United Airlines says it's investigating after mistakenly flying a Kansas family's dog to Japan.
Kara Swindle and her two children flew from Oregon to Kansas City, Missouri, Tuesday on a United flight, KCTV reported.
They went to a cargo facility to pick up 10-year-old Irgo, a German shepherd, but were instead given a Great Dane. Swindle, of Wichita, Kansas, learned Irgo had been put on a flight to Japan, where the Great Dane was supposed to go.
Airline officials in Japan put Irgo on a flight back to Kansas City. It isn't clear when the dog will arrive.
"An error occurred during connections in Denver for two pets sent to the wrong destinations," a spokesman for United said in a statement.
"We have notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible. We apologize for this mistake and are following up with the vendor kennel where they were kept overnight to understand what happened," the airline's statement continued.
The news of Irgo's unplanned odyssey comes as United admits another dog died after a flight attendant forced it to travel in an overhead bin on a Houston-to-New York flight.
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United called that death a "tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin."
