dog was barely alive.
"Sedona’s entire crate was filled with blood, feces, urine," Sinclair said. "Sedona was in full heat stroke. All of the blankets were filled with blood. She was urinating and defecating blood. She was dying, literally, right in front of me."
"The only reason I’m doing this interview is because I didn’t sign that, and I won’t sign it," she said, referring to the nondisclosure agreement. "I still want to be reimbursed," she said. "But I’m not going to be quiet."And now the story is going viral, because the combination of a massive company behaving this way and the inclusion of a dog suffering horrible conditions is the kind of thing internet outrage was made for. My guess? You will still have turkey leftovers in your fridge when UA agrees to pay the vet bill without an NDA. Too bad the damage will have already been done.
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Filed Under: confidentiality agreement, gag, janet sinclair, pets, petsafe, streisand effect
Companies: united airlines
Reader Comments
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Poppycock!
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Where can I donate?
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wow
"We offered to compensate Ms. Sinclair by fully reimbursing her vet bill, but unfortunately she declined to accept the terms of the agreement."
I am curious what agreement UA is referring to.
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Re: wow
...it's towards the end of the article.
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https://www.change.org/petitions/united-airlines-have-petsafe-program-policies-changed-to-prot ect-the-animal-and-owner
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Grounds for a class action
I hope this woman goes for class action status. There must be others to had pets who didn't make it or were maltreated by the Airline. Make them pay.
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Re: Re: wow
Or if you're clueless.
/Fry meme
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A new song?
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Re: Re: Re: wow
/Victory meme
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Re:
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Gosh shocker
Aside from the (you'd have thought) obvious "We damn near killed the lady's dog, we probably ought to fix it without arguing" angle, you'd have thought that whatever PR or lawyer moron they had on this would have spotted the inevitably huge lawsuit coming down the road - I can't see a picture of a 1/2 dead dog in a crate under a plane warming a jury towards United, can you? Trying to make the lady happy now is almost certainly way cheaper.
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Re: Grounds for a class action
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Let it never be forgotten that
The music video: http://youtu.be/5YGc4zOqozo
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Fly With Us: We'll Kill Your Beloved Family Pet For Free
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Grounds for a class action (may contain snark)
This...is an issue. They have far more important things to do. Like stopping government from working, of course.
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....Activists?
I do really hope they pop out like the Spanish inquisition at that Airline company...
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What's also confusing
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Re: Where can I donate?
How is that physically possible?
Are you some kind of dog/cat/human hybrid?
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Re: Re: Where can I donate?
But dog/cat/human? That's just...weird.
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More like
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Re: ....Activists?
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Essentially they told me that they can take my money but not offer a shred of accountability when one of their employees fucks up. WOW. And then here’s the best part: when I called to speak with someone about giving a negative review of their service, they told me they would find out where I go to school and make sure I would always regret speaking poorly about them. Real professional. So, as an aspiring computer programmer, A REALLY PISSED OFF CUSTOMER, and someone who doesn’t give a flying fuck that these scam artists have my contact information, I created this website to inform students around the world that is a scam. I encourage fellow students who have been scammed by this company to give their reviews on as well. The more reviews the merrier.
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Wait, United Airlines is offering college essays?
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watson
What you were doing was cheating -yourself, your college and your colleagues. You are probably in breach of your contract with your university. Be honest with yourself. Who is the scammer? You, or the third-rate writing service you hired on spec to prove you are not as dumb as you really are. And what this has to do with half-dead dogs I don't really know...
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Re: Where can I donate?
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United cares about customers
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Read the NDA
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Re: What's also confusing
This is what they claimed:
Well, if it HAD been true that the dog had preexisting conditions, they may not have been as liable for the vet bill (although there would still be SOME liability.) However:
The woman also has a letter from her vet stating that there was no indication of any preexisting condition. So the airline is claiming that the dog had a preexisting condition despite that their vets haven't looked at the dog, and the vets who actually DID look at it said there wasn't one.
So... based on that, the airline's case doesn't seem to hold much water.
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unfriendly skies
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Re:
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who kicked the crate
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Re: What free?
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I won't be going near UA....I so hate flying nowadays anyways but I will make the effort to Fly with another carrier when I got to see my 90 year old Dad.
Dad also loves Animals and I bet he would be angry reading this story.
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& propping up hollywood some more so they can sue more grandmas
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http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111128220531/catdog/images/1/1e/Nickelodeons-CatDog-to -DVD-in-CatDog-Season-One-from-Shout-Factory.jpg
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Re: Re: Re: Where can I donate?
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Re: ....Activists?
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Re: Re: ....Activists?
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[Meta] Site issues?
This is an issue, since your analysis of and commentary on one of the more major Snowden leaks (if not THE biggest revelation yet), the NSA/CSEC snooping at a G20 summit in Toronto, is undoubtedly excellent and insightful but, sadly, is not accessible to me due to these damnable site problems.
Please have your technicians look into the problem and fix it ASAP. Of all the times to get stuck staring at a stale cached image of the site, the day of a particularly big Snowden leak has to be among the worst possible.
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It serves a different purpose . . .
It's also entertaining to know that, if you complain to them about something, they send Laurel and Hardy out to thrash you.
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Re: Re:
"Since my dog died of heat stroke, I couldn't blame him for eating my homework."
(...Too soon?)
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Re: [Meta] Site issues?
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Re: unfriendly skies
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Re: Re: Where can I donate?
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Re: Re: ....Activists?
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Yet about half of the US population votes for the party that supports this, or at least has no actual objections to it (lip service doesn't count)
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Re: Re: unfriendly skies
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Re: Re: Re: Where can I donate?
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2003652872_webhouse05m.html
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Where can I donate?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Where can I donate?
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/261774/3/Foreclosed-family-watches-helplessly-as-craigslist -crowds-strip-house-bare
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United Mistreats Pets
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Re: ....Activists?
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Re:
You mean 100% votes for a party that supports this because there's no choice?
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I got the message
This foreshadows the way United will be/is treating its passengers! They don't give a ____!
Yes, I got the message!
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Re: Re: [Meta] Site issues?
Same thing now, by the way (including waiting for a print job). Still the same stale view of the site, with an estimated 1-2 articles from late Wednesday and everything from Thu-Fri still not showing for me, and it's just a normal Friday.
Meanwhile I still can't read whatever brilliant insights Mike Masnick has written re: the G20 snooping...so, back to twiddling my thumbs and watching a progress meter for me.
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Re: Re: Re: [Meta] Site issues?
As for your snarkiness about the site not working, just leave a message, saying "Yo, articles from 2010 not working, k thx!
So before you want to leave criticism of the site, do a little bit of research before you leave evidence on a public page that you yourself are an asshole. As it is, that's simply what you left. No other way to interpret it.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: [Meta] Site issues?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: [Meta] Site issues?
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Re: Re: Re: wow
Do a search on this page for the following string and you will find the answer to your question.
LoLmaniac.
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Re: Poppycock!
Animal Cruelty – see above and
https://www.change.org/petitions/united-airlines-have-petsafe-program-policies-changed-to-prot ect-the-animal-and-owner
Murder (police shooting dogs and people with impunity) countless stories across the US
“Benton Man Has Questions After Police Shoot His Dog” - 2 days ago
http://www.arkansasmatters.com/story/susanne-brunner/d/story/I0XJvlLwo0mUOrO8fCuRiQ
”Police who shot and killed dog as they arrested owner for FILMING them are pulled off the street for THEIR safety as they are bombarded with death threats” - 7-4-13
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2356453/Police-killed-dog-pulled-street-THEIR-safety-b ombarded-death-threats.html
“Police probe Philadelphia homicide detective for possible connection to series of murders”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/24/police-probe-philadelphia-homicide-detective-for-possib le-connection-to-series/ - 11-24-13
Drinking and Doing Drugs on lunch break
“Chrysler Workers Drinking: Fired Employees Reinstated At Jefferson North Plant In Detroit - 12-10-12
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/chrysler-workers-drinking_n_2272291.html
Taking hostages
“Union Thugs Take Guards Hostage at Washington Port” - 9-8-11
http://amerpundit.com/2011/09/08/union-thugs-take-guards-hostage-at-seattle-port/
FTFY
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Re: What's also confusing
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What are you talking about?
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Re: Re:
It's easy to forget, but elections in the U.S. are loosely based on numbers called "popular" vote, mostly in deference to something once known as "democracy". There is an elaborate process involving electoral votes, voter registration games, voting machine rigging, voting hours, gerrymandering and a few other things to make sure the hicks from the woods do not actually determine who rules over them. Part of that process happens before the "popular" vote, part of it afterwards.
The result is a stable ruling class of inbred politicians with an outcrossing of money, though nowadays there is no noticeable distinction.
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Testing?
A thermal recording collar would certainly provide proof of misfeasance and/or fraud. As the United Breaks Guitars/Sons of Maxwell folks showed, United only cares about the bottom line -- and foolishly ignores the realities of the modern connected/viral universe.
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Re: unfriendly skies
They make no money on 'people' fares. Only biz class, so they go out of their way to impart that with service to match.
My own experience flying to London from DC was the same. The English crew was nothing but proper, nice and downright welcoming. The American crew was hard pressed to care about even providing food on a multi-hour flight.
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Re: Testing?
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