- What Happened: A woman tied her goldendoodle to a JetBlue ticket counter at Las Vegas airport and walked to her departure gate.
- Why It Matters: When officers found her at the gate, she claimed the dog had a tracking device and that made abandoning him acceptable.
- Bottom Line: The dog, now named Jet Blue, was never reclaimed by his owner and will soon be available for adoption after spending time in foster care.
A Las Vegas woman learned the hard way that abandoning your dog at an airport is not a gray area, legally or morally.
The woman arrived at Harry Reid International Airport with her goldendoodle and attempted to board a JetBlue flight with the animal as a service dog. There was just one problem. The dog was not registered as a service animal, and JetBlue staff informed her she needed to complete the required online documentation before the dog could fly. She did not complete the paperwork. So JetBlue denied her a boarding pass.
A reasonable person at that point might have called a friend, booked a pet-friendly ride, or made arrangements for the dog. This woman tied him to the JetBlue ticket counter and walked straight to her departure gate.
NEW: Woman arrested after ditching her dog at the Las Vegas airport when she was told she couldn't bring it on board.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 19, 2026
The woman was told the goldendoodle couldn't fly because it wasn't a registered service animal.
Instead of leaving the airport, the woman decided to tie the dog… pic.twitter.com/oe4XKvHTax
When officers caught up with her at Gate D1 and asked why she left the animal behind, her explanation was something else entirely. She said the dog had a tracking device, as if a GPS collar somehow made abandonment acceptable.
"When asked why she abandoned the dog, she stated the airline would not allow her to fly with it and claimed the dog had a tracking device, implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would return to her," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.
She then became hostile and resisted officers who attempted to detain her. She was charged with animal abandonment and resisting arrest.
The dog spent ten days in Animal Protective Services holding. His owner never came back for him. Not once.
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department gave him a new name: Jet Blue. He is currently in foster care and will soon be up for adoption.
Some dogs are just too good for the owners they get stuck with.