After Congress adopted some provisions of the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act in 2000, sponsored by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and then-Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., airlines were required to produce reports of all incidents involving animal loss, injury or death, so consumers can compare the safety records of different carriers, and also to improve animal care training for baggage handlers. The reports began to shine a light on the number of companion animals who died in or went missing from cargo holds on commercial flights each year.
It’s now clearer than ever that air travel can be dangerous for pets, with excessively hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation, and rough handling often to blame in cases where there are awful outcomes. The reports indicate that animals in carriers have been dropped and run over by forklifts. They’ve been put on the wrong flights, abandoned in cargo areas, or lost forever after escaping from airports. Flights are particularly dangerous for animals with “pushed in” faces, such as bulldogs, pugs, and Persian cats, because their short nasal passages leave them especially vulnerable to oxygen deprivation and heat stroke.
While the mandated reports were a step in the right direction, the rules didn’t go far enough. Only 15 airlines were required to provide annual reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and many other carriers were exempt. The reports only applied to a narrow group of companion animals, such as pets traveling with their owners, but did not include dogs and cats shipped on airlines for commercial sale by breeders or puppy mills or for use in experimentation.
That changed yesterday, when the DOT announced a final rule expanding the reporting requirements. Beginning in January, the rule will apply to all carriers that use planes seating 60 or more passengers, so that many more airlines will be required to provide data to the public. Importantly, all dogs and cats will now be covered by the reporting requirements, regardless of whether they are traveling with a passenger or being shipped for commercial sale to a new owner. With the increasing number of puppy mills selling dogs over the Internet to consumers all over the country, the suffering of these animals in long-distance transport will no longer be shielded from public view.
Air travel will never be perfectly safe for pets, especially when they are shipped like luggage. It’s usually better to drive with your pet or leave him or her at home, and if flying is the only option, choose the passenger cabin, not the cargo hold. It’s one more reason we are pushing the Pets on Trains Act, H.R. 2066 by Reps. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and S. 1710 by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., which will direct Amtrak to establish a policy for allowing pets to travel with their owners in certain passenger cars. Amtrak has started a pilot project to allow pets on trains in Illinois, and this legislation provides the potential for another future alternative to risky flights.
In the meantime, with the new DOT reporting requirements, consumers will have more complete information to assess the risks of air travel for their pets, and can more accurately judge which airlines have the better safety records on pet care. It’s a positive step toward more transparency and accountability for airlines, and another tool to expose the worst abuses of the puppy mill industry.
