Delta offers passenger Paula Rodriguez $1,800 after they lost her dog while she was placed in a detention center overnight due to visa issues
- Paula Rodriguez’s six-year-old dog Maia was lost to Delta Airlines and is still missing
- Rodriguez and Maia made it to Atlanta before being turned back due to visa paperwork issues
- The owner was sent back home, but she hasn’t given up hope of finding her dog
A woman was offered $1,800 from Delta Airlines after she lost her dog at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport in Georgia on Aug. 18.
Paula Rodriguez booked a flight to San Francisco from the Dominican Republic with her dog Maia for a two-week vacation.
During their layover in Georgia, Rodriguez was soon told that her tourist visa “did not meet the requirements.”
Her visa was subsequently canceled because border control personnel told her she had to go home on the next flight, which was not scheduled until the following day.
Border police personnel then took her to a detention center to spend the night.
Maia, Paula’s six-year-old dog, has never been reunited with her owner after being split up at the Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on August 18
Due to US regulations, Rodriguez was not allowed to stay at the airport to wait for her dog and had to board the flight back home without her
Mia still hasn’t been found and Delta Airlines contacted Rodriguez and offered $1,800 in damages, which her lawyer called an “insult”
During this time, she was unable to get her dog back and was told she would have that opportunity once she arrived back in the Dominican Republic.
According to New York Post Delta promised to keep an eye on Rodriguez’s six-year-old dog while she awaited deportation.
Their new flight back home was scheduled for 10:20am the next day, where she was told her beloved pup would reunite, but Maia didn’t show up.
Rodriguez told 7NEWS“I started asking questions about where she was going to spend the night and told him she had been in a lot of distress during the flight.”
Maia had diarrhea and vomiting when they arrived in Atlanta.
Due to US regulations, Rodriguez was not allowed to stay at the airport to wait for her dog and had to board the flight back home without her.
The airline put her on a flight to Punta Cana, a two-and-a-half hour drive from Santo Domingo.
She hoped the airline would put her dog on the next flight back home, but that never happened.
She hoped the airline would put her dog on the next flight back home, but that never happened
She filed a report as soon as she arrived in Punta Cana after Maia was nowhere to be seen.
As she remained seated, her mother decided to go to the Santo Domingo airport in case the dog showed up there.
Subsequently, claims were filed at Atlanta and San Francisco airports. The staff also went to local shelters, but still there was no sign of the dog.
“She has been missing from the largest airport in the United States for over 72 hours,” Rodriguez said Atlanta News first.
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is 4,700 acres.
Mia has still not been found, and Delta Airlines contacted Rodriguez and offered $1,800 in damages, which her attorney called an “insult.”
In a statement, Delta said the money is not an “offer of compensation” and claimed they have “shown sympathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer.”
Maia, a Chihuahua mix, has not been found and Rodriguez, her owner, has issued a $1,000 reward for any information on her lost dog
In a statement, Delta said the money is not an “offer of compensation” and claimed they have “shown sympathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer”
Delta added that they remain “heartbroken” about the situation.
Rodriguez has taken matters into his own hands and has turned to social media and posted videos on it TikTok warning people to watch out for Maia when they are at the Atlanta airport.
She has also offered a $1,000 reward for information on Maia’s whereabouts.
Rodriguez’s sister Danielle also has one GoFundMe committed to raising money to obtain the best resources possible to help find Maia.