Every year, pets are lost, injured and killed as a result of pet carriers breaking, coming apart, or otherwise malfunctioning. Combine this with airline negligence in handling pets traveling as checked baggage or cargo, and our pets are in danger when they fly with us.
On Thursday, August 25, 2011 Karen Pascoe was flying from NYC to move to California with her two cats, Jack and Barry. The two boys were over the weight limit for in-cabin flight and had to fly as checked baggage. The unthinkable occurred: as American Airlines has admitted, "A clerk had placed one kennel on top of another on a baggage cart and the kennel on top fell and resulted in the cat escaping." That cat was JACK.
Jack was lost in JFK airport for 61 days, and then spent 12 days in veterinary intensive care before dying as a result of wounds that could not heal because of the effects of malnutrition.
The carrier that Jack was in did not contain him during the stressful conditions of air travel. Let's make sure this doesn't happen again - let's get some rigorous, unbiased information about what carriers really will protect our pets no matter what happens!
We, the undersigned, respectfully present the following information:
Every year, millions of pets travel with their owners - and many of these journeys are taken via commercial airlines. When a pet flies and does not fit in an under-the-seat carrier, that pet is subject to the stress of flying in checked baggage or cargo. The stress of handling and air travel is great -- and we have to rely on the carriers that we put our pets in to keep them safe for their journey. BUT ARE ALL PET CARRIERS SAFE?
On August 25, 2011, Karen Pascoe was traveling from NYC to California, moving west with her two cats, Jack and Barry. Each was in a separate carrier that had been listed as "airline approved," and yet, shortly after check-in, Karen received a call that Jack was missing. American Airlines later said this: "A clerk had placed one kennel on top of another on a baggage cart and the kennel on top fell and resulted in the cat escaping."
The combination of airline negligence and a carrier that did not hold up to the stresses of travel resulted in tragedy: Jack was missing for 61 days, and spent 12 days in veterinary intensive care to treat wounds and the effects of malnutrition before he passed away.
We respectfully ask you, the researchers at Consumers Union, to use your rigorous methods to inform us about which pet carriers really can keep our pets safe during the rigors of air travel, from baggage handling to noise reduction to the the stresses of being jostled around in the belly of the plane.We thank you for your time and consideration, and look forward to reading the results.Sincerely,Friends of Jack and caring pet owners from around the world
