That Poor Dog’s Death Was Positively Insane — Now There’s an Investigation

Will brightly colored tags affixed to pet carriers make a difference? Will such tags save lives during air travel? Oh — and what about common sense?

After a 10-month-old French bulldog died on a United Airlines flight earlier this week, when a flight attendant insisted the animal — in his carrier — be crammed into an overhead bin for the duration of a four-hour flight, a Texas district attorney is investigating the death of the animal, CBS News and other outlets are reporting Thursday.

Little Kokito died after his owner claimed a flight attendant in Houston forced her to stuff the animal — inside his carrier — into an overhead bin. The puppy was up there without air or water for hours — and when the plane landed in New York City, the owner discovered the dog had perished. She and her family are grieving the animal’s loss.

Now a legislator is getting involved. Sen. John Kennedy tweeted this week he’ll file a bill Thursday “that will prohibit airlines from putting animals in overhead bins,” CBS reported.

“What happened to this pet was disgraceful,” said Kennedy, the junior senator from Louisiana. “We need to get to the bottom of it.” He added that while there are many other important issues to address in this country, “This is important, too.”

He tweeted as well, “I don’t enjoy having to legislate common decency, but by God, I’m going to do it until they take this seriously.”

And now United is apologizing for something else: A German shepherd that was bound for Kansas City somehow wound up in Japan instead — after he was confused with a Great Dane.

The airline now says that beginning next month, it will “issue brightly colored tags for carry-on bags containing animals, and the airline is apologizing again for this latest mistake,” as CBS News reported.

Related: Dog Died Midflight in an Overhead Bin — Latest Outrage in the Air

The owner of the German shepherd, named Irgo, says he’s expected home Thursday night — and the Great Dane that should have been flown to Tokyo has now apparently arrived at its correct destination.

“I honestly don’t know how it could happen … A Great Dane and a shepherd, they’re two completely different dogs. Look nothing alike,” said Kara Swindle, the owner of Irgo, the shepherd, as CBS News noted.

Meanwhile, the owners of the dog that died say the United flight attendant was aware there was a live animal in the carrier in that overhead bin — the dog apparently barked all through takeoff. United has apologized for the “tragic accident.”