Anyone who travels a lot knows that a good flight attendant can make a trip a great experience for everyone.
Even now, when people are not flying as much due to the pandemic, flight attendants are still hard at work, aiding not just people, but animals, too.
That was the case for one heroic employee who went above and beyond to help a puppy get home.
In late July, a puppy was found left in a box on the side of the road, and brought to Animal Rescue League of El Paso.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for the stray pup, dubbed Harris, to find a forever home: an adoption request from a perfect family soon came in.
However, there was one problem: they lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, and no one knew how they’d transport the puppy 2,000 miles away.
But then one kind stranger stepped up to help in a huge way: a Southwest flight attendant named Marcel offered to transport the puppy on one of her flights!
“I made a call to one of my friends who works at Southwest and she goes, ‘No Loretta they can’t fly unchaperoned,’” Loretta Hyde of the Animal Rescue League told KTSM.
“It was Marcel who said ‘I happen to have two days off, I’ll fly to El Paso pick up the boy,’” she explained. “She used her flying privileges to get him on Southwest and get him all the way to North Carolina.”
Marcel and Harris began their adventure, and the puppy quickly became the star of the flight, beloved by the passengers and even the pilots.
“Everyone needed to see a little kindness and this puppy brought so much love,” Marcel said. “The two pilots I had, they took him for a walk in the airport and all the passengers on the plane were just wanting to see him.”
And sometimes a good deed is infectious—along their journey, other people helped them out in their own ways.
Marcel says an employee paid for her tickets because there was a chance the flight would be full, and a hotel employee was so moved she comped their room and got her a room “with a little balcony so Harris could go out.”
“All for one little El Paso puppy who was left on the side of the road in a box,” Loretta said.
Soon, the travelers made it to Raleigh, where Harris was picked up by his new family, who were thrilled to see him.
How sweet! Thank you to this flight attendant for going so above and beyond to get this puppy to his new home!
