Airline will be investigated for mistreatment after dog dies while traveling

The family of owners of the dog Joca, a 4-year-old golden retriever who died after air transportation, was at the Guarulhos Sectional Police Station, on Tuesday afternoon (23), to register a police report against the airline that transported the dog. animal.

The case was registered as a crime of animal abuse and will be investigated by the Environmental Crimes Investigation Department.

Businesswoman Marcia Aparecida Martins, mother of engineer João Fantazzini, who was traveling with the dog, stated that Joca's death took everyone by surprise. According to her, he left the house happy and playing, and even interacted with the employees at the airport's pet space.

Marcia reported that her son chose to travel with the company in question because of the possibility of traveling on the same aircraft as the dog, bound for the city of Sinop (MT). “João didn’t want to be away from him for even a minute,” she said.

According to the mother, João was notified by phone about the company's operational error that led to the dog being taken to Fortaleza (CE). According to her, they asked the boy to return to Guarulhos, where he had embarked, to find the animal again. She claims that she was not offered another option.

At the airport in São Paulo, João spoke to a GOL Linhas Aéreas employee, who informed him that the dog had become ill during the flight and that a veterinarian had been called. Soon after, the tutor found out about Joca's death.

In a statement, GOL stated that the passenger chose to return to Guarulhos to meet the dog. The company also says that, after landing at Guarulhos Airport, company employees were “surprised by the death of the animal”.

GOL deeply regretted what happened and said it is offering all necessary support to the animal's owner. “The investigation of the details of what happened is being carried out with full priority by our team”, added the company.