Dont put your puppy in a cargo hold!!!

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#1
Hi I am new to this forum. I just got a puppy and started doing some research and found this website. Glad to be here!!

I would like the administrator to sticky one part of my post if they would.

I am an airline pilot, and I see abuse on a DAILY basis at work. Animals left in crates in the extreme cold and heat are pretty bad, but what I have seen in the past several years makes me sick.

You see, it gets COLD in the cargo compartment. It is pressurized, but we don't turn on the heat back there unless the ground personnel let us know that there is an animal being shipped. I can't tell you how many times I have flown a 2-3 hour flight only to find a shivering puppy or kitten that I didn't know about. I have started to run the heat on EVERY flight, but very few pilots do this.

Also, rampers sometimes leave puppies/kittens within feet of a howling APU (Auxiliary generator) That can produce as much as 150 decibels. Imagine being that puppy in pain from the noise. It would be a life altering event for them!! Especially as sensitive as their hearing is!!!!

I have tried in vain to advise MY company and ground personnel, but trust me THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR DOG/CAT. As long as your pet LIVES then it is acceptable to them.

I am POWERLESS to do anything so I am starting a campaign. Please help!! Call your local I-team TV investigators, they love this stuff. The FAA doesn't care, the airlines don't care 20/20 doesn't care. Please call them and ask them to do a story.

And most of all. DO NOT EVER, EVER SHIP YOUR PETS IN A CRATE. THEY COULD BE TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!! Make alternative plans for your pet. Carry them on board, drive or leave them at home.
 
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#2
What about moving from North Africa to North America with a big dog? I can't drive that or carry him on board.
 
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#3
Well, it is a bit difficult to drive from one continent to another. I had to fly a Boxer and 2 cats from South Africa to Switzerland ~ either that or rehome them, which certainly wasn't an option. It went very well and they arrived the other side none the worse for wear and were very excited to see us. When we returned from Europe back to SA, we had to fly our French Bulldog back with us ~ again, leaving her behind was totally out of the question. We flew with Lufthansa and I was on the same flight as her. I checked a billion times with the cabin crew to make sure that the pilot knew that there was (precious) cargo in the hold. Everything went very well, bearing in mind that it was a flight from Zurich to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Cape Town. My Frenchie was in her crate for plus minus 22 hours and walked out of it at Cape Town airport as though nothing had happened. I won't say I wasn't terrified, but sometimes we have no choice in the matter.
 

Aussie Red

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#4
Hello and welcome and thank you for that info. I have heard that animals are not treated well on flights also knew a baggage handler that said they actually fling the containers holding these dear little ones . Think I will do what you say we have a great team here in Las Vegas that willl jump on something like that. Thanks.
 

carlar

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#5
I never ship my puppies. We decided a long time ago when we first started breeding Yorkies that we just couldn't do it and so we haven't. We either provide delivery service to the new owner's airport or allow the new owner to fly here and take the pup with them as carry-on. It is a little more expensive for the buyers but I don't have to worry about the conditions you are talking about. I can't imagine how stressful and frightening it is for puppies who are put in cargo holds of airplanes and I just won't put my babies through that. Good job you are doing to try to inform others of the risks to their dogs and puppies when they fly them cargo.
 

Sweet72947

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#6
I've seen how they handle regular luggage. My dad and I watched them load our plane while waiting in the terminal and the guy would either throw luggage on the conveyor belt or slam it down. He could easily have picked up bags and placed them on the conveyor belt, but he chose to slam bags around. We hoped nobody had anything breakable in their luggage.
 
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RedyreRottweilers

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#8
As a former long term airline employee (10+ years) and having numerous family members who have or are airline employees, I take umbrage to your post.

#1) dogs who are accustomed to them are not "traumatized for life" by being shipped in a crate.

#2) yes, an APU can be loud. Pets however are usually loaded last and kept on the cart until the last moment.

#3) it could be cooler or warmer in the cargo bin, esp. on taxi out and taxi in, but most dogs are pretty tolerant of these temperature variations. I don't ship if the ambient outside temp is going to be above 75 degrees. With smaller breeds, bedding can lessen the impact of cooler temps in the bin. Heat is the main enemy when shipping dogs.

Your post will make many people have great fear about something that the majority of dogs tolerate very well. Sometimes shipping is a necessity. If proper preparations are undertaken, it should not be anything for the dog OR the owner to worry about.
 
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RedyreRottweilers

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#10
I suppose if I had to, I would, but I'd be sick about it. The noise from the engines is exhausting when you're in the cabin; I can't imagine the effect of being in the hold.
It sounds the same in there as it does in the cabin.

The only thing separating you from the cargo bin is the floor inside the cabin.
 
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RedyreRottweilers

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#11
I've seen how they handle regular luggage. My dad and I watched them load our plane while waiting in the terminal and the guy would either throw luggage on the conveyor belt or slam it down. He could easily have picked up bags and placed them on the conveyor belt, but he chose to slam bags around. We hoped nobody had anything breakable in their luggage.
Those people have THOUSANDS of bags to handle in every kind of weather, plus pressure to keep the flight on time.

live animals are not to be placed on any conveyor, they are to be hand loaded.
 
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#14
It sounds the same in there as it does in the cabin. The only thing separating you from the cargo bin is the floor inside the cabin.
Yes, and I have much less acute hearing than my dog and I resort to headphones or earplugs by about an hour into a flight, every time. And I can move around the cabin a bit, know that the flight is not going to go on forever, and have someone to talk to. I'm not saying the airlines are terrible, but the experience of flying seems very likely to be awful for many pets.
 

mrsgrubby

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#15
I was wondering the same thing, sometimes people get pets from Germany, or other parts of the world. What can be done to keep them safe, since this siutation may be unaviodable.
 

J's crew

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#16
Thank you for your advice coopervane.

I am sure not all airlines are like this but unless a person is with a dog being flown at all times no one can say for sure what the experience is like, even a former airline employee.

That wouyld be like me saying because I worked for a certain phone company that all phone companies had the same customer service. Every airline is different. Rules are in place so things like this don't happen, but how often are rules followed, and how many people just don't give a rip about animals? Quite a few I think.

I would never leave my dogs with someone I do not very well. I would really never leave them with someone that has no connection with me in a scary place where it is known to be a dangerous situation.

Even if 99% of airlines treat animals well, that 1% is enough for me to refuse to ship an animal.
 

SharkyX

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#17
Out of curiosity... how would you then go about transporting a large or even medium sized dog then?
I know I certainly could not bring either of my dogs as a carry on if I had to fly somewhere.
The carrier required for a 50 to 60lbs dog is much larger then what you could bring as a carry on so how would you work around that?
 

dogstarsleddogs

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#19
I had to ship Babylon home from Alaska via cargo. 7 hour flight. Wasnt his first time flying in an airplane, but it did shake him up a bit. (Then again, he's scared of alot of things. Should have seen him when there was a snake in his area. You would think he saw a 20 foot python) And even then, I dont know if it was this flight that scared him, or the memories of the previous one.
And as for the heater, they made sure it was working. Which it wasnt. Which meant we couldnt fly. Good cause got to spend another day in Alaska, bad cause I was stuck in an airport for over 3 hours.
For puppies, I wouldnt even think about shipping them. (Even though I do know people who have, and the pups did just fine) And as for adults, I would at least make sure they are quite comfortable in a crate.
 

pitbulliest

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#20
It sounds the same in there as it does in the cabin.

The only thing separating you from the cargo bin is the floor inside the cabin.
Hey Red...since you worked for the airline..maybe you can tell me.

Is there any way of checking how the team puts the crates on the plane? Just to make sure they aren't throwing anything around, or is that impossible?

Also, what kind of insurance or guarantee do they have? Like, do they take responsibility if you take the dog home and its traumatized or injured somehow?

Just curious. I'd love to take Messina with me as a carry-on if I do fly in the future, but its hard to put a pit bull in your lap lol
 

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