Latam blamed the food for the death of a dog that died in the hold of a company plane in 2021. The information was sent to the São Paulo Court in January, in an attempt for Latam to avoid paying R$40,000 in moral damages for the death of the Weiser dog. The case is similar to that of the dog Joca, who died on a Gol flight last Monday (22/4).
The couple Giuliano and Nathalia Conte sued Latam in 2022 after their dog Weiser, an American Bully breed, died during a company flight between Guarulhos (SP) and Aracaju the previous year. The animal was transported in a wooden box, which was gnawed. Giuliano and Nathalia Conte asked for R$50,000 in moral damages.
In July 2023, judge Carolina Bertholazzi ordered Latam to pay R$10,000 in moral damages. The company paid the compensation. The couple appealed: they charged the R$50,000 again, which the company rejected. In January of this year, Latam brought a new argument: the ration given by tutors. The appeal has not yet been judged.
“The dog had ingested food moments before the trip, and this ingestion, it must be reiterated, was on the advice of the appellants themselves, and most likely died for that reason”, wrote Latam, who also accused the couple of trying to “inflame the courts in order to receive an amount known to be undue”.
When contacted, Latam did not comment on the case. The airline stated that in 2024 it would suspend the maximum weight requirement of seven kilos for animals in plane cabins.
In recent days, the dog Joca, a Golden Retriever breed, died on a Gol flight. The dog was supposed to be taken from Guarulhos to Sinop (MT), but was transported to Fortaleza. The issue mobilized the Lula government. On Wednesday (24/4), Lula said, wearing a tie in honor of the animal:
“I think Gol has to be accountable, I think Anac has to monitor this and I think we cannot allow this to continue happening in Brazil.” The first lady, sociologist Rosângela Silva, said that the dog was “treated as cargo, and not as a living being”. The Ministry of Ports and Airports and the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) are investigating the case.
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