The Nevada baggage handler whose dismissal for trying to help a sick and starving dog created a national outcry has been offered her old job back at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
The woman, Lynn Jones of Reno, was fired last month when she insisted that the dog be taken to a veterinarian.
"I was crying," Jones says. "I said, 'This dog's going to die.'"
Jones' story took off this week after it was reported by NBC station KRNV of Reno.
Jones worked for a separate company not run by the airport, but the airport's chief executive, Krys Bart — who is on the board of directors of the Nevada Humane Society — said she still received more than 250 emails and 100 phone calls from angry animal lovers demanding that Jones be rehired.
Tuesday, Airport Terminal Services, the private company that employed Jones, told The Associated Press that it would offer Jones her job back, with back pay.
ATS President Sally Leible said she regretted the way the incident was handled and hoped Jones would accept the offer.
Jones previously told KRNV that her ATS supervisor ordered her to allow the dog on to the plane, but when she resisted, she was told: "You're done. Go home."
Jones says she returned to the airport in time to see Airport Police and Washoe County Animal Services personnel gather up the dog and take it to a veterinarian for treatment. She says her employers deactivated her security badge and refused to return her phone calls.
Authorities say that three days later, the dog was allowed to fly.
In a statement on its website, ATS said it "takes this situation extremely seriously and commends this employee's situational awareness and her desire to raise the concern on behalf of the canine involved."
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