*A warning for those who fly cats on cargo*  

Gosh, how awful. I know that Air Canada will not fly animals if the weather is too cold or too hot. I sent a kitten to California and they made that very clear to me.

That is sooo sad Poor kitten!! I would be really mad at both the breeder and the airlines!! Although I'm sure the grief overshadows all anger in a time like this

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's kitten

Sending pets via cargo can be risky (something an airline never tells you). Depending on the type of aircraft they are flown on..the flight crew may not have gauges that indicate the temperature in the cargo areas. Also in the event of a pressurization malfunction some aircraft require that the airflow (and therefore heating) to the belly be shut down. At 30,000 feet it doesn't matter what time of year it is, temps are typically -30C and below.

It sounds like the airline in this case needs to review it's policies for live animal transport. They should never be allowing animals to travel in the heat of summer or frigid winter.

I'm just thinking the breeder as someone who ships animals frequently should probably know something like this, and have done some research on how safe it really is Imagine all the animals that are being put at risk!!

I already responded on FB about this. And while its a horrible situation that happened and should not have happened, I do put more of the blame on the breeder and the vet in this case.

Why?

Because any good breeder should know you NEVER ever ship any cat if the weather is not at least 45 degrees or more from the departure city and the destination city! And the vet is to blame for signing off on the health certificate knowing the below freezing temps. Problems happen on airlines, but its not common. They never expected the latch to get stuck and not be able to get the pet out - its not like they had it open and the cat was sitting out there unattended. They were doing their best to open the latch.

When we shipped Jack, we had ONE day in the month the temps were expected to be 45 degrees to ship him out. The rest of that month went back to sub temps and we would not have gotten Jack till well into the following month.

I thought the same thing

I too thought the same thing a well. The breeder should have known it wasn't safe to ship the cat via cargo even though the airline was smoking something to allow any animal, much less a fur-less cat fly in cargo in cold weather like that. It still falls back to the breeder(and vet) for allowing this to happen.

Taryn

I'm sorry -- I'm having a problem figuring out how the vet is responsible for airline issues................ all they do for the health certificate is sign off that the cat is healthy.

Please don't blame the vet. None of us knows if the vet had any concerns and expressed them to the breeder. If the cat was healthy, the vet just acknowledged that fact by signing the health certificate.

In the statement the vet signs is (1) cat is in good health and (2) the cat is ok to travel in temps (stating the temperatures that its ok).

I know this cause I've had to do it for my kittens/cats and it was stated on Jack's vet certificate.

Did anyone else read the liked to story about the puppies who died on a Delta flight? Seems Delta is part of the problem here, but as mentioned in that article there are better choices to fly animals on so then the blame goes back to both the buyer and breeder for not researching better otherwise they would have read about Delta's past issues with pets dying.

I've actually heard about Jet Blue before, iirc some reptile breeders will use them because if you imagine how tough it is on an animal in a cargo hold that does have the ability to keep itself warm, imagine how it is on a cold blooded one (heat packs only do so much and there's nothing that helps during the summers).

The airline trusts that the breeder, and the vet who signs the certificate, knows what they are doing.

Even I know it is a stupid idea to put a hairless animal on a plane to fly to a place where temps are well below freezing. The owner put trust in the breeder that he/she knew what they were doing. I just don't see the airline being at fault here, they didn't do anything wrong, they didn't neglect the animal or leave it outside to freeze, the cargo door got stuck, which happens, that is why a GOOD breeder would have told these people that there was no way on earth they were going to ship any animal(much less a hairless kitten) when the weather was that cold. You have to plan for the unexpected and the cargo door was exactly that. The airline assumed the breeder(and vet) knew what they were doing and neither apparently knew squat. That is why they demand the health certificate to verify that the animal will be OK on the flight and during any unexpected delays.

Like I said even I know sending a hairless kitten to a place where the weather was well below freezing is a very, very, very, extremely STUPID idea. Like I said, it's all with the breeder(and the vet) on this one.

Taryn

I thank those who agree with me on this. I felt like the ones jumping on Delta including the owner of the kitten who died, are not really thinking about what really happened. Yes its a shock and I can't blame the owner for being upset.

But IMO the owner really took this out of context and immediately blames the airline (and probably wants a lawsuit) - instead of going back to the breeder and placing the blame squarely on his/her shoulders. I know its exciting to get a new kitten, but if the owner and breeder would have used their brains, they could have waited another month or two to safely ship a naked cat.

I was the "odd one" out on the FB page.

I'm sure if this goes to court, Delta will not be held responsible for the death.

The only thing I think Delta is in the wrong for is not having a better set up for getting into the cargo hold minutes after landing to get those animals out. They need to put better regulations for that in place and maybe another emergency entrance into it - maybe through the interior of the plane itself? Is that possible?

Wow, I'm so surprised at that. Perhaps a lot are her friends and just saying what she wants to hear rather than the truth.

I kind of thought the same thing, I thought it was a given that you don't ship animals when the temps are below freezing I know that and I've never shipped an animal! Like you said, any animal, much less a hairless kitten should not have been in the cargo hold in those temps. Things happen that are beyond our control, like the door latch not working, but making the conscious decision to put a kitten on an airplane in freezing temps is not beyond anyone's control. I feel the worst for that poor baby, what an awful way to die

That poor kitten. What a tragedy for everyone involved.

I have to agree, though, with those who are putting responsibility on the breeder to ensure the temp was safe for the kitten to fly. I've shipped two cats (one who was probably 8-10 months old at the time, and the other who was 5 months old) to TCS members via Delta Air Cargo, both without incident. One was shipped in late Sept., so the temp wasn't a concern. The other went to his new home in mid-Dec., so we were keeping a close eye on the temp at both ends and worked with the airline to ship him on a day when it warm enough here and at his destination. If the temp hadn't been warm enough, he wouldn't have flown. We also consulted my vet and she signed an acclimation certificate stating the temp at which it would be safe for him to travel. It sounds like Delta definitely needs better safety regulations in place, but the reality is the kitten shouldn't have been shipped in such cold weather to begin with.

I think people are saying what they think the owner wants to hear, but that doesn't make it the truth. The airline is not at fault for this.

The temp outside here right now is 30, with a windchill of 23. Anyone have a naked cat they want to drop off outside because it's a lot warmer here than it was for that poor kitten. It's common sense, if it isn't weather where I would be comfortable letting Nuts outside to run free in then it isn't weather to ship him in either.

I have a doghouse and 2 carriers filled with towels and blankets for the ferals outside to sleep in and every morning when I come out to feed them they come out of the dog house and carriers to eat. These cats are used to this weather and have(short- Maine Coon long) fur coats to keep them warm and they still at the very least pair up to sleep to keep each other warm. If they aren't in the houses and are laying around the lay in the sun to keep warm. All but Mama are black cats. Mama is a tortoiseshell so she is dark as well and they require the sun to warm them up. Right now we have Mama who just came by to eat(her fur is Maine Coon long), Half-tail(medium length coat) is laying on the hood of my car and I don't know where the others are, somewhere, possibly in the carriers, or out wandering around. The point is that they are adapted to this(I know the kitten had never spent anytime outdoors, it's been too cold), all have ample fur covering them and I wouldn't put any of them on an airplane in this weather, it's just not safe.

You want a recipe for disaster this was it, a young animal with no fur, in temps well below freezing.

Like I said it all comes back to the breeder being at fault, not the airline.

Taryn

I'll have to wait on commenting on FB but one of the posters there wants to know "where in CFA or other associations does it say a breeder is not supposed to ship under 45 degrees"......my reply will be like:

"No where does it say in any association - but its common sense if you are a breeder and care about your cats/kittens you just don't ship any cat in freezing or below weather. Why should you need a statement? Why can you not use your brains?"


Apparently common sense is not so common or the breeder should be called a "greeder" for shipping in freezing weather! And if I was the owner, I'd just get may money back from the breeder (hopefully they will) and go elsewhere for a kitten.

A person on another forum once said "common sense is common, not necessarily good sense". I think that sums this up well, no one used their heads here. It seems that everyone wants someone else to do that for them, then when something goes wrong they want to blame someone else, too.

This says that this story has been posted on facebook............. can someone post the link? This has hit several news pages and, of course, the airlines are saying it is not their fault (I do agree). I also don't think it is the fault of the vet.

How many times have we had to educate our vets on the specifics of a pedigree cat? My vet is STILL learning about persians and their care and requirements. Again, I don't see how this could be the fault of the vet. The breeder should have known there could be complications, but I've also dealt with new owners that "just had to have the kitten NOW."

Yes, the breeder could have denied the shipping until conditions were safe, but again..................................... we do not know any of the previous conversations.

Many airlines will not allow an animal in the Cabin even if temp is under 45 ... one said 60 in either location or a layover

Facebook links are not allowed on The Cat Site.

How sad!
I have had puppies shipped before and you really have to follow up with the airline to make sure those pets aren't sitting out in the tarmac. It has been summer and I feel one time I helped save my puppy's life by following up and staying on top of them. One time an employee finally took their own car to go looking for my pet and said the puppy was just sitting there in the heat. Who knows what might have happened had I not been insistent. It is scary. I know many pets fly and are shipped everyday no problems, but there are some bad stories too for sure.

What % is that though? Of course it's horrible for even 1 death but to put it into perspective, hundreds if not thousands of animals are safely flown every week.

I'm sure there have been more than 17 pet deaths at the hands of veterinary error in the past year, or humans with doctors.