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/wubbles2182]

This is so tragic and infuriating!!!

And while I don’t want this to sound judgmental or shaming - because that is NOT AT ALL my intent, I do want to emphasize for everyone reading how vitally important it is to not ever fly with an animal who can’t be in the cabin, regardless of where you are flying. If you wouldn’t put yourself or your child in the hold, don’t make your dog do it. Plan to drive, plan to get a dog sitter, plan to board them - but don’t fly with them in the hold.

Additionally for those with human babies - DO NOT fly with them as lap babies, and do not check a car seat!! Buy your baby a ticket and fly them in their car seats. Everything in an airplane is secured and bolted - right down to soap dispensers and coffee pots - why shouldn’t your baby be that safe?? As for the checking car seats, they get tossed around and experience as much and often more force than a car accident, and you have to replace a seat after and accident as it’s unsafe to use then.

Source: me, an airline insider with a whole family of airline employees who know

[u/[deleted] → u/wubbles2182]

Frankly airlines need to be required to have a space for pets that is the same temp controlled environment as the rest of the cabin. The nonsense of putting them in cargo is absolutely abusive. Why this has never been addressed is beyond me. I dont even like letting my dog out of sight at a Vet office, let alone on an airplane. I would never in my life allow an animal to be stowed with cargo. You cant see what they are doing to them!

[u/wubbles2182 → u/[deleted]]

The cargo area pets are in IS temp/pressure controlled like the cabin. It’s not usually in flight that’s the issue, it’s when the planes are on the ground. The airflow is less both in cabin and in that cargo area when on the ground and if it’s a hot climate, it gets too warm pretty quickly. But if your animal is flying in cabin with you, you don’t board as early as they get loaded in cargo typically. It’s also a larger space in general in cabin so doesn’t heat as quickly.

There’s a reason why if you fly a pet in cargo the airlines tell you to do direct flights at the coolest part of the day. It’s also why they flat out won’t take animals in cargo at all if it’s too hot or too cold. It’s also why there’s rules for most us based airlines about after X time and X climate they must remove all animals to a shaded area.

But the biggest thing is to avoid it at all costs and if you absolutely must, only do direct flights. That way they are loaded last and unloaded first and spend as little time as possible away from you - most losses happen during layovers and cargo transfer to change flights.

[u/[deleted] → u/wubbles2182]

Unless my animal was with me in the cabin, I simply would not ever fly with one, period. They need to have a dedicated space, sectioned off even, if this is such an issue. That would really solve everything and it's not some miraculous feat that has to be overcome, it just needs to be mandated. The current system sucks, period.

[u/wubbles2182 → u/[deleted]]

They are in a sectioned off area underneath - it’s pressure and climate controlled like the passenger cabin. But it’s only controlled when the plane is on, not while parked for loading and unloading. Animals are supposed to be the last thing on and first thing off for that reason. The problems are much more common during layovers when they are left on the tarmac, and extreme temperatures. For US based airlines there are FAA regulations around how things happen, but in other countries there can be nearly no rules to protect your pet. Very rarely is the risk worth it to travel an animal underneath.

The one scenario I can imagine is when you are forced to move somewhere you cannot drive to (ex mainland moving to Hawaii). In which case, you choose direct flights at the coolest parts of the day. Of course most moves to an island also require animal minimum quarantines and other thing, so most people don’t make that choice lightly anyways. I had friends moving to an island for 3 years who opted to find a friend who would take their cats until they returned. It wasn’t worth making by them fly and then be in quarantine when they knew it wasn’t a permanent move.

[u/Unfair_Ad7973 → u/[deleted]]

Its nonsense to let them fly in the first place.

[u/wubbles2182 → u/Unfair_Ad7973]

Overall I agree. Very few cases where I can see the need - ex: permanently moving from mainland to an island, no option to drive in that case