Airline loses dog
Sounds awful, doesn’t it?:
Ramano says that Delta Airlines lost his dog on a flight from Los Angeles to Tampa on Oct. 31. More than a week later, his dog is still missing, and he is stuck in Tampa waiting for news.
“To me it sounds like they don’t care,” Ramano told 10 News. “They sound like they lost a piece of baggage. No. He’s family. He’s like my best friend. He’s another part of our family.”
Well, yes. I used to fly cross-country every summer when we’d visit my in-laws and take the family pet, a wonderful cockerpoo. I would have been devastated had he been lost, but he weathered the trips quite nicely. When he got older we didn’t take him anymore because he was too frail, but till then he was a big part of our summer vacations.
But not so fast in your ire at Delta. The story isn’t quite what you think:
According to Delta, the dog chewed through the crate in the cargo section of the plane and ran across the tarmac. Delta said that LAX workers tried and are still trying to find Ty.
Sounds as though the airline didn’t so much lose the dog as the dog lost the airline.
Ramano thinks the airline is just telling a shaggy-dog story. I tend to believe them in this case, although who knows? Unless they have a surveillance camera of the area, I don’t think we’ll ever find out. Even if Ty shows up one day, he probably won’t be telling any tales.
When my son was going to college in Colorado years ago he had a beautiful Husky that he brought home for Christmas in Dallas one year. Son was flying American but at that time it was cheaper for some reason to have the dog fly on Delta and she did.
When it was time to return after Christmas we took our son and dog to the airport and checked them in on the proper airlines and a few hours later we received a call from Denver stating that the dog did not make it. After a search in Dallas they discovered the dog in her crate in one of the carts out on the tarmac.
Folks with Delta went to work to correct the situation and held a passenger plane for 30 min so they could open the cargo hold and get the dog headed on up to Denver and since it was nice cool weather and the dog was a Husky she came out of the ordeal all right and arrived just a few hours late. Delta save the day in that instance.
I shipped a cat recently on Delta — not as passenger baggage, but as freight, traveling by himself, using the airline’s specialized animal shipping service. The airline was wonderful: extremely clear, detailed and specific in explaining the (demanding!) requirements for the right crate, vet clearance and such, responsive in answering questions, and kind to the poor frightened kitty, who arrived safely and on time. Cheap, it was not. But I can’t fault them in any detail for scrupulous attention to the animal’s safety and, as much as possible, his comfort.
A dog escaped at Dulles airport but the story had a happy ending. It was found days later miles away. With all the publicity (bad for the airline) on the TV news programs everybody was on the lookout for the dog and it was finally located.
everyone forgot about the whippet that was lost after the dog show…
My mother-in-law had this happen about 30 years ago while coming here to meet us. Muffin the Springer Spaniel’s crate fell over in the cargo hold and broke open. Muffin bolted when the cargo door was opened and led the ramp personnel on a lively chase around around the Tarmac at Sea-Tac before they caught her.
I wonder what kind of crate they used? Last time we shipped a dog, we used an industrial strength crate that was specially made for air cargo. We used plastic zip ties to keep the door closed. The crate had a special place to put the zip tie so it would not come off. No way that dog was going to chew her way out of there. Finally, my wife would not sit down on the plane until she saw the crate going into the cargo hold with our dog in the crate. It was a lot of trouble and expense, but our dog arrived in one piece.
Dogs being flown should be chipped and be wearing a GPS collar.
There a several brands, just google for “dog gps collar”.
It would certainly preclude this kind of heartache.
We were required to fasten screws and bolts between the top and bottom shell halves of the sturdy store-bought plastic crate to help keep the halves from busting apart, and also secure the door, waterbottle and such with more screws and zipties. Kitty was NOT getting out. The crate had to be large enough that he could stand and lie with plenty of airspace on all sides — and this was no petite critter. I was impressed with their forethought and care, though I doubt that the cat was quite as pleased.
Oh, yes, and there were only certain times of day that they would permit the cat to travel, and they would not definitely confirm his flight until they were sure what the temps would be that day, as he was moving to the Deep South.
I forgot about the temps. We were flying from one mild climate to another, but there was a layover in Miami. They would not accept the dog if the temps in Miami were above 80 degrees. A good rule, I would say.
It might help for the owner to join in the search.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1wibBhLG1GQ
I tend to believe the airline.
Why wouldn’t the owner believe the airline? Surely they showed him the crate. A dog can’t chew through a crate without leaving behind a lot of damage!
If I were the owner, I would get an attorney. What happened to surveillance camera’s?? Delta changed the story too many times and they are responsible. Sounds kind of funny that no one saw that dog. My heart goes out to the owner & wouldn’t let it go.