please don't be cynical

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A former baggage handler at Reno-Tahoe International Airport says she was fired from her job because she refused to load a bloodied, emaciated hunting dog onto an airplane.

“The Transportation Safety Authority officers couldn’t even get the dog to stand up to be X-rayed,” says Lynn Jones, who was employed by Airport Terminal Services, a contractor in charge of operating the airport’s cargo area.

She says everyone who saw the pointer noted its bloody paws and sore-covered body. “The dog was so weak and torn up,” Jones told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “It didn’t look like it could survive the flight.”

According to shipping documents, the pointer is owned by a Texas-based hunter who regularly ships the dog to his hunting spots, and keeps it locked in a kennel when not in use.

Her now-former supervisor allegedly told her to load the dog onto the plane anyway, since the paperwork was in order. She says she was told to quit concerning herself with the dog’s condition or risk losing her job.

“I was crying,” she told the paper. “I kept saying that dog could not be put on a plane.”

Her supervisor eventually told to go home. However, the company later claimed she had “abandoned” her post, and was therefore terminated. “I didn’t abandon anything; I was told to leave,” she insists.

The Gazette-Journal was unable to obtain specific information and photos related to the incident due to the recently passed Cooney’s Law, but Krys Bart, CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority and board member of the Nevada Humane Society, told the publication she was “thoroughly disgusted over what I understand to be the situation this animal was put in.”

Airport Police ultimately stepped in and turned the animal over to the Washoe County Regional Animal Services, where it was cared for until it was well enough to be shipped back to Texas.

Though officials were unable to release the related incident report, unidentified airport employees told the Gazette-Journal “they were sickened by its condition.”

Jones is currently looking for another job. She says she loved her job at the airport, but “just couldn’t turn my back on that dog.”

“My supervisor said it wasn’t my concern,” Jones said, surrounded by her three dogs, three cats and pet bird. “But animal abuse is everyone’s concern who sees it.”

[rgj.]

What a gal. I hope she finds a far better job and that her future employers and co-workers are more compassionate and understanding.