Miniature Horse travels in pet kennel

U.S. customs officials who opened a dog kennel inside an airplane that landed in Atlanta last week were surprised to find a hunched-over miniature horse looking up at them.

The incident could land the airline and the passenger transporting the horse into trouble, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that transporting the horse in a kennel amounts to animal cruelty, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mike Balero said Friday.

“It was listed as a pet but it was a horse,” Balero said.

He declined to identify the airline and passenger involved, and said he did not know the dimensions of the dog kennel.

A USDA spokesman did not immediately return a phone call for comment Friday.

The plane was traveling from Germany to Guatemala and stopped Sept. 18 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

A USDA veterinarian checked the horse and found it healthy. It was brought back to the plane the next day — in a bigger container.

“It wasn’t a blatant attempt to smuggle an animal. He thought it was a pet,” Balero said.

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