Love Island's Tayla Broad slams Qantas for 'disgusting' treatment of her dog

Former Love Island star Tayla Broad has slammed Qantas for its alleged 'disgusting' treatment of her dog Charlie, who she claims was left without food or water for over nine hours.

Taking to her Instagram stories on Tuesday, Tayla, who is married to AFL star Nathan Broad, slammed the airline, writing: "Our poor Charlie was meant to embark on a flight early this morning. Instead, he has been left at the airport in a crate for over nine hours without food.

"Qantas didn't notify us of any changes so my brother has been waiting at Perth airport to collect him for hours. No one is able to tell us where Charlie is, just that he didn't get put on his morning flight. We are unsure if he is currently in the air or still stuck inside a crate at the airport."

She continued, "Every person we speak to gives us a different answer as to where they 'think' he is! This is disgusting and animal abuse. We should have been informed and given the opportunity to collect our little man hours ago if he even is in Melbourne that is."

Tayla added, "@Qantas, disgusted is an understatement."

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The former reality star later updated her followers, saying Charlie had been picked up by the team at Departure Pets, who took him to their depot to give him "water, food and care".

"@Qantas thought it was OK to attempt to put him on a later flight tonight at 5pm which would mean he was in a crate with no care for over 14 hours," she added. "In what world is that OK?"

Tayla later shared a photo of Charlie back at home, saying, "Home safe! This is breaking our hearts though. He is so rattled, couldn't get up our stairs due to exhaustion, so dehydrated, drooling and out of sorts. @Qantas you have a lot of explaining to do!"

She later told her followers that she and her husband Nathan would be making reports to RSPCA Victoria and PETA.

On Wednesday, Tayla shared a photo of Charlie in a dog bed, writing, "Charlie won't even look at us this morning, I hate that he thinks we put him through that."

A Qantas spokesperson told Yahoo Lifestyle: "Unfortunately, the pet was unable to travel on its scheduled flight and was put onto the following available flight later in the day.

"Our team regularly checked the pet was OK, refilled their water and made sure the crate was clean. The crate was kept under cover in our freight terminal while waiting.

"We know how important it is for people to know their pets are well cared for when they’re travelling with us. We’re sorry for the delay and we’re working with our pet travel agents to make sure we can get them where they need to go as soon as possible."

The Instagram account @influencer.updates.au also shared the story, with many users sharing their heartbreak for Charlie.

"My heart hurts," one user wrote.

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"I don't care if I have to drive for days, with pets whining and carrying on - I'm never letting an airline take my pets. Ever," another said. "I'm sorry for her dog that he went through all that."

"This is so messed up," a third said.

"Ahhhh this is why I would never ever ever put my dog in a plane," someone else added. "You just have no idea what really goes on. Would drive a hundred hours just to make sure my little babe is safe."

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