- A dog was left stranded among lost baggage at Toronto Pearson International Airport for hours, CTV News reported.
- A distressed Winston was only located by airport staff 21 hours later.
- Instances of canceled flights and lost baggage is mounting as airports struggle with staff shortages and high demand.
A dog was left stranded alongside lost baggage at Toronto Pearson International Airport for over 20 hours, the Canadian news outlet CTV News reported.
Jena Butts, who brought the dog called Winston back to Canada from the Dominican Republic, said that airport staff advised her to go home after Winston did not emerge with her other luggage, the outlet reported.
"I was very angry and I didn't understand how nobody could be at the airport to help me find my dog. This is a living creature," Butts said, per CTV News.
"He's very traumatized," she said. "I will definitely not be travelling with dogs for a while now."
Winston, who was in his crate in a corner of the airport with lost bags, was only found by airport staff 21 hours after Butts' flight landed, she said.
Butts, who traveled with Air Transat, said she received an apology from a service provider for the airline at Pearson International, but had not heard from the airline directly.
Air Transat and Toronto Pearson International Airport did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The issue with the dog comes amid ongoing travel disruption, as airports and airlines struggle to retain enough staff to meed mounting demand for travel.
Passengers flooded social media with images and videos of baggage mounting at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest airport, over the weekend.
Luggage also piled up at London Heathrow airport following a spate of flight delays and cancellations due to staff shortages and high demand.