News and notes from Reston (tm).

Monday, July 28, 2008

Worse Than That Time United Sent Your Suitcase to Houston: The Search for Jeddah

If you saw about a dozen people and a news crew prowling around Lake Audobon the other weekend, don't worry: they weren't searching for a body. Instead, they were scouring the area for a cute little puppy who escaped from Dulles Airport.

Jeddah, a 4-year-old female dog who resembles an Ibizan or Pharaoh hound, was reported missing from her crate at Dulles International Airport on July 10.

The dog was scheduled to travel with her owner John Weisner to Saudi Arabia, but just before he boarded his plane, Weisner was told by United Airlines staff that Jeddah had escaped her travel crate.

Since then, John and Ronia Weisner have stayed in Northern Virginia, searching for Jeddah with the help of dozens of volunteers. The search for Jeddah moved into Reston last weekend.
Wow. If it's that easy to get a largish animal out of a secure baggage-handling area in a heavily guarded airport, how hard must it be to get something in? Try not to think about that the next time you fly. But hey! Cute puppy! Given that he was spotted in Reston, we're sure there were plenty of like-minded individuals happy to pitch in, right?
Resident Lisa Qualls helped in the search. "I care very much about animals especially, and I'm a vegan activist," said Qualls, who learned about the search through an e-mail.
You know, sometimes it's just a bit too easy to write this blog. Mauve! Awesome! Anyway, what happened?
Qualls said she and about 15 volunteers, including a news crew and a woman with a tracking dog, searched for Jeddah near Lake Audubon, but they did not locate the dog.
Apparently Jeddah had enough of earth tones, as he's since been spotted repeatedly in Centreville, according to this site, where you can go if you want to help look for the dog or get something called "Twitter" updates. Those crazy kids!

Posted by Restonian at 7:04 AM

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1 comments:

  1. michaelinva02@gmail.comJul 29, 2008 02:11 AM
    Just when you thought the airlines couldn’t screw you any worse then they already do, they find a new way. And who do they screw – a US Soldier of all people.

    John Weisner, a US Soldier, was preparing to fly out of Washington Dulles Airport and report for duty overseas with his dog Jeddah on United Airlines when the nightmare began.

    United told Mr. Weisner the new sturdy crate he just bought wasn’t good enough and that he would have to buy one of theirs. As it turns out the United Airlines crate wasn’t sturdy after all, and while Jeddah was heading to the plane something crashed into the crate, bowing it inward and allowing Jeddah to escape.

    Mr. & Mrs. Weisner live in N.C. and have had to stay in the area to find their beloved dog and now Mr. Weisner has had to report for duty on 7/28/08 and will depart Dulles, ending his active 24/7 involvement in the search for Jeddah.

    And how does United Airlines repay one of our US Soldiers after losing his dog -- by refusing to pay for any of the Weisner’s expenses. So now Mrs. Weisner may be forced to leave the area and head back to N.C. without Jeddah (their only “child”) because of the ever increasing expenses.

    This isn’t right what United Airlines is doing to this family, not right at all, but how do you fight back against an airlines that doesn’t even care about our soldiers?

    So… can anything be done about this injustice???? It makes me mad as hell that United can screw over this family, a US Soldier and nothing can be done about it… Anyone have any ideas… ?????
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