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"If [man] is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practise kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel
to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel
Kant
Since May 2005,
the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has required all U.S. airlines that operate scheduled passenger flights to file monthly reports on pets
that died or were lost or injured during transport, pursuant to the requirements of section 710 of the 2000 Wendell H. Ford
Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (as subsequently codified at Title 49, Section 41721 of the United States Code and Title 14, Section 234.13 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
The DOT publishes
redacted versions of these reports on its website, but unfortunately they are not easy to find. This page provide links to those reports, organized by (1) the total number of reports filed by each carrier, (2) the reports filed at DOT on a month-by-month basis, and (3) the reports filed by each carrier on a month-to-month basis.
Please note
that the data for each airline does not necessarily indicate the quality of service that it provides, because the number of
animals transported by each airline varies widely. For example, Continental Airlines, which transports numerous
pets, has emphasized that incident reports are filed for less than 0.05% of the pets that it transports. In contrast, Southwest Airlines does not transport pets (except service animals, as required by law), and no reports
have been filed by Southwest to date.
In addition, the DOT does not require reports to be filed for
all incidents involving animals; the scope of the regulation is discussed in an FAQ that the DOT issued shortly after it adopted the reporting regulations. Notably,
reports are not required to be filed for incidents involving animals:
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that are carried on all-cargo or unscheduled flights (however,
reports are required to be filed for incidents involving animals that are carried as cargo, as opposed to as checked baggage,
on a scheduled passenger flight); or
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that are carried on a flight operated by a foreign airline,
even if the flight carries the code of a U.S. carrier (however, reports are required to be filed for incidents involving animals
on a flight operated by a U.S. carrier between two foreign points, as well as on a flight operated by a U.S carrier that carries
the code of a foreign carrier).
Finally, although DOT is responsible for publishing the monthly
reports, the overall standards for the transportation of animals as well as registration requirements for airlines are
set by the the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ("APHIS"), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. APHIS has adopted regulations for the transportation of dogs and cats (Title 9, Section 3.13 - 3.19 of the Code of Federal Regulations); guinea pigs and hamsters (Title 9, Section 3.35 - 3.41 of the Code of Federal Regulations); rabbits (Title 9, Section 3.60 - 3.66 of the Code of Federal Regulations); nonhuman primates (Title 9, Section 3.86 - 3.92 of the Code of Federal Regulations); marine mammals (Title 9, Section 3.112 - 3.118 of the Code of Federal Regulations); and other animals (Title 9, Section 3.136 - 3.142 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
For additional
information about the DOT regulation, please visit my article "'The Dog That Did Nothing': The Curious Incident of DOT’s
Animal Incident Reporting Requirements," http://www.fedbar.org/translaw-news2.pdf .
(1)
Total Reports: May 2005 - March 2008
Of the deaths, 69 involved dogs, 12 involved cats,
2 involved birds, and 1 involved a rat. Of the injuries, 35 involved dogs and 8 involved cats. Of the losses,
5 involved dogs, 22 involved cats, and 1 involved a bird. In addition, 3 of the injured dogs were reported to have
died of their injuries. Moreover, 1 of the lost dogs and 1 of the lost cats were reported to have been recovered, while
1 of the lost cats was reported to have died of injuries incurred after its loss.
(2) Month-By-Month Reports:
May 2005 - March 2008
DOT publishes redacted reports approximately one month after the conclusion of the
month to which they apply; for example, the reports for incidents in May 2005 were published in the edition of the Air Travel Consumer Report published at the start of July 2005. The data below is organized by the date of the incidents, and not
the date of publication, with cumulative summaries for each calendar year.
Reports: May 2005:
Reports: June 2005:
Alaska Airlines
subsequently reported that the lost pet, a cat, had been recovered.
Reports: July 2005:
Reports: August 2005:
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