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Some of you might recall a television commercial that aired some 30 years ago: A tourist placed his suitcase on an airline’s conveyor belt and watched it disappear behind fringed flaps. What he never saw was the 500 lb. gorilla behind the flaps who threw the suitcase around like a handball.

Some of you might recall a television commercial that aired some 30 years ago: A tourist placed his suitcase on an airline’s conveyor belt and watched it disappear behind fringed flaps. What he never saw was the 500 lb. gorilla behind the flaps who threw the suitcase around like a handball. As the suitcase ricocheted off the walls (much of it disintegrating on impact), the ad’s message was clear: To survive baggage handling, you’d better own our high quality luggage.

I was returning from our National Specialty last fall and was at the airport as I watched my dog’s crate move along a similar conveyor belt.

It had just cleared the fringed flaps when the crate started tipping backwards, then flipped entirely onto its roof. That’s when the commercial popped into my head. Odd, the stuff you think of when your heart nearly stops.

In the blink of an eye, I leapt over a railing, scrambled up the still-moving conveyor belt and shimmied through the flaps to rescue my dog. I was later told that just about everyone was yelling at me, and in hindsight, I suppose I must have broken a dozen rules and regulations.

But if you’re reading this, you’re here by invitation and that means I kind of know you. You care about your pets and under similar circumstances, you’d have done the same thing.

Despite the adrenaline, I had a moment of clarity and was struck by how scary this environment could be to a dog. It was dark and noisy – and that was before I recognized the reason for the mishap: Just beyond the flaps, the conveyor belt pitched into a steep incline which had caused the crate to flip over.

With the help of a few baggage handlers – nice guys who apologized profusely and didn’t look at all like gorillas – I opened the crate door and helped get my dog onto his feet.

He was all right, though rattled, and as I comforted him, I chastised myself for not having listened to my instincts that it was wrong to put a dog on a conveyor belt in the first place.

After I emerged from the “land behind the curtain,” I was berated by an airline official for having broken regulations by running onto a conveyor belt and into a restricted area.

In return, I had a few choice words that went something like, “How dare her airline endanger my dog!”

I’m sorry to say what seemed get her full attention was mentioning that the dog in the crate was a “show dog” on his way home from a big show.

Silly me, but every dog is valuable in my book. Like many airline officials, she was likely aware of the tragic story of “Vivi,” a whippet who escaped from her crate at Kennedy International Airport after winning an Award of Merit at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in 2008. “Vivi” was never found, though sightings of her are still reported to this day and have taken on the feel of urban legend. (For more on Vivi, look here) The lawsuit resulting from Vivi’s loss got everyone’s attention, but in reading about the case, my impression is that the loss of a pet is still largely treated by some airlines like the loss of a suitcase.

The “Vivi Crusade’s” mission statement can be read on-line. My advice to anyone flying with their pet? Flyer Beware.

The “Boris Bill” (also known as the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act) went into effect in the summer of 2005 after Barbara Listenik’s Basenji/Pit Bull dog, Boris, was lost. Unlike Vivi, Boris’ story had a happier ending, but as a result of Ms. Listenik’s lobbying of Congress, airlines must now report how many companion animals are killed, lost, or injured on their flights. When you intend to fly your dog, act like a consumer and start by knowing the policies of each airline when it comes to flying pets.

Web sites are a good place to start, and I provide links to them at my blog under the same title as this article;

Here are some phone numbers:
Air Tran Airways – 800-247-8726
American Airlines – 800-433-7300
Continental Airlines – 800-525-0280
Delta Air Lines – 800-221-1212
Jet Blue Airways – 1-800-JETBLUE
Midwest Airlines – 800-452-2022
Southwest Airlines – 800-435-9792
Spirit Airlines – 800-772-7117
United Airlines – 800-241-6522
US Airways – 800-428-4322

What’s really helpful is, pet, to know the track record of the airline on which you’re going to fly your pet and there are online reports of pet mortality incidences along with the names of the particular airlines involved.

I was lucky in that my dog was unharmed, and I ultimately worked with an agent who was an animal lover. She pressed her business card in my hand and urged me to contact her airline with my complaint. My communications with this airline are still on-going.

In thirty years, I’ve attended every National Specialty except for two, and I got to most of them by flying. 9/11 changed not only how we fly, but how our dogs fly, as well. TSI agents are now required to examine the inside of a dog’s crate before the dog enters it, and are also required to make sure something isn’t hidden on the dog.

Faced with a dog with a huge coat like the one on the dog who flipped over in his crate (pictured above getting a haircut), most agents hardly know where to start. I’m pretty sure I could hide a small companion animal, say a gerbil, in that coat. and like most Puli owners, I’ve got some amusing stories about traveling with a corded dog.

In addition to researching the airlines, there are a couple of things you can do to help your dog travel more safely. Because some crates have been known to pop their doors out if dropped, some savvy travelers drill a couple of small holes into the plastic of the crate right around the door and secure the door to the crate using plastic cable ties.

Also, “humanize” your pet to the baggage handlers by adhering notes to the crate. If anyone tries to put your dog’s crate on a conveyor belt, insist that they get a cart and wheel your dog to the appropriate area.If your dog isn’t handled appropriately, become pro-active and speak up to the airlines!

S.E.Szeremy, a writer by profession and a breeder/owner/handler of Pulik since 1978, is also the creator of KnobNots and BabyKnobNots. Follow her blog at http://knobnotes.blogspot.com

Author: Susi Szeremy | Source: ezinearticles.com