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This May Make You Rethink Flying Your Dog..


G.S.P.S/K
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Hi all- just wanted to share with you something I witnessed yesterday which horrifed me and would certainly make me reluctant to fly my dog anywhere. I work at the airport. Whislt driving on the tarmac yesterday we saw something fly off a trolley and land on the road right in front of our car- forcing us to slam on the brakes- we only just avoided hitting it- it was a puppy in a crate. So not only did the puppy fly off the trolley (due to high winds) and crash onto the road- it only just avoided being run over (luckily we were adhering to the 20km/h speed limit which baggage handlers seem to ignore) and moreover- I was wondering exactly how long was this puppy left on the tarmac on a 43 degree day.. we stopped and checked on the puppy and it seemed ok..and some baggage handlers came and placed the crate inside... but we were still horrified that this could occur... we will report it but unfortunately it seems to be a grey area as to exactly who's fault this is- everyone seems to be blaming someone else.

Edited by G.S.P.S/K
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How dreadfully upsetting for you to be witness to... and only one of the horror stories among many that I have heard. This puppy was one of the lucky ones.

Nope, hasn't made me rethink... I will never fly my dogs.

I know many do it without issue every day... but even the thought of the risk factor makes me sick to the stomach... and I am a bit of a dare devil with most things... just not where my animals are concerned.

Edited by dyzney
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Hi all- just wanted to share with you something I witnessed yesterday which horrifed me and would certainly make me reluctant to fly my dog anywhere. I work at the airport. Whislt driving on the tarmac yesterday we saw something fly off a trolley and land on the road right in front of our car- forcing us to slam on the brakes- we only just avoided hitting it- it was a puppy in a crate. So not only did the puppy fly off the trolley (due to high winds) and crash onto the road- it only just avoided being run over (luckily we were adhering to the 20km/h speed limit which baggage handlers seem to ignore) and moreover- I was wondering exactly how long was this puppy left on the tarmac on a 43 degree day.. we stopped and checked on the puppy and it seemed ok..and some baggage handlers came and placed the crate inside... but we were still horrified that this could occur... we will report it but unfortunately it seems to be a grey area as to exactly who's fault this is- everyone seems to be blaming someone else.

Friend watched from assembly lounge as her Gr Ch dog's crate was pushed to straighten it up on the moving conveyor and toppled off on the other side Dog has never been quite the same..................he was being taken to an interstate performance event.............but she did get a new crate out of it......................big deal.

Wouldn't be flying a dog in this weather.

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I flew a rescue British Shorthair cat once from Perth to Sydney, when I got to Sydney to collect her there was a Russian blue sitting in a crate. When I said that wasn't my cat they looked in to it and found out that my cat had been sent to Darwin and their cat had been sent to me, the cat was then sent Darwin to Brisbane, Brisbane to Sydney and I slept in my car in the carpark at the freight terminal until the cat arrived at 9am the next morning, total screw up and that poor rescue cat was in a crate for well over 24 hours as a result.

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A few years ago my 6 month schnauzer puppy was flown to Darwin for a holiday. On the way up no problems. On the way home we were sitting in the terminal ready to board and saw my pup left in the hot sun in her crate. Darwin and middle of summer - even from a distance she was showing sigs of distress and trying to climb under her mat. I kicked up a stink, a big one, and was threatned to be evicted from the terminal if I didn't stop. After 1/2 an hour and at this stage half the terminal standing at the window commenting and kids crying about the dying dog and me saying I will go onto the tarmac myself and heading towards the security door, did the horrible man behind the counter pick up a phone to get the crate moved. They refused to let me cancel the flight and get her back to check if ok so I spent the whole flight worried sick. But the lovely people in Adelaide took her out and let me see her during the hour wait and gave her water etc. But I have flown my dogs many times and that was the only bad experience.

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I don't have such a problem with the actual flying but moreso with the fact that I have no control over anything once the dog is taken off my hands. :/

Precisely my issue too Hockz... and also that you cannot see what is happening with your dog.

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Guest hankodie

The idea of flying my dogs really freaks me out after all of the things I've heard and read :(1 2 3 4

My parents also have a family friend who works at an airport and he says he would never fly his own dogs after what he's seen.

This is probably a really silly question but is there another way of transporting pets internationally that doesn't involve them being put on a plane? I know that some cruise ships take pets but could you then import them into the country?

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I've sent dogs on flights to rescue before and it's always nerve-racking but touch wood they've all been fine. The only time I've ever had a problem was 4 years ago I had my maremma flown down and I drove 3 hours to the airport and he wasn't there. They neglected to tell me that the flight didn't have room so they had him in boarding overnight. I was not happy as I had to call off morning work the next day to drive down again and get him. :mad

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We flew a greyhound today from Sydney to Tasmania. We could've sent him on road transport to Melbourne then the boat to Tassie but in this heat a flight was a better option than a maybe 14 hour trip by road to Melbourne and then the 12 hour (I think :/) trip by boat to Tasmania. He was there in under 2 hours and happy as Larry when he arrived.

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We had a ten week old puppy sent with Jetpets - by plane from Melbourne to Canberra. The dear puppy arrived in the crate extremely happy, wanting to shake hands with us - complete strangers to him. Sad to hear about the other incidents. :(

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I think many of you people forget that we breeders and dog show exhibitors are freighting dogs all over the country and other parts of the world and yes we bring them in from other parts of the world. Yes accidents happen, but we have accidents with our own dogs at home and other places. Flying is the best method of getting a dog to its destination quickly. Over the years I have found that the owners have more problems with flying the dogs than the dog has. :)

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If you look you'll find horror stories of accidents involving pets and livestock being transported by road too. I'd rather a short number of hours by plane than a longer number of hours by road, as least it's a lesser timeframe for something to go wrong.

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