
 
 Ty is a 6-year-old brindle and white Bull Terrier (Photo via Frank Romano) 
 
 A man is searching for his dog after he went missing Friday night, apparently from a cargo area at LAX. 
 
 Frank Romano said he was flying to Tampa out of LAX via Delta Airlines Friday night with his family and his 6-year-old bull terrier, Ty. Ty was in the cargo area in a carrier Romano said he had purchased from PetCo. Romano's family boarded the plane, but a Delta employee escorted him off the plane and told him that an hour earlier, Ty had chewed through the door of his pet kennel and escaped. Romano found this odd. 
 
 "I don't know how he could've bit through his kennel though when it had a metal door and was made of hard plastic," he said. 
 
 Romano says the story about what happened to his "best friend" gets even more bizarre from there. For one, he doesn't understand why the Delta employee didn't tell him about Ty's escape immediately. Also, he said he was told that the kennel Ty escaped from would appear in baggage claim, but it never did. 
 
 Romano said he searched around LAX, but Ty never turned up. The next day, his family flew to Tampa as planned. Romano has called Delta several times, but the situation has only become more confusing. 
 
 "They give us the run around," he told LAist. "Even gave us a number to the cargo place at Tampa airport saying he was there. We called and said they had no dogs." 
 
 If this story sounds odd, you might be disheartened to know that it's not uncommon. Delta apparently has a history of losing pets. The airline has allegedly lost so many dogs under their care that someone created a Change.org petition with over 2,000 signatures to demand they take responsibility. 
 
 In 2011, a New York man bought a puppy in Alabama, then arranged to have the puppy sent back to New York along with him. Delta temporarily misplaced the dog, then found it in Atlanta. In 2011, a German Shepherd headed from California to Germany to join its owner—a couple in the Army—got loose in Atlanta while under Delta's care. That dog was later hit by a car and died. Another unsatisfied Delta customer reported that he and his girlfriend had adopted a stray dog in Mexico in 2010, spent money nursing him to health and then made plans to bring the dog back to their home in Canada with them. Delta allegedly also gave them the run-around as to where the dog was with a similar story about an escape, but couldn't seem to produce the dog. 
 
 Delta also mixed up two children in 2010—a boy and a girl—sending one to Boston and the other to Cleveland when it was meant to be the other way around. 
 
 Romano is still looking for Ty, and still doesn't have any concrete answers from Delta. A representative at Delta told LAist that they would look into this and get back to us tomorrow. We're hoping we see Ty and Romano reunited soon. 
 
 Update, November 7, 12 p.m.: Delta has provided us with the following statement: 
 
 Delta continues to investigate what happened, but early indications show that procedures were followed, and the dog may have compromised the kennel on its own. Delta immediately worked with LAX airport teams and the customer to locate the dog but was unsuccessful. We remain in contact with this customer, and we are fully supporting the search for their pet. Delta understands that pets are important members of the family and regrets this occurred while this pet was entrusted to our care. ||||| Update: In December 2010, Delta lost yet another dog. This time, a German Shepherd mix named Nala was being flown to Germany. During her layover in Atlanta, the airlines called the owner, saying she was trying to break out of her crate so they wanted to keep her overnight. The next day, they suddenly couldn't find the owner's number once Nala escaped. She was found dead along the highway about a week later. "It is really hard for me to believe their story," said the owner. But, like the others, she hasn't been able to receive any answers from Delta. 
 
 Update: In November 2010, more problems were reported with Delta transporting dogs. While flying a family's two dogs from Germany to Washington state, via Atlanta, one died en route and the other was "misrouted" several times before finally being reunited with her family. 
 
 The fact that Delta could so egregiously mishandle a dog after the loss of her companion and all the publicity around the other cases of incompetent animal transport shows that they are not committed to safe pet travel. Delta Airlines needs to investigate these cases, as well as conduct a review to update their policies and procedures around animal transport. 
 
 ***** 
 
 In May 2010, Delta Airlines lost a dog who had been rescued in Mexico and was on his way to his new home in Canada. After giving the owners the run-around, they refunded the pet fee in the form of a $200 voucher. After public outrage, they offered more airline vouchers and reimbursement for what the couple had spent on vet care in Mexico. The dog has not been found, and Delta hasn't offered help to the rescue groups on-the-ground who are still looking for him. 
 
 In June 2010, a week after sending two kids to the wrong cities, they flew a puppy to California who was supposed to be headed for Maine. Again, Delta has not been forthcoming with information on what happened, whether the puppy - who was diagnosed by a vet with dehydration and pneumonia - received any care or attention from staff, how the mistake happened, and whether they'll compensate the owner in any reasonable way. 
 
 It is unacceptable for Delta Airlines to be so careless when transporting live animals. There's no amount of money - or airline vouchers - that can make up for a lost pet. Tell Delta to launch an internal investigation on what went wrong and how they will prevent it from happening again in the future.
– A man is trying to find his best friend after Delta Airlines lost track of the 6-year-old bull terrier Friday night. "I keep praying and wishing for him to come back," Frank Romano tells ABC News. Delta has told him they're looking for the dog, Ty, who seems to have gone missing at LAX when Romano and his family were headed to Tampa. After Romano boarded the plane, Delta staff told him Ty was missing, having bitten through the door of his kennel. Romano finds that confusing "when it had a metal door and was made of hard plastic," he tells the LAist. He searched the airport without finding the dog. The next day, he and his family headed to Tampa, where he is now. Meanwhile, he says he's received mixed reports from Delta, who at first told him they'd found the dog; then, "a few minutes later," said they hadn't. "They give us the run-around," he says. "Even gave us a number to the cargo place at Tampa airport saying he was there. We called and (they) said they had no dogs." Delta has lost enough dogs in the past to prompt a Change.org petition, LAist notes, pointing to three different incidents. "If I could I would go back to LA in a heartbeat," Romano says. "I bet I could find Ty faster than Delta can."