Camp Pendleton Sailor Reunites With Dog After Airline ‘Loses’ Pup

By Beth Ford Roth, KPBS

Camp Pendleton-based Navy Petty Officer Josh Bulla considers his dog Congo more than just a best friend. He says the pup is like a son to him. Bulla recently transferred from Guam to Camp Pendleton, but when he arrived at the San Diego Airport, he discovered the airline he'd flown had lost his dog.

The folks at the United Airlines did not know where Congo was. San Francisco Bay Area television station KGO-TV got involved and United soon tracked the dog to Hawaii.

United Airlines released a statement on the kerfuffle, which read in part:

"We didn't provide him the service he would have liked and we aim to offer to our customers. We went ahead and refunded him that fee."

(The fee being the cost of shipping the dog from Guam to San Diego.)

United blamed a paperwork mistake for Congo's unfortunate side trip.