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EXCLUSIVE

Air France-KLM Family of Dead Dog Confronts Official ... Gets Stonewalled

The family of the puppy that died aboard an Air France-KLM jetliner marched into LAX demanding the airline return the animal's body, but ended up getting a total runaround ... all on camera.

The father of the family of four, Andranik Avetisian, and his attorney, Evan Oshan, walked right up to a KLM official Tuesday and demanded to know the dog's whereabouts. The official all but stonewalled Oshan, saying he would have to contact KLM's attorney.

Problem is ... it's been 9 days since Bear -- a Central Asian Shepherd -- was found dead in the cargo hold of the KLM flight from Amsterdam, and the family's gotten zero answers. Oshan says KLM isn't returning his phone calls.

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We were with Andranik when he and Oshan went to LAX police, asking them to get KLM on the horn. You can see in the video ... all they got was more frustration.

As we first reported ... the family says Bear was healthy and heading to his new home in California. They're fighting to get the body, because they want an independent vet to perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

KLM tells us it's doing its own investigation. A rep for the airline says, "In cooperation with the local health authority in the US, the Center for Disease Control, the dog was initially examined to ensure there was no immediately obvious public health threat. The dog was loaded correctly according KLM's pet policy. We have to wait for the results of the necropsy to determine the cause of death."

Although KLM told us it's in contact with the family ... Oshan says that's simply not true, and they desperately want answers. Andranik tells us he also needs to help his family heal after the tragic loss.

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