Chicago Tribune reports this morning that American Airlines has launched an investigation after seven puppies that were aboard a Tulsa-Chicago flight died.
All of the puppies were alive when they arrived in Chicago and died sometime after that, Fagan said this morning.
Two of the puppies died either on their way to a veterinarian or once there, Fagan said. “I do know people were trying to cool them off. The animals looked lethargic,” she said.
Fagan said some of the puppies were bound for destinations outside the Chicago area and had been scheduled to be loaded onto connecting flights. Fifteen puppies going to different locations? Sounds like a puppy mill.
“We’re going to figure out what happened. We’ve been transporting animals safely for 50 years. We do not want this happening again,” Fagan said.
Animals are placed last when baggage goes onto an aircraft and are the first off, Fagan said.
Deaths of animals in flight are rare, according to the airlines. But between May 2005 and May of this year, a total of 142 animals died in transport on U.S. airlines, 117 of them dogs, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Just this year, we’ve seen:
In May of this year, one animal was reported to have died during transit on a Continental flight, and one was reported to have been lost on a Delta flight. In February, a Bulldog froze to death on a Delta flight.
What hurts even more? The airlines refuse to compensate for the loss of the animal and refuse to take responsibility when they accepted a fee for the transportation of the animal. The owner of the bulldog says Delta offered .50 per pound as compensation.
Because that dog is only worth about $25 to Delta.
