I'm sure the mother (and perhaps daughter) are filled with regret. Hard for me to sit in harsh judgment of them, however. A solo parent traveling with a child, baby, and puppy -- and you start facing orders which carry the force of law behind them? Of course, it's easy to say in retrospect that you go scorched earth and risk grounding the flight, being arrested, etc. to protect the dog. I think that becomes a lot tougher when being arrested means you're risking separating yourself from your kids and effectively handing them over to state custody. I'd imagine that possibility becomes even more complicated when you add additional factors like maternal instincts and being a minority in America challenging an authority figure, factors which are tough for me to truly empathize with.

I'd rather direct my energy towards the institutional negligence involved -- which I'd be shocked if was not a dominant factor given United's track record. Of the 24 animals that died on flights in the U.S. last year, 18 of them were on United flights. Of the 15 animals injured, 13 were on United. I'm guessing this isn't just bad luck.