Dont put your puppy in a cargo hold!!!

[Scooter]

I'm so glad you posted this. My husband and I are going to Guatemala for a week and were considering taking our puppy with us. I had concerns about the cargo hold, and this confirms them. We'll be leaving her at doggy camp here at home.

[Doberluv]

Thank you for posting this valuable info. I'll see if it can be stickied. Appreciate your care and concern. I wish more people shared that.

[MafiaPrincess]

It's really a non choice matter for many people to fly animals. It's not just a gee, I'll drive those extra few hours. It is far more cruel to drive from Ontario to NC to go get my puppy, and then make it sit in the car the entire way back. That is Multiple really long drives.

It's nice that you care how animals are treated, but your post is written in a scare tactic manner that will likely needlessly freak people out. I'm sure some not so great things happen, but that's no reason to say pets should never ever be flown.

[RedyreRottweilers]

I have shipped dogs multiple times with zero issues.

I agree that the original post was written in a manner to frighten people away from shipping their dogs.

A crate trained dog will travel JUST FINE in the cargo hold of an aircraft as long as it is not so hot outside that it's dangerous.

I find it hard to believe that people would make decisions on the basis on one post by some unknown person on a message board.

There are plenty of places on the net to research air travel with pets, how to prepare your dog and your crate for safe travel, and what the fees/costs are.

[J's crew]

Originally Posted by RedyreRottweilers

I have shipped dogs multiple times with zero issues.

I agree that the original post was written in a manner to frighten people away from shipping their dogs.

A crate trained dog will travel JUST FINE in the cargo hold of an aircraft as long as it is not so hot outside that it's dangerous.

I find it hard to believe that people would make decisions on the basis on one post by some unknown person on a message board.

There are plenty of places on the net to research air travel with pets, how to prepare your dog and your crate for safe travel, and what the fees/costs are.

This is not the first time I have heard horror stories about dogs being flown in cargo. I believe a few years back there was video documentation of what really happens on 20/20 or a similar show. They recorded temp. changes, noise, etc....

I am sure the majority of the time everything goes great. But, if there is a 1% chance that something will go wrong, why risk it?

ETA: Of course you can't keep your dog from any and all dangers but there are very few people I trust to care for my dogs.......complete strangers are never the one's I trust.

[RedyreRottweilers]

Originally Posted by J's crew

This is not the first time I have heard horror stories about dogs being flown in cargo. I believe a few years back there was video documentation of what really happens on 20/20 or a similar show. They recorded temp. changes, noise, etc....

I am sure the majority of the time everything goes great. But, if there is a 1% chance that something will go wrong, why risk it?

ETA: Of course you can't keep your dog from any and all dangers but there are very few people I trust to care for my dogs.......complete strangers are never the one's I trust.

Life equals risk. Getting up in the morning probably carries a greater than a 1% risk.

I choose not to live my life in fear, but to educate myself on the pros and cons, and the relative risks, of activities and behaviors.

Shipping a dog by air I do not feel is an appreciable risk to the health and safety of my dog if it is approached in a sensible manner.



JMO as always.

Carry on.

[Renee750il]

I think this really serves to put us on alert to perform our due diligence before putting animals on a flight. Often, just the fact that we care enough to ask questions can cause others to be more careful

[Aussie Red]

My stepson is a pilot for SWA. He told me that what poster said is true and more and that he would never fly his guys. I had never given thought to this as I assumed that airlines would take as much care for them as human passengers.
A good point he made to me is that people are people and not all love your pet.
so bad things do happen daily. He gave me some stories about what he personally has seen and that not all pets arrive safe and unharmed and it is from the improper handling of them.
I told him of this thread and he strongly agreed that people do need to get involved and change this not just say oh well what choice do we have.

[RD]

I've never shipped a dog, and to be honest when I was consdering shipping one previously, I wasn't comfortable with the idea. It's costing me a little extra to fly to North Carolina and pick up my new puppy, but it's worth it for the peace of mind. I'm a worrier and would be a nervous wreck if I was flying my puppy to me.

I have a feeling someday I'll have a dog flown to me . . . Just not this one. I'm just not comfortable with it at this point.

[FoxyWench]

Originally Posted by 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?

depends where in europe your going.
all out of country flights the dog must be in cargo (wth the exception of canada and mexico with some airlines)
if you want to go to the british isles, hawaii or anywhere else that has quarrentein laws, i dont suggest it.
there is the pet pasport but it takes aproximatly 6months to complete and is a very rigourous process costing ofter over $1000 however it does mean your dog or cat can go straight home instead of having to sit in quarrentine.

if you do plan on flying into a quarrentine based conuntry without the pet passport its a 6monthed kenneld quarentine and can cost anything from $5000 upwards from what ive been told, a good average is about $1000 a month for quarentine boarding.

cost of flight is usually about the same cost as a childs seat in regular class, but it also depends on the airline.
some airlines also dont fly animals at all...

insurance is usually anythign from $25-$200 per pet, again depending on airline.

as an example, to ship vixie and dodger to me, via continental, shipping was $250 for vet check, crate, flight and insurance.
for my dane puppy to be shipped if i whent that route itll cost closer to $350 because bigger crate, and bigger crate means more expesnive.

so it all depends on weight and crate size.
its always best to contact the airline and talk to them about their rules and regs and prices.

again, if our planning on duing such the only airline i trust with dogs are British airlines (when we moved over our cocker was flown cargo with BA and continental (both vixie and dodger were sent via continental, wonderfull airline for pet transport!)