United: Flight attendant didn’t know puppy was in pet carrier placed in overhead bin

United Airlines says the flight attendant who ordered a passenger to put her pet carrier in the overhead bin didn’t know there was a puppy inside.

The airline’s account is being contradicted by the family that owned the French bulldog, and also by other passengers on Monday night’s flight.

United said Wednesday that the customer did mention the dog, but the flight attendant didn’t hear or understand her.

The dog died during the Houston-to-New York flight on Monday night.

United, which promotes its pet-shipping program called PetSafe, carries more animals than any other airline, but its animal-death rate is also the highest in the industry.

Last year, 18 animals died while being transported on United – three-fourths of all animal deaths on U.S. carriers, according to the Department of Transportation.

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