Dog Abandoned At San Francisco Airport Finds Forever Home With Pilot

Photo: United Airlines

A dog abandoned at San Francisco Airport in August has found a forever home with a United Airlines pilot. The dog, who was named Polaris, was traveling with a passenger from China, who lacked the proper paperwork to bring the puppy into the United States.

The passenger decided to surrender the dog at customs and then continued to their next destination.

According to the Washington Post, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told airport officials that Polaris would have to be sent back to China or left at the airport.

"The initial options were very grim," Vincent Passafiume, United's director of customer service, told the Post. "He would be euthanized upon getting back to China or locally put down."

Passafiume said that local officials were not happy with either option and reached out to the company's governmental affairs team for help. Officials lobbied the CDC to rescind their ruling, and eventually, they did. However, the agency said that Polaris must remain in quarantine at the airport for four months.

The airline then reached out to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who helped arrange for United Airlines pilot William Dale to adopt Polaris.

After the four-month quarantine, Polaris boarded a first-class flight to Los Angeles, where he met his new family.

"I only hope that we can do half as good a job of taking care of him as the United staff did," Dale said. "More than one employee said to me, 'You better take good care of him … or else.' There was even a wag of a finger."


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