Seattle Dog Spot

Click Orlando reported that a 4-year-old pug named J died in the cargo hold of a Delta Airlines flight from Moscow to New York on November 1. Click here to watch the video.

John Von Achen Jr. and his wife Julie thought they did everything correctly to ensure that J would fly safely, but when they reached New York, J was dead and “like a popsicle.”

At this point the exact cause of J’s death is unknown. Ms. Von Achen said that in the plane’s cabin “it was so cold that the passengers would ask for second blankets.” When she expressed concern to a flight attendant about the temperature in the cargo hold, she was told that the temperature “is adjusted.”

A Delta spokesperson said that while each pet cargo area is “pressurized and temperature controlled”, the airline has had “challenges” with flying pets safely.

Well, that’s certainly an understatement.

Earlier this year I wrote about an article in The Week entitled Delta Airlines’ dead dog problem, that documented multiple cases of dogs that died while flying on Delta.

In the last year, a German Shepherd escaped from Delta cargo hold during a layover in Atlanta and was hit and killed by a car. And a kitten froze to death being left in the cargo hold of a Delta plane for over an hour even thought its owner paid $300 extra to have her unloaded as soon as the plane landed.

But Delta is not the only airline that has had problems keeping pets on board safe.

The Wall Street Journal reported in March that:

“Last year, 39 animals died while in the care of airlines, up 70% from 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Thirteen animals were injured and five were lost, DOT said. Delta Airlines had the largest increase, with 16 deaths and six injuries in 2010 compared to six deaths and no injuries in 2009.”

Airlines have acknowledged that brachycephalic breeds like bulldogs and pugs that have compressed upper jaw and a short muzzle are more likely to have breathing problems in flight. The New York Times reported that these breeds “have smaller openings to their noses and elongated soft palates on the roofs of their mouths, which make breathing more difficult for them”.

The article also reported that some airlines have banned brachycephalic breeds from all their flights. Oddly, Delta only stopped accepting “French, English and American bulldogs this year, after three bulldogs died from January to March”, but continued to fly pugs even though they have the exact same breathing problems as the bulldogs. 

If Delta, or any other airline, continues to allow pets to fly, then they have to do a better job of keeping those pets safe because right now you are playing Russian roulette with your pet’s life every time you put it in the cargo hold of a plane.