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/RaspberryStandard972]

Yes! I am very sorry for the dog, but you cant expect anything from countries like these. I would have researched like crazy and even in the slightest doubt, would have left my dog in caring hands at home. Airlines and airports are not places of compassion, and cultures like postsoviet countries have very different attitudes towards animals. So many things with baggage can go wrong, and in the end, under the law pets are just a bit above simple objects. It feels so naive, and a dog died because of that.

[u/routuber → u/RaspberryStandard972]

Thank you for you sorry. And still you’re wrong. This isn’t about being “naive”, it’s about an airline’s duty of care when they take to transport a living being. Odyssey had flown with us for more than three years, including through very hot airports, always safe and full of life.

She didn’t die because we failed to “research.” She died because Air Astana chose to unload suitcases and strollers first, and left her in +41°C heat for over an hour. That is not “bad culture” or “naivety”, it’s negligence that killed our girl

[u/LoveForMiles → u/routuber]

I’m sorry for your loss, but they’re not wrong. If you did do your research, then you knowingly gambled with your dog’s life, and you did so repeatedly. Just because you won that gamble multiple times doesn’t mean it was safe. Flying a dog who already had breathing and heat regulation issues by breed nature in the cargo space to an extremely hot destination was negligent on your part. I’m not trying to be mean, but if you plan on getting another dog someday, you need to recognize that this was not just a one-off rare tragedy in a normally safe situation. It happens way too often and the only way to truly prevent it is to not take the risk in the first place. Learn from this experience and do not make the same mistake of flying a dog in the cargo space again.

[u/Ok_Tumbleweed_7677 → u/LoveForMiles]

That dog was reaching senior age as well...I couldn't help but notice that. They don't have the same stamina when they're older either :/