A woman abandoned her Goldendoodle at a JetBlue ticket counter after she learned she needed to complete paperwork to fly with her dog as a service animal, according to Las Vegas police.
“We can’t believe we have to say this … but please don’t abandon your dog at the airport — or anywhere else,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a post shared to X on Wednesday, February 18.
Footage shared by the police showed the February 2 incident at the Harry Reid International Airport, where the woman was seen tying her 2-year-old Goldendoodle to a metal carry-on baggage sizer at the JetBlue ticket counter and walking off.
Airline staff told officers that she left her dog after she failed to fill out required paperwork that would have allowed her to travel with her canine as a service dog, according to police.
“When the required paperwork was not completed, the passenger was denied a boarding pass,” police said. “She then left the dog behind and proceeded through the airport to the departure gate.”
The woman was identified as Germiran Bryson, according to police booking logs obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Bryson is now facing charges of abandoning an animal, torturing, injuring, abandoning or starving an animal, resisting a public officer, and making a false statement to obstruct a public officer, court records viewed by Us Weekly on Thursday, February 19, show.
An attorney was not immediately listed for her in court records.
After Bryson left her dog, the video shared by police shows two airport staff members approach the Goldendoodle, which is seen wagging its tail in response.
Then one of the employees bends down and pets the dog, the footage shows.
Officers ultimately found Bryson at an airport gate and questioned her about the alleged abandonment, according to authorities.
Bryson was accused of telling police that she left her Goldendoodle because she was not allowed 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,” police said.
Officers then led Bryson back through a security checkpoint and she allegedly “became hostile” as they tried to arrest her, according to police.
Afterward, Animal Protective Services assumed care of her dog for a temporary holding period of 10 days, police said.
Bryson never went to get her dog in that span of time, according to police
The dog, which has since been named JetBlue, is going to be placed for adoption, police said.
JetBlue is now in the care of Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas, according to a Facebook post from the non-profit rescue organization.
In a February 18 Facebook post, the rescue said that while his abandonment was “heartbreaking,” what “has followed has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Several applications and inquiries to adopt JetBlue have been received by the organization, the rescue said in the post.
“This sweet boy is incredible,” the post reads. “Truly incredible. And after everything he’s been through, the thought of him ever experiencing abandonment again has us on very high alert.”
“We will be extremely intentional in choosing his forever family,” the post continued. “He deserves stability. Security. Commitment. A lifetime promise. In a powerful way, JetBlue has brought awareness to rescue, to abandonment laws, and to the reality that dogs are not disposable.”
The rescue also reminded the public that in addition to JetBlue, the organization has several other “amazing dog just like him who are also waiting for their second chance.”
Read the full article here