I figured I'd share this story involving the revival of a puppy after being frozen in a jet's cargo bay I found while browsing my favorite news aggregator. Sadly, another dog died in the same incident.http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/...gie_heaven.html

I have a hard time perceiving that story as "heartwarming" when yet another dog froze to death. In my opinion someone should be strung up by their scrotum over this. Kudos to the dog's rescuers for doing what they could do, but I certainly wouldn't consider this a "happily ever after" story. It's just too bad that it's illegal to kill people, whoever's responsible for this would be an excellent candidate to kick off a much needed worldwide gene pool cleansing project.Jim

I have a hard time perceiving that story as "heartwarming" when yet another dog froze to death. In my opinion someone should be strung up by their scrotum over this. Kudos to the dog's rescuers for doing what they could do, but I certainly wouldn't consider this a "happily ever after" story. It's just too bad that it's illegal to kill people, whoever's responsible for this would be an excellent candidate to kick off a much needed worldwide gene pool cleansing project.Jim

Good point, I missed the detail about the other dog, and have since edited my post. And I agree that the person who was responsible for the death of the other dog should be punished. However, I do NOT think that killing people is the answer to this situation. It was wrong, yes, however killing people makes you wrong as well, as the best solution for this would actually be just a situation of putting these people in jail/rehab. Besides, one thing I think should be noted is that, while they were killed, I think this is more of a situation where a better solution would be found for this particular instance by fixing the cargo bays and allowing the cargo bays to have climate control like the regular passenger area.*facepalms regarding missing that detail*Now I feel like a jerk for missing that detail.*note to self, don't post news stories until you have double read them to make sure you didn't miss anything, and don't post while just waking up.

It's just too bad that it's illegal to kill people, whoever's responsible for this would be an excellent candidate to kick off a much needed worldwide gene pool cleansing project.Jim

Are you kidding? Even only the remote suggestion of killing a man for causing the death of a dog, moreover for what could be negligence and not malice, is laughable. I'm frankly scared...Marco

Actually I was kidding. Get off your high horse. :(

It appears the puppies were either to young to travel alone or perhaps someone did not tell the pilots there were animals in the cargo hold and cargo heat was not turned on. Andrew

its all about $$$ these days...lower or cutoff the heat saves fuel etc..

Animals can be carried in a cargo bay of a plane, and I don't like to speculate, but I think the pilots were probably never told that animals were in the compartment or they were stupid and ignored the fact.

Frankly I think the way animals are transported by Airlines is inhumane. They get drugged, put in a box (which is often too small), and then being put in a dark and sometimes freezing cargo compartment relying on the pilots being told that there are animals in the cargohold and for them not to forget to switch on tiny switches to ensure that the cargo compartment is heated and monitor that the heat is adequate. The are a lot of cases where the animals simply do not survive. Imagine having to travel under these conditions for hours and hours.... I love to fly but if I had to travel like that I'd rather walk!

Frankly I think the way animals are transported by Airlines is inhumane. They get drugged, put in a box (which is often too small), and then being put in a dark and sometimes freezing cargo compartment relying on the pilots being told that there are animals in the cargohold and for them not to forget to switch on tiny switches to ensure that the cargo compartment is heated and monitor that the heat is adequate. The are a lot of cases where the animals simply do not survive. Imagine having to travel under these conditions for hours and hours.... I love to fly but if I had to travel like that I'd rather walk!

I agree, it's a shame however that there aren't more ways to humanely transport animals through air.

I agree, it's a shame however that there aren't more ways to humanely transport animals through air.

There's always a better way. That's what we as a species do - look for better ways, if we stop doing that we'd stagnate and probably eventually become extinct.How about non-dangerous small to mid sized animals can be transported in a specially assigned space in the passenger cabin. I know people will immediately say that this will loose the airlines money - because that space can be assigned to paying passengers. But imagine not having to keep a giant cargo hold heated throughout long range flights just for 2 small puppies - the cost savings in fuel (heating the cargo hold does burn more fuel) would be significant. The animals will still probably have to be drugged throughout the flight - but at least they won't be in a dark and cold cargo hold, where they may die. There certainly will be no danger of the pilots not turning on the heat or turning it off, or keeping it at minimum. This can also be possible with larger animals (although it would depend on the animal and its size) - the Airlines can charge a little more for the service depending on the animal.I think this option should certainly be open to people who have to transport their animals through flight, most would be happy to pay a little extra to ensure their pet travels safely. At any rate from my point of view something has to be done to improve the situation.

There's always a better way. That's what we as a species do - look for better ways, if we stop doing that we'd stagnate and probably eventually become extinct.How about non-dangerous small to mid sized animals can be transported in a specially assigned space in the passenger cabin. I know people will immediately say that this will loose the airlines money - because that space can be assigned to paying passengers. But imagine not having to keep a giant cargo hold heated throughout long range flights just for 2 small puppies - the cost savings in fuel (heating the cargo hold does burn more fuel) would be significant. The animals will still probably have to be drugged throughout the flight - but at least they won't be in a dark and cold cargo hold, where they may die. There certainly will be no danger of the pilots not turning on the heat or turning it off, or keeping it at minimum. This can also be possible with larger animals (although it would depend on the animal and its size) - the Airlines can charge a little more for the service depending on the animal.I think this option should certainly be open to people who have to transport their animals through flight, most would be happy to pay a little extra to ensure their pet travels safely. At any rate from my point of view something has to be done to improve the situation.

I agree, but what if for instance, someone on the flight is allergic to cats or dogs?

that is why companies like this are the only way to go:http://petairways.com/they fly retrofitted/stripped out B190's and they put the pets in the CABIN and they get good treatment.. I would feel safe to let my pet fly with these people, they actually seem to give a cr**

Since I live near D.C. and the National Zoo, a big topic has been going around in the news about a panda called Tai Shan. He was born in the USA and kept here under Chinese agreement and now its time for him to go back to China as part as a repopulation program, since Pandas are an endangered species (Under 1600 Pandas remain). He is being transported on a specially designed FedEx truck to carry him to Dulles Airport (KIAD) and was said on the news that he would be taken on "the biggest cargo plane" (I was going to school so I did not have much time to look at what plane it was) with vets that would monitor him the whole 15 hours on the trip. Animals are not always treated unfairly on airplanes, planes like the 747 have an "AFT Cargo Heat" button to heat the cargo bay as well as other zone temperature controls. Since FedEx also has a major McDonnell Douglas fleet, the DC-10, MD-10, and MD-11 have cargo zone temperatures as well. If the pilots would be so kind to turn on heat, and the owners would be so kind to ship them on a special service that is made specifically for animals, or send them on a cargo flight in a large cage there would be less problems. Unfortunately, this story probably illustrates what happens most of the time today.