I couldn't believe what I was reading when I saw that tragedy had struck yet another United Airlines passenger on Tuesday when her 10-month-old puppy died in an overhead bin in the flight cabin. No, the woman wasn't looking for more leg room or a way to quieten her furry pal; she was made to store her dog in the overhead compartment by a flight attendant.

A passenger on the same flight seated one row away, took to social media saying, "I witnessed a United flight attendant instruct a woman to put her dog carrier with a live dog in an overhead bin. The passenger adamantly pushed back, sharing verbally that her dog was in the bag. The flight attendant continued to ask the passenger to do it, and she eventually complied," she posted on her Twitter account. 

When the plane landed, the dog was found dead. The family fell to the floor of the plane in tears.

I cannot even begin to imagine something like that happening to me.

In China, Hainan airlines recently began to allow pets in the cabin and during this year's Spring Festival, many pet owners chose to take their pets with them on holiday. Pets are part of the family, not pieces of luggage.

Surely, they would never ask a parent to store their child in an overhead bin; how is a pet any different?

United Airlines took full responsibility for the incident, calling it a "tragic accident that should have never occurred."

There are strict regulations for owners to take pets on board. How can the flight attendants not be aware of what they are supposed to do? Have they received no training?

As an expat who has been living in Beijing for two years, I have seen many foreigners come and go with their pets, though some places have very strict policies on bringing an animal into the country.

With all these rules and restrictions when traveling with a pet or taking a pet home, the last thing that a pet owner should be worried about is whether their pet will survive the flight. Airlines and attendants need to be properly trained and taught how to care for pets on board planes, whether in the cabin or in the cargo hold. These precious companions are irreplaceable parts of their owners' lives, not something that can be easily replaced, like a bag of lost clothes.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.