Airline: Delta
Incident Date: Feb 28, 2015
Report Date: April 2015
Incident Type: Death
Animal: Cat
Brachycephalic: No Definition
Animal Age: 9 years
Flight Number: DL5999
Originating Airport: MSP (Minneapolis-Saint Paul International)
Destination Airport: RDU (Raleigh-Durham Intl)
Reporting Airport: MSP (Minneapolis-Saint Paul International)
Report:
Delta Cargo . . Live Animal Incident Incident Report Type: Death Date of Incident: February 28, 2015 Location: Minneapolis, MN Routing: Minneapolis, MN (MSP) - Raleigh, NC (RDU) AWB: 006-28951064 Description of Animal: 9 yr old male Domestic Short Hair Cat, named "Toby"
Description of Incident: Toby, a 201b male cat was presented for transport by its owner at our MSP facility on February 28, 2015 at approximately 1314 local time. All documents were reviewed and processed in accordance with our acceptance procedures.
The cat was booked for travel on DL5999, which had a scheduled departure time of 1540. The temperature at the time of departure was around 19F. Agents at MSP failed to deliver Toby planeside in a timely fashion to the aircraft. This action caused the cargo agent to return Toby back to the animal holding area located inside the warehouse. The owner was contacted and advised DL5999 was the last flight of the evening to RDU. The owner was given an option to pick the cat up or allow us to overnight him at our expense at the local kennel facility. The owner opted for the latter.
Prior to contacting the overnight kennel facility to come retrieve him from the warehouse, agents observed Toby appeared to be asleep inside his crate with his eyes wide open. On further observation around 1800, agents touched the crate to see if there was a reaction, but Toby was unresponsive. The agents immediately contacted the supervisor on duty and initiated emergency procedures. Cause of Incident: According to the necropsy report received from the University of Minnesota, Toby's "sudden, unexpected death was likely due to congestive cardiac failure". It further notes the "weight of the heart far exceeds normal limits for domestic cats".
Corrective Action Taken: None Warranted
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