I don't care how much protection you do - I would never transport my pet in an airlines cargo. You just don't know what happens in there during flight. Things could shift, and cause a dog great stress; is it really temperature controlled? I doubt it. Personally, if my dog could not ride inside the cabin with me - I would drive where I am going - it is just too risky.
And here is some sad proof -
Supermodel and international AIDS activist
Maggie Rizer is mourning the loss of her family’s 2-year-old
Golden Retriever,
Beatrice, after the otherwise healthy dog died during a United Airlines flight from New York City to San Francisco September 3.
Though the model knew that there are always risks in transporting pets
on an airplane, she and her husband went above and beyond the
requirements of
United’s PetSafe program, taking every precaution to make sure that Bea and the family’s other Golden Retriever, 7-year-old
Albert, would be safe on the cross-country flight.
In addition to the required veterinary examination and certificate of
health required by United, which showed that both Beatrice and Albert
were in perfect health four days before the flight, Rizer
purchased new
kennels, prepared special water bowls with ice, and even paid the
airline an additional $1,800 to ensure that her dogs would be cared for
during the flight.
“When we arrived in San Francisco to pick up our dogs we drove to the
dark cargo terminal and on arrival in the hangar were told simply, ‘one
of them is dead’ by the emotionless worker who seemed more interested in
his text messages,” Rizer described in a statement on her blog.
Rizer says that she
and her family, including 10-month-old son Zander, fought with the
airline for hours about releasing Bea’s body for a necropsy at Rizer’s
family veterinarian.
What
the veterinarian discovered, says Rizer, was that at some point during
the flight, Beatrice went into severe distress. Heatstroke is thought to
be the cause of her death.
In a statement, United Airlines both expressed their sympathies and
denied any wrongdoing: “We understand that the loss of a beloved pet is
difficult and express our condolences to Ms. Rizer and her family for
their loss. After careful review, we found there were no mechanical
operational issues with Bea’s flight and also determined she was in a
temperature-controlled environment for her entire journey." (How can that be proved?)
Rizer told
People Magazine
that, after losing Bea on the United flight,
she will never fly with
her pets again, and she hopes that her story will serve as a warning to
other families. “I don’t think dogs should be treated like bags,” Rizer
said. “They’re living, breathing creatures and parts of people’s
families.”
“Please,
don’t trust that an airline will truly care and provide safety to your
beloved pet,” she continues on her blog. “At some point in the two hours
that Bea was in the care of United Airlines before she died, someone
made a mistake and because of that, our loving, sweet Bea is no longer
in our lives.”
Read more on her blog.
Bea Makes Three.
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