One thing you hear much of about airlines in the news is the number of bags and other items they lose each and every year, with particular airlines and particular airports being better – or worse – than others.
However, losing a suitcase or another item of baggage doesn’t compare in any way when you consider it. It’s bad enough to start a trip with no change of clothes, toothpaste or toothbrush, but imagine how much worse it would be to arrive in your destination city without your dog.
That’s the unfortunate expereince of a couple from Canada whose dog was lost by Delta in transit between Mexico City and Detroit. When they arrived in Detroit it turned out that their dog – which they’d adopted as a stray while holidaying in Mexico – had escaped from his airline approved dog carrier.
Apparently Paco isn’t the first dog to be lost by Delta. A few years ago a similar thing happened to a prize winner supposedly valued at $20k. A whippet named Vivi competed at the Westminster Kennel Club Show before going missing at JFK airport.
When you are choosing between the various airline approved dog carriers on the market make sure the one you select is sturdy and that the metal door is both firm and the dog unable to dislodge it from its mountings.
The pins that hold the door in place are supposed to extend by 15 mm to make sure they don’t just pop out of the mountings, so make sure that really is the case and that the door is sufficiently sturdy so that the dog can’t distort it by biting or any other way and escape that way.
Also, make sure with the case of hard plastic dog carriers that the two halves are sealed when they are put together. They should have several locking pieces around the cage that clip it together. If they fail to do this, the cage has the danger of falling apart during transit.
