Traveling by Air with Pets; United Airlines and the Death of a Family Member

If your family is anything like ours, our pets are not just animals to us. They are family members, so you can imagine my sadness upon reading about a beloved dog who recently died on a United Airlines flight from New York City to San Francisco.

Four days before her flight, “she received a full examination and a health certificate as is required by the Pet Safe program. This program is United’s branded on-board pet safety program. In addition to Pet Safe’s stringent requirements, the owners took every extra precaution they could think of.  Both the dogs’ kennels were labeled front to back with emergency numbers, flight information and warnings.  Their kennels were purchased specifically for the measurements and design specified by Pet Safe.  They purchased special water bowls which they filled with ice to ensure that the water wouldn’t spill and that it would last longer. They drove the six hours to New York City from their house in Northern New York State so the dogs wouldn’t have to make a connecting flight.”

Despite all the owners did to ensure safe passage for their pets, the beloved two year old Golden was dead when they arrived to pick her up. I have attached the original blog post written by Bea’s owner and have included several links that give suggestions on how to make air travel safe. Many of the points are the same across the board.

If you plan on traveling with your pets by air, please read over the following links so you are as informed as possible. I have also included a quote from one of the comments made on the original blog post about even more steps to take…steps he doesn’t feel he would have known about were it not for his FAA connections. We should ALL have access to the same important information.

In addition to what Bea’s owners did to ensure her safety, please note the following: “Once you leave your pet in [the airline's] hands please, please do not stop there. Once they start the boarding process grab the head flight attendant, ask politely to speak with the captain of the plane; if he is unavailable, be sure this information gets to him and also back to you. Tell them you are flying with a pet in the cargo area, have your paperwork ready to show them: ex: how long they can be at a certain temp range. Request to be told when your dog has been loaded and unloaded at your destination. Your pet is SUPPOSED to be the last piece of cargo on and the first off. Relying on the ramp personnel to inform the capt is the worst thing you can do.”

If it is at all possible, traveling by car is still the safest thing for your pets. If you must fly to your destination, be sure to ask around via social networks or rescue groups to try to find people willing to work with you on transporting your pets. Many times these groups are familiar with such a thing as that is often how animals are transported from high kill shelters in the south to shelters in the north. There are groups that will transport your pet the entire way for a fee (usually a couple of hundred dollars from what I’ve seen) or people who are willing to drive so far and then meet up with another driver who will take over (like passing a baton).

Original blog post:

http://beamakesthree.com/2012/09/20/united-airlines-killed-our-golden-retriever-bea/

Safe Flying Suggestions:

http://dogtime.com/safe-flying-fido-friendly.html

http://www.dryfur.com/airline_checklist.htm

http://www.expats-moving-and-relocation-guide.com/pet-air-travel.html

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/08/31/tips-for-pet-safety-during-travel-and-flights.aspx

Where to Begin...

I can't say I know exactly what life this page is going to take on, but I have had ideas. I knew I would at some point or another talk about children, parenting, being a caregiver, safety...basically any topic that crossed my path either because of articles I had read or things I was going through in my life that I thought would be worth sharing.

As I sit here tonight though, I have three articles I feel the need to blog about. Yep, three. That isn't including anything I could have written about that happened to me personally today.

This is going to be quite the adventure. I can tell already!! ;-)

The Point of It All

I know everyone has their own joys and challenges they are going through. There’s always somebody who has it easier than you and somebody who has it harder. So why would anyone want to read what I have to say? I don’t know that anyone will, but I figure if I don’t put myself out there I won’t ever know. Right?

As I have gone through the years trying to grow myself into the person I want to be, I have added the titles of wife, mother, and entrepreneur. This past year, I added the title of caregiver as my husband and I moved my mother who has multiple health conditions and my challenged aunt in with us. Yep. We are now part of the Sandwich Generation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich_generation)

To say the past year continues to be a learning experience is an understatement. I thought that perhaps writing things out here will serve as a journal for me as well as give me the opportunity to grow and, who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to help somebody else along the way…even if it’s just to know they aren’t alone.