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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 at DOT
on a carrier-by-carrier 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 9and subsequently United Airlines), which transports numerous pets, historically has emphasized that incident reports
are filed for less than 0.05% of the pets that it transports. Further, Southwest Airlines until recently did not
transport pets (in contrast to 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:
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
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).
Further, in a letter to the author, DOT elaborated that it also
interprets the reporting requirements not to apply to "escapes [which] last only a few minutes or a few hours."
In October 2008, Senator Robert Menendez - who sponsored the underlying law - sent a letter to DOT, asking why it had interpreted the reporting requirements so narrrowly; in December 2008, DOT sent a response to Menendez, which purported to justify its narrow reading of the law. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture -
which, as described below, has additional regulations for the transportation of animals - sent its own response to Menendez.
In May 2010, the Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted a rulemaking petition, requesting that DOT revise the regulation. In May 2012, DOT responded to ALDF, stating that it intended shortly to issue a proposal to revise the regulation. In June 2012, DOT issued
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, in which it proposed changes to the rules, and requested comments by August 28, 2012.
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".
Additionally, Title 49, Section 41721 also requires DOT to "work with air carriers to improve the training of employees
with respect to the air transport of animals and the notification of passengers of the conditions under which the air transport
of animals is conducted." The Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") prepared a draft Advisory Circular to assist air carriers, but it was never finalized.
(1) Total Reports: May 2005 - February 2013 Carrier | Death | Injury | Loss | Alaska Airlines | 27 | 38 | 4 | American Airlines | 44 | 6 | 3 | American Eagle | 2 | 0 | 1 | ATA Airlines | 0 | 0 | 2 | Atlantic Southeast | 1 | 0 | 1 | Comair | 0 | 1 | 1 | Continental Airlines | 49 | 16 | 4 | Delta Air Lines | 61 | 20 | 12 | Frontier Airlines | 0 | 3 | 0 | Hawaiian Airlines | 9 | 5 | 2 | Horizon Airlines | 2 | 4 | 1 | Midwest Airlines | 3 | 1 | 0 | Northwest Airlines | 5 | 7 | 4 | Pinancle Airlines | 0 | 2 | 0 | Shuttle America | 1 | 0 | 1 | SkyWest Airlines | 1 | 3 | 0 | Trans States | 1 | 0 | 0 | United Airlines | 32 | 0 | 5 | US Airways | 1 | 1 | 1 | Total | 236 | 107 | 42 |
Of the deaths, 191 involved dogs, 32 involved cats, 4 involved birds,
3 involved chinchillas, 2 involved guinea pigs, 2 involved rabbits, 1 involved a monkey, 1 involved a rat, 1 involved a parrot,
1 involved a guinea pig, and 1 involved an unidentified animal. Of the injuries, 94 involved dogs and 13
involved cats. Of the losses, 31 involved cats, 10 involved dogs, and 1 involved a bird. In addition, 2
of the lost dogs and 1 of the lost cats were reported to subsequently have been recovered, while 1 of the lost cats and 5
of the injured dogs were reported to subsequently have died, and 1 of the injured dogs was reported to have been euthanized.
(2)
Month-By-Month Reports: May 2005 - February 2013
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 in the following
file is organized by the date of the incidents, and not the date of publication, with cumulative summaries for each calendar
year.
Month-By-Month Reports: May 2005-February 2013
(3) Carrier-By-Carrier
Reports: May 2005 - February 2013
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 in the following file is organized by carrier and the date of the incidents, not the date of publication.
Carrier-By-Carrier Reports: May 2005-February 2013
(4) U.S. Department of Agriculture Orders Although DOT is responsible for publishing
the monthly reports of deaths, injuries, and losses, federal standards for the transportation of animals also are set by the
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service ("APHIS"),
a division of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. These standards are
based on the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. § 2131, et seq.; “AWA”).
APHIS has adopted regulations which generally require proper care for animals during
transportation (including Title 9, Section 2.100 and Title 9, section 2.131 of the Code of federal
Regulations). Further, APHIS has adopted specific 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).
USDA
has sanctioned various air carriers for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Only
one order appears to have been issued that concerned an incident which occurred after DOT’s reporting requirements entered
into effect. (Additionally, not all of the earlier incidents necessarily would have been reportable even if the current
DOT reporting requirements were in effect - i.e., shipments of animals by dealers.) A list of air carrier-related
USDA orders since 1987 follows, with summaries of selected orders.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Orders
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