Dog denied boarding on flight due to little-known pet carrier size issue

An Alberta woman’s dog was not allowed to board a flight back to Calgary (Image: Getty) A Canadian woman’s dog was not allowed to board a flight due to a little-known pet carrier issue. The incident, which took place on August 29, saw Julie Carbonneau stopped by an airline agent minutes prior to boarding the WestJet flight from Calgary to Montreal. The pet owner claimed she was reportedly told she was not allowed on the plane as Lucy, her 19-pound dog, couldn’t stand up straight in the carrier. Julie recounted: ‘I go to board and this person says: ‘Oh, you can’t get on the plane.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? What do you mean I can’t get on the plane?” The staff member pointed out how Lucy could not move freely inside the carrier, although Julie argued this had not been an issue before. ‘She was laying down in there quite comfortably,’ Julie added to Globalnews.ca. ‘She can lay down in there and lift her head and look. She was fine.’ Julie explained Lucy had encountered no issues flying to Montreal back in June, also with WestJet. She also explained she arrived at Montreal’s airport three hours before her Calgary flight to ensure plenty of time just in case. Julie claimed she had no problems checking in and that the original staff members even re-checked after Lucy had been denied. She said: ‘The lady that allowed me to get on the plane grabbed my dog again, put her in the kennel and said: ‘I don’t see what’s wrong with this.” But Julie was then advised she would need to get another pet carrier, adding that she had her daughter, who lived two-and-a-half hours away, buy her one. Julie Carbonneau was stopped by an airline agent minutes prior to boarding (Image: Getty) She gave her four pet carriers, but Julie worried would still be turned away. However, the second carrier was given the green light by WestJet and the agent who had denied their boarding, whom Julie claimed didn’t even see the new carrier. Julie, her young son and Lucy, were then told to rebook another flight as they had missed their initial flight. ‘I’m not getting on. There’s no way I’m getting on. I need to get a new carrier. I’m going to have to rebook flights,’ she said. ‘I said, ‘Is WestJet going to do that? He said, ‘nope.’ He said that’s at your expense. We’re not going to look after that and we’re not responsible for that.’ WestJet eventually decided to reverse course on Julie’s payment for the next day’s flight. However, Julie is still demanding the airline to refund her for the 24-hour delay, along with her Montreal hotel room and other expenses.