Yo quiero a ride!
In amongst the TSA’s Instagram feed filled with photos of drugs, firearms, knives, grenades and other prohibited items found in carry-on or checked luggage, this harmless-looking Chihuahua certainly stands out.
The dog has been added to the gallery because Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found the pooch inside a checked bag at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday.
The hard-sided suitcase triggered an alarm, which required a Transportation Safety Officer to open the bag and inspect its contents.
Once the dog was discovered, TSA worked with the airline to locate the dog’s owner, who “was just as surprised as the TSA officer who found it,” said agency spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein.
“The woman said that the dog must have climbed into the suitcase and curled up in the clothing while she was packing for her trip. She had no idea the little pup had crawled in,” she said.
Farbstein said the woman called her husband, who went to the airport to pick up the four-legged stowaway and take it home.
On its website, TSA has a section advising passengers the proper way to travel with pets. While pets may travel in kennels as checked baggage, putting pets inside a checked suitcase is neither addressed – nor advised.
Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.
This story was originally published on March 6 at 4:54 p.m.