A woman faces legal consequences for allegedly abandoning her dog and resisting arrest after being informed she couldn’t bring her pet on a JetBlue flight due to incomplete documentation.
The incident took place on February 2 at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport. The woman arrived with her goldendoodle and attempted to check in her luggage without having filled out the necessary paperwork for her dog to travel as a service animal. Consequently, she was denied a boarding pass.
Undeterred, she proceeded to try to board her flight, leaving her dog behind.
According to a statement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department: “On February 2, 2026, at approximately 11:39 p.m., LVMPD officers assigned to Harry Reid International Airport responded to Terminal 3 after receiving reports of a dog that had been tied to a metal carry-on baggage sizer and left behind at the JetBlue ticket counter.”
The airline staff had informed the woman that online documentation was required for her dog to travel as a service animal. Without the paperwork, she was refused a boarding pass, leading her to abandon the dog and continue to her flight’s departure gate.
A video released by the Police Department depicted the dog looking bewildered after being left tied to the counter.
A press release further detailed: “Officers later located the individual at Gate D1. When asked why she abandoned the dog, she stated the airline would not allow her to fly with it and claimed the dog had a tracking device — implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would return to her.”
When officers confronted her at the gate, she appeared unwilling to cooperate.
“I’m gonna throw my bags down because I’m exhausted,” she said. The officer replied, “No, what we’re gonna do is walk you back to where your dog’s at and give you a citation, because you left your dog at the ticket counter.”
The woman claimed she was attempting to rebook her flight, but the officer questioned her logic, saying, “So you walk down here? To rebook your flight? And left your dog there?”
She tried to place the blame on airport staff, suggesting that the tracking device on her dog made it acceptable to leave the animal behind, as it would eventually return to her.
The goldendoodle, now named ‘Jet Blue’, has been taken in by the Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas, which is actively working to find the dog a new, loving home.
The woman involved has not come forward to reclaim her pet.