Backlash for United Airlines after wet dog left for hour on airport runway

UNITED Airlines has suffered a social media backlash after a passenger watched as a dog was allegedly left in the pouring rain on a runway.

UNITED Airlines has suffered a social media backlash after a dog was allegedly left in the pouring rain on an airport runway.

Twitter user @theregoesbabs claimed the animal was out in the rain for more than half an hour.

Evil United Airlines leaves dog on rainy cold runway for more than a half hour despite alerts to staff :-((((( boo pic.twitter.com/xcwVOxIpV9

— barbara (@theregoesbabs) December 28, 2014

The picture has so far been retweeted more than 900 times and caused anger among animal activists, including Australian singer Sia who declared:

I will never fly @United again. Thanks @theregoesbabs for exposing their shitty treatment of our beloved pets.

— sia (@Sia) December 29, 2014

But United Airlines was just as quick to respond, instead placing responsibility for the dog on its PetSafe program.

@theregoesbabs Thanks for telling us. The weather can change & may have been clear when PetSafe dropped off. They're the ones to call too.

— United (@united) December 28, 2014

Also not to be outdogged by social media, it wasn’t long before the United twitter feed was full of retweets of golden retrievers and hashtags for #comfortdogs just to prove they love a good pet.

Start your holiday travels off on the right paw-- Snuggles welcome at ORD and IAH today. #holidayspirit #comfortdogs pic.twitter.com/MWDD19bjJi

— United (@united) December 23, 2014

Ruthie Comfort Dog is definitely on the "nice" list! #dogs #dogsoftwitter #Christmas #HolidaySpirit #united #dogs pic.twitter.com/Mb9tD2GbqJ

— LCC K9 Comfort Dogs (@K9ComfortDogs) December 23, 2014

S/O to @united for bringing a bunch of golden retrievers to Chicago O'Hare and fulfilling my wildest dreams pic.twitter.com/7qwK0TmCYy

— Haley Mathews (@HaleyMathews) December 22, 2014

Spreading some #HolidaySpirit at IAH Houston with @united and this little guy Moe #FlyerFriendly #pettherapy pic.twitter.com/MxtgJBeM2s

— Elizabeth Ginter (@elizabethginter) December 20, 2014