# Delta loses yet another pet



## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

It's the old "busted out of the crate" routine - they can't even think of a new excuse.
Delta loses Riverside woman’s cat in Cairo - Pet Tales : The Orange County Register

Not a dog, but the pattern is distressingly similar .....
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Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Can not imagine a cat busted out of a crate. I guess anything is possible,but she is right to want to see the crate. It doesn"t say that she zip tied the crate. I have zip tied the crate together and zip tied the door to the crate when flying. I know my dogs could get out of a plastic crate like presto fast if motivated and it is scary.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

i dont buy the cat busted out story. I really dont. I've had some pretty strong cats but NONE of them were ever able to "bust out" of a crate. They sure could tear themselves up pretty good trying to get out but never actually could get out. I would DEMAND to see the crate. I'd be willing to bet the crate got crushed. The baggage crews arent exactly nice or careful about handling other peoples things.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

I'd like to see Delta's stats compared to other similar airlines.
Are these cases just over represented or do they have a flowchart of what to do when they arrive with a dead animal?


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## maxtmill (Dec 28, 2010)

I have read these reports several times about Delta, but I have had excellent results flying pets with Delta! I had my husband's beagle flown from Utah to Alabama, & I have received 2 cats on 2 separate occassions from Delta flown to Alabama from Florida. The Delta people were so considerate of the animals, they called me BEFORE the flight landed to make sure I was on my way to the airport, then called me AGAIN when the plane landed. Then, they unload the live animals BEFORE they allow passengers to unload! I have been very impressed, & puzzled when I have read about these losses!


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

maxtmill I'm very pleased that things worked out for you - and I'm sure there are many other people who would back you up and say the same thing. The problem is, that since 2007 when Delta lost the champion whippet Vivi (after the Westminster show) their name seems to have surfaced rather more frequently than other domestic/international airlines. Three times in fact in the last three months. (Another dog named Paco was lost by Delta prior to them losing Nala.) When you start to see this kind of pattern emerging you have to ask "why?" I am sure that there have been many animals successfully transported by Delta - but that is no consolation to the people who have lost theirs, and this succession of animals "busting out" of their crates is simply not believable. They can't honestly believe that people are stupid enough to swallow that - at least not more than once. Someone is lying about what is going on, and one can only hope that the organization cares enough to put a stop to it. 
___________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Sounds like they need to stop shipping animals and re-evaluate their procedures.


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

Not to defend Delta, but is it possible their stats are not any worse than other airliners? Perhaps they ship considerably more pets than the others do. Does anyone posting here know? Without additional info it's impossible to know how they compare to the others.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Delta and Continental seem to have a knack for losing, injuring and killing pets. These stats only represent "personal" pets, animals being shipped by a breeder are not "pets" as they belong to a business.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

RubyTuesday said:


> Not to defend Delta, but is it possible their stats are not any worse than other airliners? Perhaps they ship considerably more pets than the others do. Does anyone posting here know? Without additional info it's impossible to know how they compare to the others.


I don't think it matters whether or not they ship more animals than anyone else - whether you ship 10 or 10,000 they shouldn't be getting away from you, getting crushed, or whatever the heck is going on. As I said in an earlier post, if the employees aren't trained properly, (or don't like animals, that's always a possibility) if the facilities aren't secure, or the mindset is that these guys are just another piece of luggage, then the care given them is going to be substandard. I think it becomes especially critical if there is a stopover somewhere - though poor little Patch didn't even get off the ground. It's just sloppy and uncaring, and I think the media should be all over it.
___________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

> I don't think it matters whether or not they ship more animals than anyone else


I disagree. For example, if an airline ships only 2 or 3 animals with no mishaps while Delta ships hundreds or thousands with a few mishaps, it's statistically impossible to state with any certainty that the other airline is safer. 

IF I'm shipping an animal, safety is paramount. An airline that with very little experience & no real track record isn't particularly reassuring. Delta is one of the largest domestic airlines. It's possible they ship more animals than the other airlines. I don't know, however, that info is absolutely relevant in determining how bad their record really is.

I agree that the media should be all over it. An important part of that is digging up all the relevant data. Merely printing sound bites & blurbs that emotionally resonate with people provides a misleading & incomplete picture. Nobody benefits from that.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

RubyTuesday said:


> I disagree. For example, if an airline ships only 2 or 3 animals with no mishaps while Delta ships hundreds or thousands with a few mishaps, it's statistically impossible to state with any certainty that the other airline is safer.
> 
> IF I'm shipping an animal, safety is paramount. An airline that with very little experience & no real track record isn't particularly reassuring. Delta is one of the largest domestic airlines. It's possible they ship more animals than the other airlines. I don't know, however, that info is absolutely relevant in determining how bad their record really is.
> 
> I agree that the media should be all over it. An important part of that is digging up all the relevant data. Merely printing sound bites & blurbs that emotionally resonate with people provides a misleading & incomplete picture. Nobody benefits from that.


Well go to it - if you are willing, and have the time to devote to "digging up all the relevant data" that would be great. It might shed a lot of light on what's going on here. Unfortunately, I believe that all you are going to get ARE statistics - I worked for an airline ( a very big one) for 37 years, and know exactly how they work to cover their mistakes. Being big or even having experience does not necessarily mean doing a good job. We aren't talking about animals dying from natural causes here - three different animals within a short space of time supposedly broke out of secure crates and somehow disappeared, only to turn up dead or never to turn up at all. I think that's more than a mishap. 
____________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

One needs to use risk analysis when choosing whether or not to shop an animal or which carrier to use if shipping is necessary/desirable. In this context, statistics are an important part in analyzing the situation & evaluating the respective safety records of Delta as compared to other airlines. 

I'm neither exonerating nor demonizing Delta. I'm simply stating the info available is incomplete & renders it impossible to make a well reasoned judgment regarding their safety record, especially compared to other airlines.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

My dog was shipped Continnental. She had to switch planes in NJ because we wanted her to come into Cleveland, and there was not a direct flight to Cleveland. 

If she was shipped to Detroit or Pittsburg, she could have had a direct flight. I wonder, it probably increases the risk to have the dog switch planes. Something to think about anyway.


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## RogueRed26 (Jul 15, 2010)

That is horrible! I don't know what I would do if an airline my cats or dog. All I know is that I am not trusting any airline with my pets as cargo. I would much rather drive than lose a loved one.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

selzer said:


> If she was shipped to Detroit or Pittsburg, she could have had a direct flight. I wonder, it probably increases the risk to have the dog switch planes. Something to think about anyway.


 IME it is. A lot of the issues I have personally heard about with various airlines involved switching planes. I shipped two dogs and received one flown directly from/to Cleveland on Continental with no issues. 



RogueRed26 said:


> That is horrible! I don't know what I would do if an airline my cats or dog. All I know is that I am not trusting any airline with my pets as cargo. I would much rather drive than lose a loved one.


 What about the number of dogs lost or killed while traveling with their owners by car? There is risk involved with everything, driving is not necessarily safer than flying.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

AgileGSD said:


> What about the number of dogs lost or killed while traveling with their owners by car? There is risk involved with everything, driving is not necessarily safer than flying.


That's probably true, but then again I also don't drop the dog out the balcony door crate and all because it's faster to get him downstairs and into the car that way.
Delta appears to average around 3 deaths a month... I'm not sure how many animals actually travel with them in total but would we find it acceptable that only 3 children die a month? Or only 10 went missing (can't prove they're dead if they're just missing!)?


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Here's a website for Airline Animal Incident Reports. You can even read the reports for each case. These reports would be more helpful if we knew home many animals in total are transported. 

What I don't understand is how an otherwise healthy young dog could die of "natural causes", unless that meant lack of oxygen. That's what a lot of the reports report as the cause of death.

Animal Airline Incident Reports


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Interesting site Black Puppy, thanks for posting. I wonder how many dogs are killed, injured or lost across the country during car travel over a 5 year time period.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Some interesting reading. I only read a few of Delta's but it looks like many of deaths were attributed (by necropsy) to pre-existing conditions that flying stress added to.

Delta flew Kayos to me without incident and in fact they were wonderful, that was in 2003 tho.


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## emsoskar (Oct 17, 2008)

I've seen how luggage gets thrown around by careless employees, so I can only imagine what happens to animals in crates.....


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## Cardinal Von Crossbones (Mar 29, 2010)

Wow, so cats are just "busting out" of crates now? What'll they think of next.

If anybody hasn't heard about it, this is an up and coming airline for pets. It's relatively reasonable in pricing, considering that its obviously LEAGUES safer. I don't have any personal experiences with them, but seems pretty reputable.


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