An airline offered a woman traveling to California money after her dog was lost en route to San Francisco. 

The dog became separated from its owner after border control canceled the owner’s visa. The animal then spent three weeks wandering the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.

Paula Rodriguez and her dog Maia, a 6-year-old Chihuahua mix, were traveling Aug. 18 on Delta Air Lines from the Dominican Republic, her home country, to vacation in San Francisco. Rodriguez’s visa was canceled, according to CNN, and she spent the night in a detention center before returning home. U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not allow pets to stay with detained passengers during processing; the pets become the air carrier’s responsibility.

When Rodriguez arrived at the gate before her flight back to the Dominican Republic, Maia was nowhere to be found. U.S. Customs and Border Protection instructed Rodriguez to fly home without her.

“[A Delta agent] said that she was being transported [to the plane] on the runway, and staff had opened her kennel, and she had got out of the car and escaped into the middle of the runway,” Rodriguez told CNN.

On Aug. 30, almost two weeks after Maia went missing, Paula Rodriguez’s sister, Daniela, opened a GoFundMe asking for help. The page said Delta declined to continue searching beyond airport property. Daniela wrote that Maia had been by her sister’s side for nearly seven years and accused Delta of inadequate care of the dog. 

A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told SFGATE in an email that the airline conducted “active, round-the-clock visual searches of the airfield,” including at night using night vision goggles. The spokesperson also said that Delta kept in touch with animal shelters and veterinarian offices near the airport.

Volunteer animal recovery specialist Robin Allgood started a Facebook group to help find the dog at the end of August. She received a call from a FedEx cargo worker who said he had spotted Maia. After a wild goose chase between the airport and the FedEx cargo building, Allgood finally gained clearance and was able to grab the dog out from underneath a rack.

“Tired but in apparent good health, she was transported to a vet and is expected to return home soon,” the Atlanta Airport wrote on social media on Sept. 10. 

Maia and Rodriguez were reunited Sept. 12, according to the Facebook page.