June 2011 Airline Pet Travel Report

American Airlines reports the death of an 10 year-old cat named Scruffy. Upon arrival in Dallas, Texas from Honolulu, Hawaii it was noticed that the cat was deceased. A necropsy was conducted and concluded the cause of death was enteric lymphoma.

Continental reports the injury of a three year-old English Bulldog named Gwen. Before Gwen was loaded on her connecting flight in Houston, the agent noticed that she was not breathing well. She was immediately taken to an emergency veterinarian for care. After two days of veterinary critical care, Gwen went into respiratory arrest and died at the animal hospital.

According to the necropsy report, “…the parenchymal exhibits widespread partial pulmonary atelectasis ..” which led to this animal getting into breathing trouble during the stress of transport. Without the ability to react normally to this stress, the animal went into respiratory failure which was the eventual cause of death.

Delta reported the death of a cat 30 pound cat named Smokey on a flight from Atalanta, Georgia to Dublin, Ireland. No necropsy was performed at the owners request. Temperatures were reported normal and another dog traveling on the same flight arrived safely.

United reports the death of a Doberman Pinscher named Radar on a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Washington D.C. During a connection in Denver, Colorado Radar was reported to be in good condition. Another dog on the same flight arrived safely.

Necropsy results from Radar's death report fatal arrhythmia stating that Radar’s breed is highly susceptible to heart disease, and fits history and previous findings of Radar’s health.