Top 10 Tuesday: Keep Your Animal Companions Out of Cargo Hold
Flying might sometimes seem like the fastest and least stressful option when traveling, but it can turn out to be just the opposite for your animal friends if they are forced to fly in the cargo hold. Here are just a few reasons why flying an animal in the cargo compartment can be extremely dangerous—and even fatal.
1. When There’s an Opportunity to Escape …
Because the conditions in the cargo hold are so scary, animals will often take any opportunity to escape—from the hold or even from the runway itself.
2. Lost in Translation
Animals can be lost, mixed up, sent to the wrong city, or (severely) delayed in arriving to your destination.
3. Boiling or Freezing: Take Your Pick
The temperatures inside a cargo hold can become extremely cold or unbearably hot, usually without warning.
4. Nightmare at 30,000 Feet
It’s bloody scary in the cargo hold for your animal companions—and worse, you aren’t there to explain to them what is happening.
5. Cargo Hold Noise
Think that airplane engines are too noisy? Imagine what they must sound like in the cargo hold! Plus, our furry friends have much more sensitive hearing than we do.
6. Risking Life and Limb
The stats indicate that air travel is a bad idea for companion animals. According to the Airline Transportation Association, more than 5,000 animals are killed, injured, or lost on commercial flights each year.
7. Fasten Your Seatbelts
Some airlines actually do allow animals to travel in the main cabin.
8. There Isn’t a Fragile Sticker for Rover
There’s no 100-percent guarantee that animals will be handled safely by workers (and carriers can always break).
9. Consider Alternative Arrangements
If you can’t arrange for your animal companion to travel with you in the main cabin, be kind and make it a road trip.
10. Get a Sitter
Make it a stress-free trip: Hire a sitter to take care of Princess or Rover.
Here’s wishing you and all the members of your family a safe and fun-filled journey!
Posted by Ashley Fruno
