WASHINGTON (June 3) - Plenty of vacation guides list camps that allow dogs or rank pet-friendly hotels, but until now there's been no way to know which airlines are safest for four-legged travelers.

That's about to change. Starting June 15, airlines must report how many pets are killed, lost or injured on their flights.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050603133509990004&ncid=NWS00010000000001

I think people will be shocked when they find out exactly how many animals are traumatized or injured/killed on flights. This is spectacular news.

:up:

The Rev

Hopefully this will make airlines think twice about treating animals as normal luggage, this is wonderful news!

Some of the nasty anti-animal things that AOL users have posted on the accompanying message board are enough to curl your hair. Which is why I usually avoid AOL message boards. :no:

I think people will be shocked when they find out exactly how many animals are traumatized or injured/killed on flights. This is spectacular news.

:up:

The Rev

Is it really that bad? I never had any idea. It seems like it would be a rather simple thing, transporting pets by plane, so what goes wrong?

Is it really that bad? I never had any idea. It seems like it would be a rather simple thing, transporting pets by plane, so what goes wrong?

When they get put in cargo it often isn't climate controlled, so it could be freezing, too hot, etc. also, if a pet accidentally goes to a different destination from the owner no one at the airline is responsible for feeding, watering, or cleaning your pet so unless someone is very nice your already very stressed animal could go without food/water.

The airline is responsible during the flight, but the destination airport is liable for any animals once the plane has landed.

Some of the nasty anti-animal things that AOL users have posted on the accompanying message board are enough to curl your hair. Which is why I usually avoid AOL message boards. :no:
They also post things like "All Blacks commit crimes". It sucks over there.

RE:topic

This is a good thing that they're reporting the statistics. I'm curious about the percentiles.

Is it really that bad? I never had any idea. It seems like it would be a rather simple thing, transporting pets by plane, so what goes wrong?

I saw a program on Animal Planet (I think) a few years ago that described some cases where animals have arrived dead, etc. Personally, I would NEVER fly with my pet unless I could carry her. Even then, it would be a terrifying experience. Combined with the problems above, just the terror of being packed into a luggage compartment, with no one around, would be enough to traumatize alot of animals.

:no:

The Rev

That's remarkable. I thought they had a seperate place for them and everything.

I've had several of my pets fly,
my childhood dog was actually from Ireland, and flew all the way across the atlantic in a pressurized compartment. I've never heard of animals in the same hold as all the luggage.