Little did dog owners Catelina Robledo, along with her newborn baby, and Sophia Ceballos know that this flight would be the last time they saw their precious Kokito. On Monday, March 12th, a family lost their beloved companion due to suffocation on a United Airlines flight while flying from Houston to LaGuardia Airport in New York. It was on Flight 1284 that a 10-month-old French Bulldog died after suffocating in a more than three-hour-flight in an overhead compartment bin. When boarding the flight, the owner, Catelina Robledo, was instructed by a flight attendant to place her dog in the overhead bin. According to NPR news, the woman was set on leaving her dog under her seat but the stewardess insisted on placing the carrier in the overhead compartment. According to NPR news, the flight lasted three hours and 25 minutes according to an online tracking site.

French Bulldogs already have respiratory problems, to begin with. The French Bulldog, Shih Tzu, Standard Bulldog, Boxer, Pug, Boston Terrier, and Pekingese all suffer from the same genetic disorder, Brachycephalic Respiratory Syndrome, according to Pawedin. All these types of dogs have a “pushed in” face that make it difficult to breathe.

After learning of the tragedy, other passengers were left in disbelief, shock, and guilt, knowing they could have done something to prevent this from happening. According to ABC 7 News, the family of Kokito alerted the flight attendant multiple times that their dog was in the bag. The flight attendant then responded, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a dog. I thought it was a normal bag.” Ceballos claims that they did tell her there was a dog inside the bag and that she was lying.

There still seems to be confusion on whether the flight attendant knew there was a dog in the carrier. According to a video from ABC News, the owners declared that the flight attendant was well aware there was a dog inside, but after the plane landed and Kokito’s deceased body was discovered, the flight attendant was in shock and didn’t know there was a dog in there. United Airlines is currently investigating the incident.

Killings of domestic companions by United Airlines are nothing new. According to The Outline, animals have been dying on United Airline flights for years. In 2015, 14 animals died and 9 were injured on United flights. In 2016, 9 animals died and 14 were injured. And just last year, 13 animals were injured and 18 animals died. Along with animal cruelty and mistreatment, United Airlines has encountered bad press in the past as a result of several other incidents, including one in which a passenger was dragged off a plane, another in which they sent a dog to the wrong airport, and a third involving a confrontation with a mother, her baby, and its stroller. However, the airline might actually make a change to their pet safety regulations with the growing bad press they are receiving. According to NPS News, passengers aboard flight number 1284 heard barking in the beginning, but then the barking stopped. The dog was found deceased at the end of the flight. According to NPS News, Maggie Gremminger tweeted, “She sat in the airplane aisle on the floor crying, and all of the surrounding passengers were utterly stunned.”