Thursday, March 12, 2009

Frozen feline leaves airline cold


An unnamed airline appears to take a somewhat cavalier attitude to its live cargo.

A Cranston breeder flies his pregnant cat to Oregon, but he says it arrived frozen solid. The airline claims the cat died of natural causes, but the breeder says no way.

Two families are now heartbroken over the dead cat. They blame the airline for not taking the proper steps for a safe delivery. The airline says it's not their fault.

Mans' best friend may usually be a dog, but John Froais will dispute that anyday.John says he's been breeding this rare cat called a Minskin for years and has sold the cats worldwide.

"I have shipped animials to 3 different continents and too numerous to mention over the years," says Froais.

Just recently he sold his pregnant cat to a breeder in Oregon for $2500. Before John could fly the cat the airline required he have a health certificate issued by a veterinarian dated within 10 days of travel just to make sure he was shipping a healthy cat.

The cat was healthy on exam, so John handed the cat over to airline employees. He thought everything was fine until he received a frantic call from the breeder in Oregon.

"The cat was frozen and dead on arrival. The baggage people then took the cat out of the crate her travel crate, and started to hold her in front of space heaters to thaw her," says Froais.

The airline tells us they didn't have any knowledge of that but did send the cat onto a veterinary clinic in Houston for a necropsy, an autopsy for animals. According to that vet-the cat died of uterine toxicity from multiple dead kittens.

"Even if she did die of natural causes, let's say, a heart attack, why did she arrive frozen?" says Froais.

The airline offered to send the body to John so he could get his own necropsy, but John says, unfortunately that would be impossible.

"I've learned any evidence I could have gotten to prove death of hypothermia is out the window. They froze it, refroze it, froze it and refroze it," says Froais.

The airline is standing by their vet's diagnosis but agreed to refund John for the flight.

John says "It's not about the money, it's just accountability."


Would someone please explain to me how there can be any argument about the cause of death of a cat that arrived at its destination frozen solid??? Or am I being unusually dense here?

I wish the article named the airline concerned. I'd make darn sure I don't fly aboard its aircraft. After all, what if I arrived frozen solid? They'd probably chop me into ice cubes for use aboard the return flight!

Sheesh!

Peter

4 comments:

Crucis said...

Airlines state they take no responsibility on the care of animals shipped as hold baggage. I don't know of any that will accept a pet as carry-on in a carrier either.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other. It a gamble either way.

Anonymous said...

Smaller pets can be transported as carry-on baggage in restricted size carriers through United Airlines. I've never had to transport an animal by plane and hope never to, as this is not the first horror story I've heard. I would never stick my dogs in the cargo hold.

Anonymous said...

If the cat had died beforehand (or possibly during), I can see it freezing - no body heat.

Where it otherwise would have survived, getting cold, but producing enough heat to survive.

Not that it absolves the airline - but who _hasn't_ heard how airlines, and handlers (Who I think gorillas can take in an IQ contest) treat shipped animals?

Anonymous said...

If the cat was sent by the airline to Houston for an autopsy, the airline was most likely Continental.