United Airlines responds to photo of dog on Houston tarmac

HOUSTON -- A picture taken at IAH on Sunday has gone viral. It shows a dog kennel sitting on a tarmac outside a plane in the rain.

Twitter user @theregoesbabs first posted the photo from the seat on her plane saying she watched as the dog sat outside in the rain for more than half an hour.

The photo has been retweeted more than 1,500 times and started a firestorm of comments aimed at United. The airline then responded on its Twitter account.

A spokesperson for United Airlines tells ABC-13 the situation a great misunderstanding.

The spokesperson has a dedicated program for loading animals onto planes called PetSafe. United says all animals are sorted in climate controlled facility before being driven to their flight. The spokesperson says the kennel was placed under the wing to shield the pet from rain and wind.

United says it "checked several cameras and confirmed that our ramp employees in Houston never left the pet unattended after our PetSafe employees dropped the kennel off." United says cameras show several employees in the area the entire time the dog kennel was on the tarmac.

Animals are always loaded last onto the plane so they can be the first back off the plane.

United tells ABC-13 the kennel was dry and says the animal was not in the rain. The spokesperson also says there were red cones surrounding the kennel so the animal wouldn't be forgotten as an added safety precaution.

United says this was all standard procedure, and the animal in question made it to its destination safely.