Travel News - Are pets safe on airplanes?

Our seats on airplanes may be uncomfortable, but it is much worse for our animal friends. We might complain about not having enough leg room, but that’s much better than being in a cage in the cargo hold. Animal rights activists have recently said they estimate at lease 20 000 animals die on US airlines every year, which has people worried about bringing their furry friends along on vacation. These numbers were just estimates, since airlines didn’t actually keep figures on the deaths, but 20 000 would imply that nearly 1800 die every month! Sounds like a death trap to me! Airlines in the USA have since started keeping actual death statistics, and according to a CNN article the actual number of fatalities for May 2005 was only 4! That is a much better total than 1800, that’s for sure. Two of the deaths were natural causes, one was killed by another animal (the killer animal got a life long ban from the airline), and one died after ingesting a toxic substance. What was the deadliest airline? Continental Airlines had two pet deaths on board. There was also one cat that was lost and never recovered. In my opinion, other than the natural deaths none of the other deaths (or the loss) should have occurred. If a costumer brings their pet on vacation, they clearly love it and will be furious if they die! So next time Fido or Whiskers are going to fly with you, make sure you pick a pet friendly airline so everyone arrives safe!