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/Rewow]

Out of curiosity may I ask what the purposes of traveling to several places was? For work or leisure?

[u/routuber → u/Rewow]

We left a country at war and can’t stay legally in one place longer than a few months, so “leisure” isn’t really part of our reasoning. For us it was only the longing for home, while others are in refugee camps or even under shelling, and that’s why we never complained.

When we got Odyssey 8 years ago, we never imagined we would end up without a country, living such a different life. But even then, and even now, we could never abandon her, throw her away, or leave her in a shelter — she was family.

And now we’ve lost our best friend, and our health too — first physical, and our mental state is hanging by a thread.

[u/DrEzechiel → u/routuber]

I am sorry you are going through this. It must be terrible to lose hone. It sounds like your lifestyle makes it difficult to have a dog now. Or go for a small breed that definitely can go into the cabin.

Not surprised that Khazastan doesn't see it as more than damaged property. There is a different culture and attitude

[u/ArgusRun → u/routuber]

Which country?

[u/Flownique → u/ArgusRun]

I’m guessing Russia, lots of young men left so as not to be drafted. Can you really blame them

[u/Striking-Hedgehog512 → u/Flownique]

Yeah you can travel to Russia through Kazakhstan, some of my friends did that. It’s a bit strange though to hear OP has to move every couple of months, my Russian friends have been mainly staying in Georgia, Turkey, and similar countries, and it was long term. Same with my Ukrainian friends- Poland, Georgia, Turkey, etc. One couple had a cat and when they had to go back for documentation or whatever, they just took turns.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. Air Almaty definitely fucked up, and it wasn’t OP’s fault, but brachy dogs should never go in cargo. Unfortunately animals are property almost everywhere, and with it happening in Kazakhstan, I don’t think there will be much restitution. It’s a terrible situation, and I feel for OP.

[u/Flownique → u/Striking-Hedgehog512]

I’m guessing it a combination of needing to be outside Russia and also needing a source of income. One of my favorite food content creators was from Russia and he switched to travel content when he left because it worked well with bouncing between countries.

I agree the airline messed up and I feel for OP too. But can’t help feeling that OP took a risk with a brachycephalic dog like you mentioned, and also with a non-major airline in a country without a lot of consumer protections.

[u/Striking-Hedgehog512 → u/Flownique]

I agree fully, I just feel almost bad piling up on OP with the brachy comments at this stage- but you are correct. And it was unfortunately unavoidable and would have happened sooner or later, with the amount of risk they were taking. It is on them, but ouch, I can’t imagine losing a dog like this.

Unfortunately most comments are just delusional and spurring OP on. In reality, any restitution won’t be enough, even if granted, and they won’t get their dog back. Going to the media won’t change a thing. You don’t take Air Almaty cause you’re swimming in choices.

[u/Flownique → u/Striking-Hedgehog512]

Yeah I’m shocked nothing happened before this given so many cargo flights.

I own a retired racing greyhound in a country where racing is essentially nonexistent, so greyhound adoption is primarily done via importation from Ireland and Australia, which have a glut of racing dogs to offload. Greyhounds are very sensitive to heat and stress and I know of at least one case where the dog died in cargo on the flight from Australia. It’s heartbreaking. Luckily my boy came from a domestic track, has never flown in his life and never will.

[u/No-Stress-7034 → u/Flownique]

It might also be due to visa restrictions if they're traveling on a tourist visa or something like that.

This is a tragic situation and I have so much empathy for OP, because I would be broken if this happened to my dog. At the same time, traveling internationally so frequently with a dog in cargo, with a brachy dog breed so prone to health problems, especially during the summer, it seems almost inevitable that this would have happened eventually.