Pets

United Airlines is now under the microscope in a third state, as law enforcement in NY take a closer look at how that French bulldog died in an overhead compartment ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the Queens District Attorney's Office tells us they're now looking into the matter and currently reviewing the facts to determine if there is a prosecutable case in their jurisdiction. The United flight where Kokito died ... took off from Houston and landed at LaGuardia Airport, in Queens County.

As we reported ... the Harris County, Texas D.A. has launched its own investigation, which is in the hands of a police animal cruelty task force.

The death of the dog that was placed in the overhead bin on a United Airlines flight has triggered a criminal investigation.

The Harris County, Texas D.A. has assigned the case to the animal cruelty division.

The D.A. did not disclose the target of the investigation. As we reported, the flight attendant who ordered the dog owner to place her pet carrier in the overhead says she was unaware there was a dog inside. The odd thing is ... the dog was barking loud enough for passengers to hear for a prolonged period of time before it died.

Tomi Lahren's probably better off reading from a teleprompter, because she now says the social media post about kicking her dog was a joke that just fell on deaf ears.

We got Tomi at LAX Wednesday and asked her point-blank ... did she actually kick her dog, Kota, 5 times because she was making too much noise during Tomi's appearance on "FOX & Friends"? Remember, it was Tomi's own video of herself berating her dog for loudly chewing a bone that got her in trouble, anyway.

Tomi denied abusing Kota, and said anyone with some logic would know she was joking.

She claims people are overreacting -- to HER SAYING she kicked her dog -- and did her best to prove she's a loving pet owner. Tomi tried to chalk this all up to a slow news day, but truth is the timing of her "joke" sucked.

United Airlines says its flight attendant did not hear or understand the woman whose dog was placed in an overhead bin -- but it's taking new steps to avoid a repeat disaster ... TMZ has learned.

United tells us by April it will start issuing "bright colored bag tags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets." The idea is the visual tag on a pet carrier will help flight attendants know for sure when someone's traveling with an animal.

The airline says that's exactly what didn't happen in the case of Catalina Robledo and her French bulldog, Kokito. United says after speaking to passengers and crew members, it believes Catalina did tell the flight attendant she had a dog in her tote bag carrier -- but the flight attendant "did not hear or understand [Catalina]."

Olivia Munn's had it with United Airlines, and vows to never fly with the company after its latest debacle ... which involved the death of a poor dog.

We got the actress at LAX Wednesday, who tells us she's done with United not only because it can't take care of animals ... but also because of its recent history of not being able to take care of all its human passengers.

Olivia's strongly encouraging everyone to stop flying with the airline, and not just for now -- but for good.

As we reported ... United Airlines may be on the hook for big damages over the death of a family's French Bulldog, Kokito, after a flight attendant shockingly made the dog stay in the overhead compartment.

Tomi Lahren says she kicked her dog multiple times because it was making too much noise during her appearance on national TV.

Tomi's made her career on saying shocking things, but this might be her coup de grace. The "FOX & Friends" contributor posted video Wednesday morning of the dog, Kota, playfully wagging its tail while she berated the pup for chewing a bone loudly.

Bad timing, for Tomi apparently ... because she says she had to "kick her about 5 times during the show." Can't tell if she's serious, but if she is ... it's definitely her most heinous act yet.

We're hoping Kota's wagging tail is a sign she wasn't actually abused. We're reaching out to Tomi for comment.

If she was kicking her pet, Tomi covered it up pretty well during her FOX hit.

United Airlines apparently thinks a ticket refund will make its latest scandal go away, but we've learned it may be on the hook for a lot more.

As you know, a flight attendant shockingly ordered a passenger to put her dog, Kokito, in the overhead compartment and after prolonged, panicked barking, the dog died.

Under Illinois law, where the airline is based, the woman could not only get the value of the animal but money for "emotional distress suffered by the owner." In addition, the dog owner could get up to $25,000 in punitive damages if a jury determines the dog died from abuse or neglect on the part of the flight attendant.

The French Bulldog was 10 months old and the family had posted numerous photos of the dog with the family on social media.

There ain't gonna be any lil' Steve-Os scaling cranes or lighting themselves on fire anytime soon, or ever for that matter, according to Steve-O who is on his way to Puerto Rico to get a vasectomy, but he's not doing it alone.

We got Steve-O and his pooch, Wendy, at LAX about to board a flight to Puerto Rico where he'll not only be helping with ongoing hurricane relief, but also spaying and neutering 1,000 dogs and cats. Steve-O says he believes in the cause so much he's doing it to himself, although it sounds like he's got another agenda.

You'll have to watch the video to find out who's playing nurse in the OR and also for Steve-O's fiancee's reaction.

Chrissy Teigen's adored bulldog -- who'd been with her and her family since the first year she began dating John Legend -- "has gone on to the pup heavens."

Chrissy shared the sad news Wednesday, saying Puddy had passed after being by her side for 10 years "through every up, down, new house, new city, new tour, new travel. He welcomed new pups and loved on new babies and new bellies. He was there for everything."

It's true Puddy loved her baby, Luna ... as shown in this sweet video of him giving her kisses.

The bulldog lived quite the life, from being Chrissy's "taste tester" to her red carpet companion ... and even getting married! That's right -- he is survived by his wife, Pippa.

Chris Martin did his girlfriend, Dakota Johnson, half a favor by dropping her off for a coffee run in his nifty golf cart ... but she had to walk to his crib.

Chris and Dakota were out cruising Monday in Malibu, and her pup was riding shotgun, too. He dropped her off at Starbucks, where she ran in and grabbed a couple of drinks -- but then he flipped a U and bolted.

It may not look like the most chivalrous move on Chris' part, but we're guessing there's ZERO shade here -- grey or otherwise.

Barbra Streisand is apparently taking her love of dogs (or at least one dog, theoretically) to the grave ... quite literally, in fact.

The pop singer posted a photo Monday of her two clone dogs, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, visiting the grave of their creator, Samantha -- the original pup from which they were made.

She kinda took a shot at Variety for misquoting her in a cover story they did, as well as ribbing The New York Times for running a cropped version of this pic in their Sunday edition. Seems like mama wanted the world to see the whole thing in all its glory.

Barbra describes the photo on her site, saying ... "My little girls were looking at their mother pictured on her tombstone." She also calls the photo "amazing."

Krista Allen's scary encounter with a transient women who broke into her house and kicked her dog has made her to feel unsafe in her home ... and the poor pup's still suffering too.

Sources close to the "Baywatch" actress tell TMZ ... her 11-year-old Beagle Jack is dealing with a badly injured back, neck and front leg and had to have surgery Thursday. The good news -- he doesn't have broken bones and he's showing signs of progress since the operation ... but still has a long way to go.

We're told Krista's racked up between $5k - $10k in vet bills so far for Jack.

We broke the story ... Krista walked in on an intruder in February when she returned to her San Fernando Valley home and cornered the lady while she called 911. Our sources tell us Krista was cognizant enough to Google Translate on her phone to question the lady because she didn't speak English ... and that's how she determined her dog had been kicked.

The cute, adorable doggie you're looking at was about to be SLAUGHTERED TO BE EATEN in South Korea ... that is, until U.S. snowboarder Maddie Mastro took action.

While the SuperPipe bronze medalist was competing in Pyeongchang -- she made it a point to go to the Korean meat farm to rescue a dog marked for a dinner plate.

FYI, harvesting dogs for meat still happens in South Korea and other Asian countries. So, Mastro and a bunch of Olympians made it a point to save as many as they could before heading home.

U.S. skier Gus Kenworthy set the dog-rescue record with 90 ... but Maddie and others are doing their part, too.

"I'm just grateful I get to help one out," Maddie told TMZ Sports.

You can tell Mastro has mad love for Plum (or "Jadu" in Korean) ... but it sounds like her fam's gonna have to find another home for the pup since they already got a full house.

File this under ... Funny Girl sends in the clones!

Barbra Streisand says she successfully cloned her dog, Samantha, before she died in 2017 ... and she's currently cuddling up with scientific fruits of that labor.

Babs told Variety her pups, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, were cloned from Samantha -- a Coton du Tulear -- who died at 14. She says the cells were harvested from cells taken from Sam's mouth and stomach.

She also has a cousin of Samantha's, who happens to at least look identical to the clones. She frequently posts pics of all 3 pooches, but we had no idea just how designer her dogs were until now.

Krista Allen walked in on a would-be burglar, who she says badly injured her dog during the break-in ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Krista arrived back at her San Fernando Valley home Thursday and found a transient woman inside. We're told Krista called 911 and held the woman down until cops arrived.

The story gets crazier ... Krista claimed the woman pointed out that their family dog was having difficulty getting up, which led Krista to believe the woman had kicked her pup. The dog -- an 11-year-old beagle named Jack -- was, in fact, injured. Krista had to take him to the vet for treatment. She posted an update on him, and also revealed ... another dog, a puggle named Jake, was also injured during the incident.

Cops say the woman drank Krista's alcohol and ingested pills that were in the house. We're told she also had Krista's vibrator.

We've reached out to Krista's rep ... no comment.

Corinne Olympios has finally found her Hunny and it's not in DeMario Jackson, despite the two spending Valentine's Day together.

We're told the "Bachelor in Paradise" star just got a new mini-Pomeranian pup, which she's named Hunny. Corinne got the pooch 2 weeks ago after plopping down a couple of G's.

Corinne already has a chow named Mookie, but wanted Mookie to have a companion since she's working a lot and often not home.

Hunny was flown in from Tokyo, where the mini-Pom breeder is based. The two pooches look an awful lot alike, apart from the obvious size difference ... they're already getting along just swimmingly.

As for DeMario, he ain't in the dog house. We're told the two are still "just friends."