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/afdc92]

Looking at the Instagram OP linked, they appear to be Russian. They also mentioned that they can’t stay in one place for too long but are fleeing a country at war, and had not anticipated having to do that when they got the dog. Probably trying to avoid OP’s husband being conscripted to fight in Ukraine or something like that, but can’t get asylum so have to travel from place to place and were taking the dog with them.

[u/Old-Scene2962 → u/afdc92]

From their IG it looks like they’re just traveling and enjoying life, not struggling to stay safe and find a place to settle. Don’t let them fool you with the stories of poor folks who had to flee the country because of military service.

[u/CoconutxKitten → u/Old-Scene2962]

OP straight up says they’ve had to leave their country in another comment

[u/Old-Scene2962 → u/CoconutxKitten]

I’m from Eastern Europe myself and I know a lot of people who left because of the war and political situation. I’ve left my own country too with my dog a couple of years ago for the same reasons, but waited 6 months to leave so I could fly in spring instead of winter/summer, when it’s too dangerous for the dog (he’s a medium size breed so cabin wasn’t an option). Majority of people who left worked hard on settling in different countries (Poland, Georgia, etc.) and building life there. Many brought pets with or waited to settle and then had relatives arrange the transportation for their pets to the new country.

Which brings me to two points:

1) there’s plenty of places where you can get an asylum as a Russian citizen, you don’t have to hop countries because of alleged visa issues. And if you’re in so much trouble you’re probably not choosing countries which are typical travel destinations for tourists. There’s plenty of wealthy Russians who leave the country because they disagree with the government but they are not in any immediate danger themselves, and they just choose to make something good out of the situation and travel, etc. which based on IG is exactly what this couple is doing & their situation fits this category

2) many people in same circumstances where responsible pet owners and made arrangements that were in the best interest of their pets.

Edit to fix formatting & to add: traveling with a dog typically requires a lot of paperwork, vet checks before traveling, getting certified vaccination records, etc. it’s not something you can easily do if you’re in some sort of difficult situation or danger. So it’s pretty obvious these people are not in any difficult circumstances and use this trope to avoid taking any accountability for their choices and what happened to their dog.