FLIGHT Airlines being urged to report mishaps with pets

Deaths, escapes and other problems are less frequent than animal-rights groups say, the airlines contend.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ST. LOUIS -- More than three years later, Gordon Anzalone still gets choked up when he talks about Enzo's last flight.
Anzalone last saw his pet boxer alive July 1, 1999, when he turned Enzo's portable kennel over to TWA employees for a flight from St. Louis to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to visit his son's family.
Between the time the TWA flight pushed back from the gate at Lambert Field and the time it landed in Florida, Anzalone said, the excessive heat in the cargo compartment of the Boeing 727 had gotten the better of Enzo.
"When we got to Florida, the pilot was waiting for us," Anzalone recalled. "He said, 'I have some bad news for you. Your dog didn't make it.'"
Anzalone asked, "He is back in St. Louis?"
No, the pilot told Anzalone. Enzo was dead.
It was only after stories detailing his suit against TWA appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on local radio stations and ultimately CNN that he heard from other pet owners who related similar experiences they had had with airlines.
Requiring reports
Now the St. Peters, Mo., resident hopes that a long-awaited airline reporting rule will help others avoid his family's pain. Passed by Congress more than two years ago, it would force airlines to report monthly to the government on pet-handling mishaps.
In turn, those reports would be made available to consumers.
The proposed rule is now being circulated for public comment by the Federal Aviation Administration. The comment period was extended to Dec. 27 at the request of airlines and others who wanted more time to study the rule.
For its part, the airline industry stands by its pet-transportation record and says stories such as Anzalone's occur far less frequently than many animal-rights groups have claimed.
But Anzalone -- whose suit against TWA was settled and dismissed by the two parties in March -- said he never would have let Enzo fly if he knew what other pet owners had gone through with airlines.
TWA, which has since filed for bankruptcy, initially denied the Anzalones' allegations in court papers. What's more, the airline said its maximum liability was $1,250 per ticketed passenger.
There have been other high-profile snafus involving pets on planes.
Other complaints
Two months ago, a California couple filed a suit against Air Canada and others alleging the negligent handling of their brown pet tabby, Fu, on a flight in August of last year from Toronto to San Francisco.
Lori Learmont and Andrew Wysotski say their cat escaped from a badly damaged carrier. The airline-approved plastic crate had a big hole in it, and the door was open and hanging by a hinge. They are seeking $5 million in their suit.
An Air Canada spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the airline would "confine its comments to legal proceedings."
Learmont and Wysotski spent numerous weekends looking for their cat at San Francisco International Airport but never found her, Learmont said. They have set up an informational Web site.
"We are doing this as a life mission to get the word out," Learmont said. "It is ridiculous and terrible what is going on. It is disgusting. We want to put a stop to this."
Nicky Westhead said her two English setters weren't injured or lost, but when she and her husband took a Continental Airlines flight from Texas to Atlanta five years ago, they could hear the dogs barking the whole time.
"No parent would ever put their children in a situation where you could hear them crying for two hours and couldn't do anything about that," said Westhead, who wrote the FAA in supporting the new rule.
Opinions
Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of The Humane Society of the United States, urged the FAA to move forward with the reporting requirement "as quickly as possible."
"The public has a right to know and compare airlines' track records, and the airlines owe at least this much to the animals entrusted to their care," Pacelle said in a prepared statement.
Diana Cronan, spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, said the industry group was studying the proposed FAA rule and was refusing public comment on the issue at this time.
But she supplied a September report by the American Veterinary Medical Association that found airlines that transport pets generally provide the public "a significant degree of comfort, confidence and reliability."
Noreen Baxter, vice president for public education and legislation for the American Kennel Club, said the group had never considered the airlines' handling of animals a problem.
The group seeks sensible regulation of the airlines.
"We are not opposed to record-keeping," Baxter said. "We want to make sure the airlines aren't so put off by the policies that they say 'The heck with it; we won't fly dogs at all.'"
Baxter said the American Kennel Club had offered to lend its expertise to train employees handling animals in cargo areas. The federal Aviation Investment and Reform Act (AIR-21) also requires improved training for airline employees.
Scope of problem
No statistics are kept on pet problems on commercial flights, said Jim Rogers, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency keeps airline compliance histories and inspection reports.
But a 1998 audit by the USDA's inspector general states that 450,000 animals were transported by registered carriers each year, including about 300,000 dogs and cats.
The two dominant airlines at Lambert Field have different policies when it comes to pets.
Passengers flying American Airlines can arrange transportation for their pets. But Southwest Airlines will only let a pet fly if it is assisting a person with disabilities. "It has always been our policy," said Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King. "It goes back to the fact that we have quick [turnaround times] and we don't feel we have the proper amount of time to take care of" pets.
Pet-friendly policy
One startup airline that's nearly ready to take flight is taking just the opposite approach.
Boca Raton, Fla., entrepreneur Rick Roof is about to launch Companion Air Corp., an airline dedicated to people who want to fly in the same climate-controlled cabin as their family pets.
Picture a fleet of Swiss-made turboprops carrying up to six passengers -- along with six or more pets -- from one small airport to another. All for the price of an unrestricted coach ticket on a commercial airline.
The on-demand airline is expected to make its debut in the next few months and will initially serve Denver and the West Coast, Roof said. Roof hopes to take the airline nationwide nine to 12 months later.
"We have always been pretty passionate about the idea. But we have been absolutely overwhelmed by the response of people," said Roof, who has already signed up 3,100 people for the company's newsletter.