TulsaPets Magazine September 2021

September/October 2021 • TulsaPets 13 Flying Can Be Dangerous to Your Pets Owners Can Explore Travel Options by Heide Brandes C hris Gain Weisbecker knows the stress of flying with her pets. In the past decade or so, she has flown her cat and ferret on three international flights. Each time, the stress and cost of doing so were a bit overwhelming. “The first time, we flew from Oklahoma to Brussels, Belgium. I had a ferret and a cat, and we had to ship them through a shipping company. We had to send them a day ahead to Dallas and then meet up with them the next day in New Jersey,” Weis- becker said. “It was very stressful. My cat didn’t use the bathroom in two-and-a-half days, and when we finally got to the small apartment overseas, she literally urinated for three minutes straight.” Although Weisbecker’s furry companions made the flights with no injuries, other pets aren’t so lucky when flying. Between 2010 and 2020, more than 250 animal passengers died during or immediately after airline travel. In addition, more than 170 sustained injuries as a result of airline transport, and airlines lost 20 animals altogether. In an age when travel is essential and more and more pet owners are taking pets with them, the dire numbers are worrisome. For the majority of animal lovers, pets are more than a source of companionship and love—they are bona fide members of the family. Yet many transportation companies such as airlines still treat animals as cargo, sometimes with deadly consequences. Honest Paws released a study in June about animal airline deaths in 2010 through 2020, based on the United States Depart- ment of Transportation (DOT) requirement that each airline in the United States submit a monthly report on deaths, loss, and in- juries of animals during air transport. The number of incidents reported applies only to animals that the U. S. Department of Agriculture considers pets (“privately owned companion animals”) and not to animals shipped for research or resale or en route to sanctuaries. From that report, Honest Paws created a list of the top five offending airlines, based on the number of reported pet incidents, injuries, or deaths. The Offenders Key results from Honest Paws showed that United Airlines is the worst airline for transporting pets, with the highest number of reported pet incidents, including deaths, injuries, and losses. Delta Airlines and American Airlines also made the list of the top five. United had 138 reported incidents, Delta 119, Alaska Airlines 83, American Airlines 55, and Hawaii Airlines 21. More animals sustained injuries on United Airlines than on any other airline between 2010 and 2020, accounting for more than 32 percent of all recorded airline pet injuries in the United States. Although United Airlines had the most