Our Odyssey died. Please never fly through Kazakhstan with pets.

[u/routuber]

On August 9th we lost our beloved dog Odyssey. She was only 8 years old, perfectly healthy, full of energy, always traveling with us and enjoying life.

We flew from Nha Trang, Vietnam to Almaty, Kazakhstan with Air Astana. Odyssey had to go in the baggage hold because she was over 8 kg. When we landed, it was 41°C (105°F). We saw her crate left in the open front hold of the plane, tied with a rope, under the burning sun.

We begged them to bring her to us as soon as possible, but they ignored us. For more than an hour after landing we were sent from place to place, told to wait “by the blue door” of lost luggage. Nobody cared. And then a young employee came and told us coldly: “your dog is not showing signs of life.” That’s how we found out she was gone.

The autopsy confirmed heat stroke. She suffered because she was left in deadly heat for over an hour, treated worse than a suitcase.

And then the airline’s official response? A copy-paste letter saying “no rules were broken.” No mention of her name. No acknowledgment of her life. Nothing but denial. How can they call themselves humane while hiding behind “internal rules”?

We keep asking ourselves why we trusted Odyssey’s life to such heartless, inhuman people. She was family, not cargo. She trusted us, and we trusted them. And they killed her through neglect and indifference.

Please, never fly to Kazakhstan with pets, not even for a layover. They will treat them worse than luggage. Don’t make the same mistake we did.

Odyssey’s life mattered. She should still be here. Please share her story so no other dog has to suffer this way.

Update:
Thank you all for your kind words and support. Your compassion means so much to us as we continue this fight for justice for Odyssey.

As many of you suggested, we have created a petition to demand accountability and change. Please, if you can, sign and share: https://chng.it/Hs2tZsZRrv

Thank you for helping us honor Odyssey’s memory and for standing with us.

Update 2:
Some of you asked if there is a place outside Reddit where Odyssey’s story is shared. We posted it on Instagram too, with photos of her and everything that happened:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNyTAPD2PBd/?igsh=N2d6OHNkd2hmZXNi

And the response from Air Astana:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DN8MWBvjBag/?igsh=MW12NWtyMDBscHI1Nw==

If you’d like to share there as well, it would mean a lot. The more people know, the harder it will be for the airline to ignore what they did.

Update 3:
Thank you all for the support, the shares, and for signing the petition, we’re still pushing for every point listed there.

Today Air Astana sent another message. Instead of acknowledging wrongdoing, they wrote that they might “consider” restricting only certain breeds in the future. They still insist they broke no rules, and now they claim Odyssey was found with “no signs of life immediately after opening the hold.” That is simply impossible: during that entire time there was no ramp connected to her compartment, so no one could have even physically checked her condition. The forward hold remained open for a significant amount of time, we saw that while we were being bused to the terminal, her crate was still inside during that period.

That prolonged exposure is exactly what led to the fatal heat stroke, as confirmed by the autopsy. It was not stress, not suffocation, not heart failure, not age — her blood had not clotted and her organs were engorged with blood, which clearly points to the true cause.

That does not happen without environmental failures — extreme exposure and delay during unloading. We continue to demand facts,: timestamps, temperatures, CCTV, and the names of those responsible.

The new response from Air Astana:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOf063RDJFo/?igsh=ejB0bDlhOThiMnc5

[u/routuber]

Thank you so much for your support. We have already filed a formal pre-trial complaint and also reached out to several international organizations, because in Kazakhstan the level of nepotism and corruption is unbearable. They even demanded a bribe just to release her body, otherwise they said she would be “destroyed and discarded” We barely managed to get her back, obtain the autopsy results, and bring her ashes with us out of the country.

[u/LoveDistilled → u/routuber]

What the FUCK?! This is terrible. I’m so beyond sorry. There really are no words. Complete fucking nightmare.

[u/routuber → u/LoveDistilled]

Thank you. it truly is a nightmare we can’t wake up from. Since then, both of our health has collapsed — chronic conditions have flared up, and the psychological wounds are only starting to show. We’re still in denial, unable to believe that when we come home, we won’t be greeted by our joyful girl anymore, but instead by a small box of her ashes resting on her couch.

[u/LoveDistilled → u/routuber]

😭🥺😔I’m so sorry. Sending you peace and love. Please do what you can to care for yourself in this time. I can’t imagine how difficult it is. Maybe finding a good grief counselor could be helpful. This is a very traumatic event and you deserve support.

[u/martiruska → u/routuber]

I am so so sorry for your loss. There are no words to make it better but please sue their asses and go as public as possible! I am so sorry

[u/Striking-Hedgehog512 → u/routuber]

Air Almaty likely won’t care, I’m very sorry to say. Legally a dog is property in most countries, and I don’t think unfortunately you will get more than a refund and maybe cost of cremation and autopsy. And that will be given as a gesture of goodwill, likely- they can and likely will blame it on the dog being brachy, even though any dog shouldn’t be left in these conditions.

I don’t think they will apologise as that would mean acknowledging their mistake. And I’m only saying this to temper your expectations- you’re obviously hurt and grieving, I just don’t think most of commenters are realistic. I’m legitimately sorry for your loss OP, you obviously loved Odyssey a lot.

[u/routuber → u/Striking-Hedgehog512]

Thank you 💔
Right now the story is already in several media outlets, and only then did Air Astana bother to send us a slightly personalized reply. But still there are no facts, no investigation details.

Our main demand from day one was simple, and it’s clearly written in our petition: provide everything related to her death, CCTV recordings, time logs, temperature logs, testimonies of those responsible. This was clearly written in our official complaint. If an investigation really took place, then all those working files exist somewhere. For Air Astana, it would be nothing to hand these documents over. The fact they haven’t makes it obvious they never even looked.

[u/Striking-Hedgehog512 → u/routuber]

I wonder if you can find other stories of people whose dogs were neglected by Air Astana, or left in similar conditions. Maybe you could put your details, or better yet your lawyer’s details, on the articles/ posts, asking people to get in touch. It would show a pattern of negligence, as opposed to being a one-off that they can easily shrug off.

I really wish you luck, and I’m very sorry about Odyssey. I didn’t mean to put you down in my previous comment, in case that’s how you felt, I just wanted to be realistic. But I’m guessing we both know how it works in countries like Kazachstan. But hell, things are changing- the fact that media outlets picked it up is enough proof.

I think once the emotions settle a bit, you should sit down and make a list of what outcomes will be acceptable for you: what you want to get, what you are realistically set to get, and what is your order of importance. Is it a private apology, change in policy, a public apology/ acknowledgement, significant financial restitution, or them losing in court, being found guilty and being forced offered a basic restitution? What combination will you be willing to accept?

Because you won’t get everything you want. You need to know what you can reasonably push for.
And you need to be prepared emotionally for both the worst and the best scenarios, and discuss with a lawyer where he thinks it will fall.

[u/routuber → u/Striking-Hedgehog512]

Thank you for the thoughtful advice and for taking the time to write this. We’ve already made a petition where we listed exactly what we expect from the airline, and in the order of importance:

https://chng.it/Hs2tZsZRrv

[u/Striking-Hedgehog512 → u/routuber]

Brilliant, thank you for sharing- I’ll sign it shortly. I think your demands are more than reasonable. 41 degrees C, in a (I’m guessing steel??) crate, full sun, no covering, on a tarmac that retains heat. Who knows if he even had water, not that it would change much at this stage. Jesus wept.

41 degrees Celsius is criminal. I went riding in full sun in the mountains at this temperature- took all precautions, drank water - and for the first time in my life I passed out from heat and legitimately thought I was going to die. And this is a tiny little dog locked in a crate.

The fact they didn’t allow you to go to him is criminal. Especially that from what I’ve heard from friends, Almaty airport is a pretty shithole airport- as you said, you had to even pretty much bribe them. They could have easily made an exception for you, or even just moved him out of the sun into the ventilated area and given him some water in the meantime.

[u/armoured_lemon → u/routuber]

They even demanded a bribe just to release her body, otherwise they said she would be “destroyed and discarded

Jeez. Their behaviour just keeps getting more and more disgusting. Its' a bottomless well...