Hendrix, an English Springer Spaniel dog, on his way from New Jersey to Phoenix landed in Ireland instead, due to a mix-up at the airport.
Six-year-old Hendrix, travelling in cargo, was put on a wrong flight to Ireland from New Jersey's Newark Airport on Thursday, United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.
When the airline realised the dog had been put on the wrong flight, immediate steps were taken to return Hendrix to his owner, Edith Albach, she said.
Phoenix television station KNXV reports that the first word Albach got about the mix-up was in a phone call from the airline 10 minutes before the flight Hendrix was supposed to be on, landed in Phoenix.
"I felt like somebody punched me in the stomach. I mean, that's my dog. That's like my child," Albach said.
While on the unexpected detour, Hendrix was walked and fed by United staff, and he was able to spend time with his owner when he returned to Newark before departing for his original destination of Phoenix, McCarthy said.
Hendrix landed safely in Phoenix Friday night.
"When my mom called me I was like 'my dog got sent to frickin Ireland? How Ireland? Not even like he went to Florida...He's in Ireland,'" Albach's daughter Meredith Grant told KNXV.
Following the mix-up, United apologised and offered a full refund, Albach said.
"I wasn't even looking for a refund. I just wanted somebody to say we screwed up," she said. "That's not what they said."
Grant is happy to have her dog back, but wants United to punish the person responsible.
"They should not have their job anymore, I mean, he's been on a plane for 24 hours.
