Animal House

From Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<The Vivi Crusade

The goal of the Vivi Crusade is to make air travel safer for pets. The Vivi Crusade came about after Vivi the whippet, CH Bohem’s C’est la Vie, was lost while in the care of Delta Airlines at

JFK

Airport

, after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in February 2006.

Vivi is still missing.

In 2005, the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act was put into play. Also known as the “Boris Bill”, named after Barbara Listenik’s dog, who was lost during transport via the airlines, requires that airlines must report on all pets lost, injured or killed while in their care.

This reporting is posted monthly on the USA Department of Transportation web site: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/index.htm

Unfortunately, this past May, Ezra Malek’s cat, Tiger, was lost at the

Atlanta

airport.  Tiger’s crate was mistakenly mixed in with luggage and was dropped as it was being loaded onto a Delta Airlines flight.  Tiger’s crate fell to the ground, the door became unhinged, and Tiger ran off.  Tiger is still missing.

This incident was not listed on the DOT’s Air Consumer report for the month of May.

Fortunately, the number of pets lost, injured or killed since the reporting process began, is approximately 100 incidents. However, one pet that is lost, injured or killed during airline transport, is one too many. Granted, some of the incidents that have been reported were at no fault of the airlines, but through better education of airline employees and educating the pet owners, fewer incidents may happen.

Also, as part of the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act, all airline employees must be trained in the proper handling of pets while in their care. Through numerous correspondences from many people, who have used the airlines for their pet’s transport, we are finding out that there doesn't seem to be much training at all.

We've also come to find that many pets that are lost during their flights are either lost or misplaced somewhere within the airport/terminal or they were mistakenly shipped to another airport. There seems to be no real tracking done on the crates these pets are traveling in and much confusion and heartache to the pet’s owner when these type of incidents occur. So far, we have not seen any of these types of incidents reported by the airlines. It appears the airline reporting is only done if the animal is NOT recovered and the lost pet incident, whether it's lost for an hour or a day, does NOT get reported.

The Vivi Crusade needs your help to gather information on any and all incidents of injured, killed or lost pets, even if the pet was lost for a short period of time and whether or not there was no report filed by the owner.

With pets becoming a more popular part of people’s families and more pet friendly travel destinations becoming available, it is imperative we work together to get these changes made.

Please forward the Vivi Crusade Questionnaire to as many animal lovers as possible; all dog and cat fanciers, clubs and organizations, breeders, veterinarians, pet supply stores, etc., in every city of every state, so that we can gather information, educate pet owners and help the Vivi Crusade make air travel safer for pets.  All pet lovers should be contacted.

The Vivi Crusade will work together with the airlines, various other agencies and crate manufacturers, etc. to make this happen.

Professional and conscious consideration and education are key.

A cover letter and the questionnaire to be sent out can be found on our web site www.vivicrusade.org  Please check back on the web site, as it is still under construction and more information and links will be posted going forward. 

We will ask that Denise Flaim continue to post updated information of the Vivi Crusade on the Newsday Animal House blog www.newsday.com/animalhouse

For more information about transporting animals, please visit:

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/animals.htm

Together, we will make a difference.

Keeping the faith and making a difference

Bonnie>>