Delta offered woman $1,800 after losing her dog, lawyer claims: ‘Insult’

It’s a doggone shame.

A woman whose dog was misplaced at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been offered $1,800 by Delta Airlines, which the woman’s attorney has called an “insult,” according to CBS correspondent David Begnaud.

Paula Rodriguez was booked on a flight to San Francisco by way of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on August 18 when US Customs and Border Patrol at the Atlanta airport detained her over missing visa credentials.

Eventually, officers decided that Rodriguez would not be allowed to enter the country, and ordered her to stay at a detention center overnight, where she would not be allowed to have her dog until she could board a flight back to the Dominican Republic the next day.

Meanwhile, Delta promised to watch Maia, Rodriguez’s dog, as she awaited deportation.

But when it became time to board her flight home the next day, Rodriguez was told that her rescue pooch was nowhere to be found.

Due to US regulations, officers told Rodriguez that she would not be allowed to remain at the airport to search for the dog, so she reluctantly boarded without Maia with the hope that Delta would put her dog on the next flight out.

On Friday, CBS’s Begnaud said that while the “devasted” Rodriguez returned to the Dominican Republic, her mother has traveled to Atlanta to help Delta’s search for Maia. They reportedly scoured the airport and shelters around the city, turning up no trace of Maia.

Rodriguez believes her dog escaped its soft, pink travel crate while she was being questioned by border patrol officers. Now, the dog may still be missing — and terrified — in the country’s largest airport.

“She’s been missing for more than 72 hours in the biggest airport in the United States,” Rodriguez told Atlanta News First in an August 22 report. “Without food, without water, she must be scared.”

Now that it has been more than two weeks, Delta has said in a statement that its $1,800 gesture is not an “offer of compensation” and insisted they “have shown empathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer.”

Deferring their attorneys, the airline added that it “remains heartbroken” over the matter.

Rodriguez, however, thinks Delta’s efforts have fallen short, said Begnaud.

“If you’re flying in and out of Atlanta — this might sound silly, but keep an eye out for this dog,” he urged in a TikTok report. “There’s a chance she’s still on the airport property.”

“She could have gotten out, so if you live in Atlanta, if you live anywhere near the airport, please have an eye out for this dog.”

Airline crews in Atlanta are “still on the lookout,” Begnaud reported, and Rodriguez has been instructed to reach out to Delta’s lawyers regarding the investigation.

In the meantime, Daniela Rodriguez, Paula’s sister, has launched a fund-raiser “with the sincere aim of raising funds to cover the expenses to get the best resources available to try and locate Maia.”

She writes: “Now, we are forced to take matters into our own hands. This horrific situation has left my sister sleepless, with constant panic attacks and no appetite. I do not want her to get worse. That is why we have resorted to the thousands of people who have [shown] us their support since the story came out in the news. Maia and Paula need hope, we all do. Hope that they will be together again.”

“This is a time for humans, strangers to come together against all odds of a multi-billion dollar airline not claiming responsibility for their actions,” wrote Daniela. “We need to take action.”