A family in Tampa, Florida, continued to look for their dog on Friday a week after it was discovered missing from a Delta Air Lines flight from LAX.
Frank Romano and his family were moving from Los Angeles to Tampa on Oct. 31. At the beginning of the flight, a Delta employee told Romano his dog Ty was missing. The family flew to Tampa the next morning, and the dog has still not been found.
"He's a member of the family," Romano told Tampa, Florida, NBC affiliate WFLA. "I felt like I was abandoning him."
Romano said Delta officials told him the dog had bitten through the metal carrier on the plane and ran across the airport grounds, but that he doesn't buy that story.
"I just don't know how he could bite through metal," he said.
Delta released a statement Friday in response.
"Delta continues to investigate what happened but early indications show procedures were followed and the dog may have compromised the kennel on its own,” the statement reads. “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 an important member of the family and regrets this occurred while this pet was entrusted to our care."
Romano bought Ty at BirdHouse DogHouse in North Hollywood last December after he was volunteer dog-walking him and "fell in love with him," he told WFLA.
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Ty is a bull terrier brindle and white. The family is still hoping someone in LA will find and identify the dog. In the meantime, they hold Delta responsible.
"I'm never flying with them again," Romano said.
