Family Explains Why Veteran Ditched Her Dog at Airport

A Las Vegas woman accused of walking away from her dog at the airport was in the middle of a mental health crisis tied to a military-related disability, her brother says. Gerrayl Bryson tells KLAS that Germirah Bryson, 26, is a "100% permanent" disabled veteran and that leaving behind the dog, the "best friend" that she "travels with ... everywhere," shows how compromised her judgment was that day. He says the Feb. 3 confrontation with police at Harry Reid International Airport—where an officer is essentially "a stranger [who] grabs her"—would have been especially hard for his sister to process.

Authorities say Germirah Bryson left her 2-year-old golden doodle-mini poodle mix tied to a metal baggage sizer at a JetBlue counter. Court documents say an airline worker told her the dog wasn't properly registered to fly, and that Bryson suggested "animal control" be called because she feared missing her flight. She also reportedly told police later that her dog had a tracking device, "implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would return to her," per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The dog, later nicknamed JetBlue, was found with infections and poor grooming, according to a local rescue group, which rehomed him with a Las Vegas police officer who responded to the scene, per KLAS. "This boy deserves to never be abandoned again," a rep from the rescue group said at a news conference, per News 3 Las Vegas. Bryson has been hit with multiple charges, including resisting arrest and giving false info to a public officer, per the Review-Journal. An animal abandonment charge was dropped by prosecutors and replaced by an animal abuse charge. She's due back in court on March 31.