Traveling with a pet can create quite the dilemma. Many pet owners are reluctant to leave their pets behind when they travel, but traveling by air can be both stressful and, at times, dangerous for pets. People with dogs too big to travel in the passenger compartment usually have the worst fears because their pet must travel as “baggage.” Not only are the owners then out of touch with their pets for what could be many hours, they also have to worry about lengthening the trip even further because of the time that the airlines require them to be dropped off, what type of conditions the pet will be traveling in, including whether the temperature will be properly controlled, whether light will be provided, etc. In addition, what happens when you have to change planes and have a tight connection? Will your animal make it? Or will he be left behind and get lost or worse?

Recently, the safety of even those dogs small enough to travel with their owners in the passenger cabin has been called into question. It was reported that United Airlines required a passenger to put her dog carrier in the overhead bin and the dog subsequently died during the flight. United has taken responsibility but also took the position that, perhaps due to a communication breakdown, the flight attendants were not aware that the carrier contained a live animal. The intense press coverage this case received generated much discussion about where the blame should lie and whether more could be done to make airline travel safer for pets.

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