[new cruelty]

No more frequent flier miles for Spot.

[theDentist]

OK. Then I don't need to inform them when my pet cobra escapes after sneaking it aboard.

[Geezerette]

No more frequent flyer miles for Spot.

I'm sure Spot (Pres. Bush's Springer Spaniel) gets first class treatment on Air Force 1!

;-)

g

[Question_Assumptions]

I sent five cats to Japan with me and brought them back to the US again. As far as I can tell, British Airways did a superb job handling them as far as I can tell (they arrived with London papers shredded in their carriers instead of the US papers that they left with so someone changed them) even though they shipped in the late summer. Continental didn't change their papers but they did arrive back in the US OK on a direct flight in the winter. We simply followed advice and didn't sedate the cats (which can make them unable to handle getting sick).

Now I won't say that the cats enjoyed the flight (its a very long and unpleasant flight, even for people, and they are particularly reluctant to get into their carriers now) but I think they were OK. The least social cat got a lot friendlier after the flights. I think she appreciates what she has now, since she and her two siblings were never in a shelter like our two older cats were.

Before anyone asks why I took them to Japan, there simply wasn't anyone we knew who could take them all, never mind keep them together and we weren't about to give them to a shelter. Taking them was really the only option. And, no, it wasn't easy finding a place that would take cats in Tokyo. Since there is no plural in Japanese, we simply got a little vague on how many "cat" I was bringing with me...

[BrooklynGOP]

I've seen bredeers' websites all over the net advertising that they ship nationwide... How you can ship a 3lb puppy is beyond me..... Then again, I've never owned a dog.

[shaggy eel]

,,, I suspect this situation is entirely the fault of white males.

[GovernmentShrinker]

But the American Kennel Club, the purebred dog registry, said current practices are adequate.

Surprise, surprise. The number one promoter of over-breeding and of breeding health-impairing defects to achieve dubious aesthetic ideals, isn't worried about how airlines treat cargo-shipped animals. Surprise, surprise.

[Varda]

"Humane Society of the United States" is an animal rights group (they try to make it harder to own pets).

The AKC supports pet ownership so has no problem with shipping pets. I used to ship puppies via the airlines. It was safe and the puppies traveled well. When I've flown with a dog, they've traveled better by air than they did in the car.

[LurkerNoMore!]

Delta said it called an expert from a zoo last year to open a container of venomous snakes.

?

[southernnorthcarolina]

Pet shipment has got to be an expensive proposition and it now stands, and I wouldn't blame the airlines a bit if, faced with additional regulations, and no doubt with a rash of lawsuits resulting therefrom, they simply said "no thanks."

The mother of my Weimaraner (who is now 2+ years old) was flown from Charleston to Charlotte (change planes) to San Francisco (change planes) to Reno for the purpose of being bred 2½ years ago, then, newly pregnant, back from Reno to San Francisco (change planes) to Charlotte, where I picked her up and drove her the final leg, all the while with no accompanying human passenger. I don't recall what the bill was, but it was incredibly small given the labor intensiveness. As I waited in the freight receiving area, I heard some of the radio traffic giving the "live shipment" notices and the "first off" unloading instuctions. Her crate arrived in the receiving area, accompanied by three employees, long before other bags or the human passengers arrived at the baggage claim area.

I can't say enough about how she was looked after by U.S.Airways, but they can't be making any money that way. Of course, they've since declared bankruptcy. I blame myself.

[savedbygrace]

There are currently no industry figures for pet deaths or injuries, and the airlines dispute widely circulated claims that roughly 5,000 animals die in their custody each year.

Even if 5,000 is correct, I bet most of them are those little chicks you can mail order for delivery. They ship them via air I think.

[Corin Stormhands]

Is it me, or is the airline industry just looking for ways to put themselves out of business?