Delta Airlines loses Dog

[imbj]

This is my worst nightmare if it happened to my pooch.

http://consumerist.com/2010/05/delta-loses-entire-dog.html

Hope he is found.

[renaultf1]

I just read that at CNN.com - OMG.

[Basenjimamma]

Horrible..poor Paco. and the people adopting him..

[curlytails]

Absolutely infuriating.

Whoever thought a $200 voucher was sufficient compensation must not be a pet owner, or is just a cold and heartless person.

[Kipawa]

Airlines cover their behinds so much when it comes to anything being lost, but this is the absolute worst! Fingers crossed that Paco is found.

[dmcarty]

There are a couple things in the story however that seem an issue. One you have to have proof of rabies as being given 30 days before flying in to another country. (been there with shipping quite a few dogs in and out of the US in the last few years). I do not believe that any airline would have accepted the dog in the first place and if they did. The dog WOULD be stopped in customs and held. (at the owners expense) I also have NEVER had anyone give in on the size of the crate - NEVER. Heck one of my Podengos came in a crate that was big enough to ship a baby hippo in and the dog only took up a small corner - because KLM said his first crate was not big enough.

I'm not saying it's not true but having shipped several dogs in the last couple of years I am pretty familiar with most of the Cargo and Baggage rules for several airlines (including Delta) something sounds fishy about this story.

[Shannanigan]

I sympathize with the owner, but I've got to ask The Consumerist if "Entire Dog Lost" was the best title choice…like, is it common to just lose parts of dogs? Is that less appalling than losing an ENTIRE dog?

[Basenjimamma]

Diana, good point about the rabies. I am looking into importing and it is very crucial that the dog has had rabies 30 days prior to shipment, unless it is a puppy to young to inoculate..either way, this dog was a street dog, not a puppy they got from a breeder..fishy, but still a sad story. Somewhere a dog is lost and he knows no one..

[wizard]

That poor dog is probably sitting in some baggage area at customs in Mexico City and no one knows it. I hope he is found.

[basenji_fan]

@Basenjimamma:

Diana, good point about the rabies. I am looking into importing and it is very crucial that the dog has had rabies 30 days prior to shipment, unless it is a puppy to young to inoculate..either way, this dog was a street dog, not a puppy they got from a breeder..fishy, but still a sad story. Somewhere a dog is lost and he knows no one..

Where are you importing from???? It doesn't have to be 30 days one the nose. It is "no less than" 30 days and no more than 12 months from the date of import. It is not very crucial that it has had one 30 days prior, it just has to have been vaccinated. It is EXTREMELY easy to import an animal into the US. I have traveled from Europe back and form with my two dogs many times. All they need coming into the US is a health certificate showing proof of vaccination against rabies and that is it. They can even come from third world countries as long as they have a rabies shot.

When I would go into Europe I would fly into Frankfurt and half the time they wouldn't look at my health certificate because I had a "Pet Passport" for them that was issued by the veterinarian over there.

You can get all your info here, page 10, it is a PDF so it may download (depending on your browser), but it states everything I briefly said.
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/publications/travel/pets_wild.ctt/pets.pdf

Here is info from the CDC website, it does not clearly cover everything that the above link does http://www.cdc.gov/animalimportation/dogs.html

[Basenjimamma]

Well.maybe not hard to import the dog it self, but the airline is requiring the dog to be rabies vaccinated for at least thirty days prior to boarding..unless it is a puppy.
That is KLM, Lufthansa..and Qantas airline..but I am looking for a puppy so those rules do not apply anyway..