PETA Sends $5,000 to Heroes Who Found Maia, Dog Missing at Airport
For Immediate Release:
September 12, 2023
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
Three heroes are receiving a combined $5,000 reward from PETA for helping to locate and rescue Maia, the dog who was lost at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on August 18. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of Robin Cole Allgood, a Georgia-based lost animal recovery specialist, and two FedEx employees, including Norris Champion, Maia was found hiding beneath a cargo rack on Saturday and brought to safety.
Photo courtesy of Paula Rodriguez
After Maia was lost, Allgood coordinated with the dog’s guardian and posted “missing” signs around the airport to aid in the search. A FedEx employee spotted Maia on Friday evening and contacted Allgood in the early hours of the morning on Saturday after seeing one of her signs. Allgood rushed to the airport, where she noticed Champion on his way in and gave him a photo of Maia. Champion shared the photo with his team during a meeting, after which three other team members began searching for Maia and eventually found her in the cargo area.
“Thanks to these heroes, Maia will soon be safe at home with her loving guardian,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to look to these individuals’ example and do everything they can to help whenever they see an animal in need.”
PETA is sending Champion’s coworkers a vegan gift basket filled with protein-packed snacks to keep them energized on the job. Allgood is receiving PETA’s Compassionate Action Award for posting the signs and, after Maia was spotted on Friday, spending around 20 hours at the airport searching for her—even squeezing herself under the cargo rack to pull Maia to safety.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
