Shipping your yorkie.....read this....Part 1

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by alpayton

Delta was the one that I shipped a Biewer in from Louisiana thru Atlanta to Nashville in November and had the following happen.

The flight out of Louisiana was to leave at 1 pm, and was therefore dropped off at 11 am. For one reason or another, the departing flight was bumped to 3 pm. The cargo people put water in her carrier and failed to remove it before moving her carrier and putting her on the flight to Atlanta at 3:30 pm. She arrived in Atlanta around 5:45 or so pm. From there she was held over until around 8 pm when the flight departed Atlanta and headed for Nashville where I was to pick her up at 9:30 pm. This is in the 2nd week of November remember....and she was originally supposed to get into Nashville at 6 pm, but because of the delay with the first fight out of Louisiana, it bumped her final flight back to 9:30. The air temp in the 2nd week of November at 9:30 at night in Nashville TN was around 40 degrees and her kennel was soaked. She was soaked. There was literally water pouring out of the kennel when I tipped it. Anyway, when I actually laid my eyes on her for the first time, the lady at baggage claim (because it was the weekend and late at night) already had her out of her carrier and in a towel drying her off by the time I got to the office that they had delivered her to. She was wheezing, sneezing, and coughing like crazy. She had been in that water ALL DAY! 4 months old and soaking wet in 40-45 degree temps all day long.

The entire next week I spent in and out of the vet's office battling every single thing you can imagine. Almost needless to say, the little one passed on 8 days after she got here from pneumonia. Her little body just couldn't fight back. And the claim that we have filed with Delta / ASA....they refuse to accept responsibility for. I'm still battling their stupidity over this. $4500 and 6 months later, not including the vet bills and cremation fees.

SIGH!

OMG Now that is a horror story!. I have heard that many pets die being shipped?! Have any of you heard of this? I am so sorry for your little innocent baby. Shame on them! Did you get another pup from the breeder. Was she responsible for some of this, being you never actually had a healthy dog?

[winnismom]

That is a horrible story so sorry for your loss..what a heartbreaking ordeal to have to go through! Butterfly, I'm not sure that "many" dogs die during air transport but I'm sure there are "some". I haven't seen any statistics to back up the claim that "many" die during air transport although I think it would be an important thing to get statistics on...that way people could make an educated decesion on wether to ship dogs by air or not. My last puppy was shipped in TIP TOP shape through Continental. According to their website Continental is TOPS in animal transport, they have a whole page dedicated to their procedures. Another thing my breeder does is to only ship her puppies on NON STOP flights..no layovers. I know this can be difficult sometimes but she feels it's best for the puupies and I agree. My Georgia came to me spic and span.

[lksdolls]

Originally Posted by Tiggerwit

That's how I got Alphy. No problems at all. They even asked for ID and information before they'd even let me see him. Oh my goodness. Poor Josh.

I'm the shipper of Alphy. I prefer the pups be picked up, but that's not always possible. I've used Delta ever since US Airways discontinued their pet service. The pup must have a health certificate from a licensed vet along with travel restrictions, if any, before the airlines will accept the shipment. I also check the weather reports of where I ship from, any layovers, and the destination to make sure that the weather won't present a problem. I sent a pup to Alaska, it was over 9 1/2 hours and he had to change planes, and another 2 hours prior to flight time. No problems! I was a basket case until I knew the pup had arrived and was picked up, but everything was fine. Of course the pup was scared, but that's normal. I also sent one to Kansas that got stuck during a layover in Atlanta. The new owner called me and was frantic because she couldn't find out any information there. I called Delta, got in touch with Atlanta and found out the plane he was scheduled on had mechanical problems with the air in the cargo department so they wouldn't put the pup on it and held him for the next flight and he had been given water to drink and some TLC. I immediately called the new owner back and she had already received the same information. She had the confirmation number.

I try my hardest to get direct flights but that is not always possible. My next option is pick the best place for changing planes and I go with the smaller airports when ever possible. When we flew to FL last year, we took 2 pups with us. They had to go into the air cargo. Well, we missed the flight but our pups were on it and they changed planes in Charlotte. The next flight we could get would have got us there 6 hours later. When I said that wasn't good and why, they found us a direct flight to Palm Beach, we rented a car and drove to Miami. The pups got there before we did because it took us time to contact the Miami airport to let them know we were driving and even more time to get the rental car. The pups arrived before us and one of the workers gave them some water. She was still with them when we arrived. There are many horror stories about animals flying, but there are many, many more positive experiences. It's kind of like people who are afraid to fly because of accidents when in reality, it's more dangerous to drive your car.

Your story is very long and I know it was very upsetting for you, however, your first mistake, or perhaps I should say Josh's shipper's mistake was not providing you will all the important information, like confirmation number. Ask Tiggerwit what all I emailed her before Alphy was even sent to her. If you did get all that information, then it was your mistake for not having it with you. As for mechanical problems with the plane, it happens. I think your problem was more with the person behind the counter then Delta, and your attitude towards the man who also had a very long day dealing with you. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't make it right the way he treated you. However, on the other hand, you get what your give. As for your identification, I think it was pretty obvious by the time Josh arrived that YOU were the one waiting for him. You had a right to be pissed off but taking it out on someone who has no control of the situation, not good. If it had been me, I would have been on the phone with the breeder, Delta's pet air cargo, the original place where the pup was shipped from, and tried to get the information myself.

As for the experience that alpayton had, that was terrible but I can't see that leaving water in the bowl would have been enough to soak the inside of the kennel, not nearly enough that you could tip the kennel and pour water out. It sounds like it must have been raining during loading or unloading somewhere along the line. And you probably should have politely insisted on a vet seeing your pup before leaving the airport because of the condition he arrived and I would have been on the phone with the breeder right then. I'm so sorry for your loss and expenses.

[alpayton]

Originally Posted by lksdolls

As for the experience that alpayton had, that was terrible but I can't see that leaving water in the bowl would have been enough to soak the inside of the kennel, not nearly enough that you could tip the kennel and pour water out. It sounds like it must have been raining during loading or unloading somewhere along the line. And you probably should have politely insisted on a vet seeing your pup before leaving the airport because of the condition he arrived and I would have been on the phone with the breeder right then. I'm so sorry for your loss and expenses.

There was no rain anywhere on the flight course. The bowl they had inside the kennel was HUGE! I have no idea why they put such a huge bowl in there. I still have it.

As for asking for a vet, I thought about it, but honestly, at 9:30 PM on a Saturday when I'm not even dealing with the actual Cargo staff, I'm dealing with the people that are in the baggage claim area because the Cargo dept is closed because it's so late, what do you think my chances of getting anything at all done would have been? Probably about as good as what Josh's chances were, I figured, and since I was over an hour away from home with my 6 year old son with me, I figured the best thing I could do is get the dog on in my car on the way to my house where I knew that I could get ahold of the vet on call in my home town.

As soon as I got to my car which was parked in the parking structure of the airport, I was on my cell phone calling the breeder. I had her listen to the poor little one coughing and told her what had happened. I always call whoever I was receiving the shipment from so that they know I received the dog okay anyway. This time I had to call with not so good news. The entire week following the pup's arrival, I was in touch with the breeder....letting her know of the vet visits and the treatment that was being done, etc.

[lksdolls]

Originally Posted by alpayton

There was no rain anywhere on the flight course. The bowl they had inside the kennel was HUGE! I have no idea why they put such a huge bowl in there. I still have it.

As for asking for a vet, I thought about it, but honestly, at 9:30 PM on a Saturday when I'm not even dealing with the actual Cargo staff, I'm dealing with the people that are in the baggage claim area because the Cargo dept is closed because it's so late, what do you think my chances of getting anything at all done would have been? Probably about as good as what Josh's chances were, I figured, and since I was over an hour away from home with my 6 year old son with me, I figured the best thing I could do is get the dog on in my car on the way to my house where I knew that I could get ahold of the vet on call in my home town.

As soon as I got to my car which was parked in the parking structure of the airport, I was on my cell phone calling the breeder. I had her listen to the poor little one coughing and told her what had happened. I always call whoever I was receiving the shipment from so that they know I received the dog okay anyway. This time I had to call with not so good news. The entire week following the pup's arrival, I was in touch with the breeder....letting her know of the vet visits and the treatment that was being done, etc.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss and your horrible experience. I know from shipping through Delta that there must be two bowls, one for food and one for water, and they must be attached to the kennel, not just sat inside. The last time I shipped was March 24th. I wasn't able to find the bowls that hook onto the front door of the kennel anywhere so I purchased a small, double bowl but when I got to Delta's air cargo, they wouldn't accept it because it wasn't attached. The guy pulled out small plastic containers they purchased at the dollar store along with plastic ties, put a hole in the container and attached it to the door. Delta's regulations can be found on the Delta Air Cargo website. If the bowl was not attached, I would think you could go back on the breeder/shipper and the Delta cargo place where Josh was shipped from. Did the breeder offer you a replacement pup? If not, in my opinion, she sure should have and if she didn't have any more pups at that time, she should have offered you first pick from the next litter. JMO

When we got Gizmo, he came with just torn newspapers in the crate and two small bowls attached to the door. It was obvious that he had done his business while in the crate. When I ship, I tape a peepee pad on the bottom but also put in a bed of some kind with a a chewy or knee bone, something big enough that there is no possibility of choking and so they don't have to lay directly on the pad. I don't know how other ship their pups, only how I do and how I would want one to arrive if shipped to me. The bowl must have been huge to hold that much water. I just can't even imagine someone doing that. IMO, if it was the breeder/shipper who put the big bowl in the crate, she should share some of the responsibility for Josh's death.

I think your experience is a good teacher for us. In the future, I'm going to recommend that the new owner do a search for an emergency vet near the location where they are picking up their pup and keep the number with them. I've not had a problem, but you just never know. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.

[StewiesMom]

That really sucks. I don't think I would ever ship a pup alone. Those airline employees make minimum wage, so frankly, why would they go beyond their call of duty to take care of puppies? I would, but most woudln't.