I was shocked when I learned of a loophole the airlines have in reference to reporting animal fatalities. I was reading about a puppy that was crushed to death in her crate on the tarmac of a major international airport by being run over by a baggage conveyor machine. Yet, this animal’s death was not included in the airline’s reported total animal fatalities. How could this be? It’s because the puppy was being shipped by a breeder. She was being transported by a business to be someone’s pet, but she wasn’t someone’s pet yet. The word “animal” for purposes of having to report a injury in the airline industry means one “that is being kept as a pet in a family household in the United States”. So any injured or killed commercially owned animals being shipped by breeders, farms, pet stores, laboratories, etc., don’t have to be reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation. What a loophole!! Of course, airline officials say animal accidents are rare. The figures reported …

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