Dont put your puppy in a cargo hold!!!

[FoxyWench]

i think it also depends on the airline, i will ONLY ever reccomend continental to anyone, they temp control their cargo for animals onbaord, and are wonderfull,
ive had too many wonderfull experiences over the past 6 yrs with continental i cant honestly say i dont trust them, other airlines however i woudlnt think about shipping live animals with.

continental at least do take wonderfull care of the animals onboard.

[RedyreRottweilers]

Pitbulliest, I ALWAYS insure the dog I am shipping for at least 10K. You can do this when you are checking in. It costs very little only a few dollars. You can bet this makes a difference in how YOUR precious cargo is handled.

You can also observe the cargo being loaded, either from the terminal bldg or from inside the aircraft.

It is good to advise the crew, even tho they may already know from the manifest, that you have a dog in the cargo bin.

[Herschel]

Boat.

Good questions about the international/long distance travel, I was wondering if there was a decent way of transporting. Herschel is small enough (barely) to fly on board with us so we haven't had any problems yet.

[pitbulliest]

that's great. So they don't usually object if you ask to see them loading cargo?

Another question: How much does it usually cost to travel with your pet via air? I mean..for example, if you are travelling from the U.S to Europe.. how much does the pet's airfare/cargo boarding/insurance etc cost altogether?

[J's crew]

Originally Posted by SharkyX

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?

I have no personal experience but there are companies that offer ground transport with a caretaker provided to be with the dog at all times. Cost quite a bit more but worth it IMO.

I have had to transport medium and large dogs before and I either have the person adopting the dog fly out to get them and they rent a car to drive back or twice I have made the trip myself via car. It is also amazing to see rescue workers that will coordinate transport cross country.

I refuse to ship a puppy via plane from out of country. Insurance is great, but the dogs life and humane treatment is worth more to me than any risk.

[bubbatd]

I've only had to fly one puppy , and the new owner and I were more traumatized than the pup ! I stayed with him until he was loaded and at the airport until he was airborne . It was only an hour flight and he bounded out and hadn't even peed or potted . I would never ship during questionable weather or with change of flights . I'm sure there aren't many animals on flights , so I wish the cages could be loaded with passengers !

[bubbatd]

P.S. .....welcome , Coopervane !! and thanks for the post !

[Bobsk8]

Originally Posted by coopervane

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.

What aircraft do you fly?

[SharkyX]

Well what about some of those companies who specialize in animal transport.
Just very quickly going to google I put in animal transport and came up with a few like this
http://www.animalsaway.com/

I don't know anything about it, just the first link I found... but how do companies like these go about moving animals, does anybody know?

[Denaluvscorgis]

Welcome to Chaz Coopervane & thank you so much for the information.