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Dog dies during Delta Air Lines flight layover at Detroit Metro Airport

8-year-old Pomeranian's body found inside his crate in cargo facility

ROMULUS, Mich. – A family is demanding answers after their dog died during a layover at Detroit Metro Airport.

The 8-year-old Pomeranian's body was found inside his crate in a cargo facility.

His family was traveling on a Delta Air Lines flight from Phoenix to Newark, New Jersey, with a layover at DTW. When they landed in Detroit, Alejandro was alive and well.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to Alejandro on a Delta flight on Wednesday morning.

"He was in their care and they didn't take care of him," Michael Dellegrazie said.

Dellagrazie said Alejandro was headed to New Jersey from Phoenix and had a stop in Detroit.

"When he landed here in Michigan, he was alive at 6:30 a.m., and then at 8:20, he wasn't moving and it just doesn't make any sense to me," Dellagrazie said.

Dellagrazie flew into Detroit on Saturday afternoon with his attorney, Evan Oshan.

"Things need to change, and I'm here to tell you that the people will make them change," Oshan said.

They came to Delta cargo, where Alejandro was being kept. After hours of back and forth, a supervisor told them the dog would be released.

Delta released Alejandro in a crate with his belongings. Alejandro's blanket now has blood stains on it, sparking more outrage and questions.

Oshan and Dellagrazie will be accompanying Alejandro to a facility for a necropsy to determine how he died.

"We lost a family member. That's exactly what happened, and somebody has to be responsible for it," Dellagrazie said.


About the Author
Koco McAboy headshot

Koco joined the Local 4 News team in September of 2016. She was born and raised in Metro Detroit, attended Central Michigan University, and previously worked at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.

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