Flying not always smooth, or safe, for passengers' pets

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 3, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Airlines & Aerospace

Occasionally it's an employee slip-up, such as when a cat named Cricket arrived on an Alaska Airlines flight in a "lethargic" state after someone accidentally stowed him in a cargo hold with dry ice.

Other times it's the stress associated with flying, such as when a Chinese crescent puppy died during a SkyWest Airlines layover on the way to Colorado Springs.

Often it's not clear what happened, like when a cat being transported to a United Airlines flight escaped from its kennel and was subsequently hit by a tractor.

A variety of circumstances led to 54 pet incidents - including deaths, injuries and lost animals - on U.S. air carriers during the past year, according to a review of data compiled by a federal agency

The data represent the first 12-month picture of animal incidents on airlines. The U.S. Department of Transportation began requiring carriers a year ago to report monthly data on pet incidents in an effort to track how airlines handle such problems and give consumers data to make informed choices when flying with pets.

The total - which includes birds and a pet rat in addition to dogs and cats - represents a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of pets U.S. carriers transport each year. It's also significantly lower than previous estimates from animal rights groups, which predicted deaths and injuries would be in the thousands.

Still, "One pet fatality is one too many," said Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Air Transport Association, an airline industry trade group. "We continue to strive to do all we can to ensure that pets arrive in a safe manner."

The data don't offer a complete picture because airlines don't report how many pets they ship overall. Larger carriers that handle more pets likely will have more incidents than smaller airlines. And several carriers, such as Southwest Airlines, don't allow pets to travel as checked baggage.

Of the carriers that do, 14 reported animal incidents. Continental Airlines led the pack with 16 incidents, evenly split between deaths and injuries. But that's a fraction of the nearly 100,000 pets Continental carries a year, which it says is "by far" the most of any airline.

American Airlines had the second-highest total with six reported incidents, all deaths. United, Denver's largest airline, reported four deaths, while homegrown Frontier Airlines had one minor injury.

Airlines chalked up a few incidents - but none of the deaths - to employee mistakes.

A fair share, though, involved animals that sustained light scratches and related injuries as they chewed through kennels, or the exact cause was unknown. Most of the animals that were lost, data show, broke out of inadequate kennels with weak locks.

Necropsies performed on animals that died found that most suffered from pre-existing medical problems exacerbated by flying or that they passed away from natural causes.

Animal rights groups laud the new regulations but say they are skeptical of the data.

"We really don't have any way of knowing if these incidents are in fact happening exactly as the airlines say," said Kelly Connolly of the Humane Society in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates airline transportation of pets, has the authority to investigate suspect pet incidents.

Some cases, though, have happy endings.

Tippy, a cat that escaped last year from its kennel in Seattle before an Alaska Airlines flight, was presumed gone for good. But he was found more than two weeks later and promptly returned to his owner.

Airline pet incidents • Deaths, injuries and losses reported by carriers

Airline Death Injury Loss Total

Alaska 1 3 1 5

American 6 0 0 6

ComAir 0 1 0 1

Continental 8 8 0 16

Delta 2 0 2 4

Frontier 0 1 0 1

Hawaiian 0 3 0 3

Horizon 2 1 0 3

Midwest 1 0 0 1

Northwest 0 2 2 4

Skywest 1 0 0 1

Pinnacle 0 2 0 2

United 4 0 0 4

US Airways 1 1 1 3

Total 26 22 6 54Source: U.S. Department Of Transportation

Examples of animal incidents

• AIRLINE DELTA

Date: Feb. 15, 2006

Incident: A 3-year-old whippet dog named Vivi escaped her kennel upon arrival of a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Workers tried to catch her but were unsuccessful, and she ran away.

Cause: "The kennel's locking mechanism appeared defective as it lacked adequate tension to keep the locking pins properly engaged."

Result: Delta added new procedures requiring kennel doors to be secured with releasable cable ties when possible.

• AIRLINE US AIRWAYS

Date: Aug. 30, 2005

Incident: An airline employee failed to load a cat named Tommy onto a flight from Seattle to Philadelphia. Tommy ended up in Charlotte, N.C., where he was to have been rerouted to Philadelphia. But the kennel fell apart as it was being unloaded in Charlotte, and Tommy ran away

Cause: The carrier said inadequate kennel design was to blame and that "it does not appear the fact that the cat missed its scheduled flight had anything to do with it ultimately becoming lost."

• AIRLINE AMERICAN

Date: Aug. 22, 2005

Incident: A cockapoo dog named Coco was found dead upon arrival in Baltimore.

Cause: "Necropsy revealed this dog died of natural causes complicated by obesity and poor lung capacity. Vet found no fault withtransport. Two other dogs traveled in same compartment and arrived safely."

Result: No action taken.

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2744

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News