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| The U.S. Department of Transportation released it’s monthly airline-related pet incident report. |
Two cats were lost recently in unrelated air travel incidents on U.S. flights, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s monthly air travel report that was released last week.
Delta Airlines reported an 8-year-old domestic shorthaired cat, whose intended route was from Miami to Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C., with a layover in Atlanta, escaped and, in turn, passed away. The airline report states that the Miami gate agent confirmed the cat was in the kennel prior to departure, however when the ramp agent was loading the aircraft the employee noticed that cat was no longer in the kennel.
Several days later, on Aug. 6, the cat was seen sitting atop a fence surrounding the airport’s perimeter. When airport officials tried to capture the cat, the cat became frightened and ran into the street in front of oncoming traffic and died. Delta reports the cause of the incident is unknown and the airline is still investigating. In response to this incident a Delta Airlines station manager conducted a training session with employees reviewing procedures ensuring all kennel doors are properly closed and secured.
Delta included an incident that occurred May 10, 2007, in the Department of Transportation’s July incident report list. In that occurrence a 6-year-old cat was traveling from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, Israel. According to the report, “the cat had somehow escaped its kennel [in Atlanta] and darted past the loading agent. An immediate search was conducted by eight ramp agents and the flight crew in attempt to locate and capture the cat. This attempt was unsuccessful.”
The report states the kennel was inspected and met airline requirements, and the cause of the escape is unknown. Delta Airlines informed airport employees of the incident and advised them to be on the lookout for the cat.
In addition to cat-related incidents, Alaska Airlines reported one dog death, Continental Airlines reported two dog deaths and Northwest Airlines reported one dog injury on flights in July.
The Department of Agriculture states that it reviews airlines’ incident reports for violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), such as kennel size or temperature breaches, and pursue investigations if the department questions whether the AWA was violated, according to the department’s animal care staff.
More than 2 million pets and live animals are transported by air each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.