MILWAUKEE — It may seem obvious, but if you are traveling with a dog or cat, you must take them out of their carrier before going through airport security.

However, that didn’t happen for one woman and her dog at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison this week.

The TSA said the woman left her chihuahua-dachshund mix in a backpack while going through a security screening. A TSA officer noticed the dog while performing the X-ray screening. According to the TSA, the woman likely didn’t know proper procedure for what to do when traveling with a pet and going through a security screening.

“What you need to do is disclose those items that they want to divest to the officer, to the TSA officer, and if this was the case, the dog would have never went through,” said Frank Pipia, a TSA stakeholder manager for Wisconsin.

Under typical circumstances, a pet owner would inform TSA personnel that they were traveling with an animal, the pet would be removed from any baggage, and screened separately.

If you are unfamiliar with proper procedure, Pipia said to ask questions if in doubt.

“Just ask the questions,” said Pipia. “We have enough officers around to answer those questions and you don’t ever want to leave the animal in your baggage and send the animal through.”

Word that a dog had traveled through a security machine came as a surprise to Wisconsin travelers. Rachel Horvath lives in New York and was traveling home from Milwaukee with her chihuahua Luca.

“That is insane,” Horvath said upon learning of what had occurred.

She said she always plans ahead to make sure she knows all rules and regulations when it comes to traveling with her pet.

“I just take as much time as I can to make the whole process as smooth and easy as possible,” said Horvath.

The Madison incident was not the first time in recent months that a pet passed through a security machine. Just a few weeks ago, a cat was detected in a suitcase at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.