Washington, Mar 17 (IANS): United Airlines has said that a flight was diverted after it realised that a pet had been loaded onto it in error, the third animal-related mistake in a week, the media reported.

Flight 3996 was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN on Friday night.

It was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron.

United told CNN the unidentified animal was "safely delivered to its owner".

The airlines said it offered compensation to all passengers as a result of the diversion.

The US carrier is facing widespread scrutiny over a dog dying in an overhead bin and another dog being accidentally sent to Japan, both incidents that took place earlier this week.

On Monday, a French bulldog died on a Houston-to-New York flight after a United flight attendant told its owners to put the dog, in its carrier, in an overhead bin.

On Tuesday, a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo was flown to Japan when he was supposed to end up in Kansas.

In Irgo's place was a Great Dane that was supposed to be en route to Japan. Irgo was reunited with his family on Thursday. United issued an apology after the discovery of the switched dogs.