Family calls dogs’ WestJet experience ‘heartbreaking’

Megan Copeland hasn't had many opportunities to return home since moving to Alberta. Especially not for months at a time.

Her husband is the military, posted in Cold Lake, a city in northeastern Alberta. Outside special occasions, trips to visit family aren't always an option.

But with Copeland on maternity leave, and Tim scheduled for training deployment, she saw a chance to take her baby boy James and two dogs, Willow and Henry, back home to St. Catharines for two months.

November's trip to Ontario was uneventful -- in a good way.

The trip back to Alberta, however, was a different story.

Due to scheduling issues, Copeland (along with Tim and James) arrived first. Their dogs were scheduled to fly with WestJet five days later with a noon arrival.

The morning of Jan. 10, they made the three-hour drive form Cold Lake to Edmonton. The flight had landed, but Copeland was told to come back, as it could take 90 minutes to transport her dogs for pickup.

An hour later, a second employee said while the flight had landed, nobody could find Willow and Henry. Soon afterwards, Copeland learned they were not in Calgary.

She was told her dogs would be put on the next flight to Edmonton, landing at 4:40 p.m. But it kept getting delayed. WestJet called and informed Copeland the plane wouldn't arrive until 10:30 p.m.

I was really upset. I was really wound up and probably not very nice, but I just said, My dogs have been in their crates for 15 to 16 hours at this point. They've had no food, they've had no water, they haven't had any potty breaks. I need somebody to give them water," Copeland recalled asking.

The woman on the phone said she would try, but policy doesn't allow dogs to be removed from their crates, or given water in case of an accident. I was absolutely devastated at that," said Copeland.

Hours after leaving home, they went to a hotel to wait. Within an hour, WestJet informed them the flight had been cancelled. If Willow and Henry were not picked up, they'd be charged $600 for boarding.

Not willing to wait, they drove three hours to Calgary.

(Willow and Henry) were so dehydrated. They were so anxious, just not acting like themselves at all," said Copeland.

While she understands policy, in this case, after 20 hours in a crate, she said her dogs should have been treated as living beings, not like baggage."

There should be someone there who is able to take them on a little walk to go pee at least, especially if they're going to be there for an extended amount of time. There should be someone to care for them," she said.

For the next day or so, Copeland said Willow and Henry were not themselves. Instead of being full of play and jumping around, they were quiet.

Anytime I left the house, to go get groceries or to run to the car, they were hysterically crying and acting like the end of the world. Which is not normal for them."

WestJet media and public relations strategist Denise Kenny said in an emailed statement WestJet is aware of Copeland's experience but said it was an extremely isolated incident that was compounded by weather conditions."

Kenny said the original flight was diverted, and subsequent flights were cancelled due to ongoing weather conditions. During the phone call informing Copeland of the cancellation, Kenny said Copeland was told her dogs had been given water, but would be sent to boarding if not picked up, as outlined and agreed to by every cargo customer with travelling pets."

In this circumstance, WestJet Cargo's support teams made every effort to support Ms. Copeland and provide her with options for her dogs and we do encourage her to reach out to discuss her experience further with our team should she wish to do so," said Kenny.

Copeland said she has reached out to WestJet by email and phone, but has yet to speak with anyone.

She understands the challenges caused from weather, but doesn't understand why she was told her dogs landed in Edmonton upon arrival at the airport. Or why it took her asking for a WestJet employee to provide Willow and Henry with water.

(WestJet) never offered anything. They never contacted me saying can we do this' or anything like that," she said. I had to, basically, beg the woman to get them to give them something."

While she'd like to see compensation in some way, she is not expecting anything. After sharing her experience online, Copeland heard stories -- some better, some worse than her own.

I just don't want anything like this to happen to anyone else's family members ever again. It's such animal cruelty and it's not acceptable," she said. It's so heartbreaking and seeing how heartbroken and devastated (Willow and Henry) were, it just destroyed me."

It is not a realistic option, but Copeland said she'd now rather drive 4,000 kilometres to Ontario than put her dogs on an airplane. But that shouldn't be the choice -- they're family members and travel with them, wherever they go.

I'm just so nervous to put them on any kind of airplane ever again. I don't know how they're going to be treated. It scares me so much," she said.