October 2006 Airline Pet Travel Report

August was an unfortunately busy month for pet related air travel incident with three of the five incidents being discovered at Honolulu International.

American Airlines reported the death of a Pomeranian on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. The necropsy stated that the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver, and unrelated to travel. Two other dogs arrived safely.

ATA reports the loss of a pet bird at the Honolulu international airport. This loss was due to a worker not following procedure. The bird should have been taken directly to the State of Hawaii Animal Quarantine station immediately, but was left by a belt loader and was discovered knocked over twenty minutes later. A three hour search failed to locate the lost bird.

Continental reported two losses. A pug was found deceased upon arrival in Reno, Nevada from Houston. The necropsy indicated that the death was not transit related and Continental stated that all procedures were followed. The second death was a Shar-pei that was found dead upon arrival in Portland, Oregon from Newark, New Jersey. Again the necropsy indicated that the death was not transit related. Interesting to note that both dogs were short-nosed.

Hawaiian Airlines reports that a 6 year old German Shepherd was found dead on arrival in Honolulu from Phoenix, Arizona. Unfortunately Hawaiian does not include much further information, something PetFlight has seen in previous reports from them.

United reports the loss of a large cat during a ramp transfer in Denver, Colorado. The locking post of the kennel was found to be broken. A reminder to use zip ties to help keep your kennel secure. United also reported the death of a Golden Retriever upon arrival in Salt Lake City, Utah from Richmond (through ORD). The owner stated that the dog died from fear of flying and did not want a necropsy preformed.