After a pet death earlier this month, you’d expect Delta Airlines to inspect and improve its protocols for transporting animals.
Sadly, another pet has died after a flight on one of their jets – Snickers the (hairless) kitten was just eleven weeks old when she made the trip from Utah to Connecticut.
Her owner, Heather Lombardi paid just under $290 for the pet ticket, which included a $50 surcharge to have Snickers removed from the hold immediately upon landing.
Unfortunately, someone screwed up, as Snickers was left in the hold for 50 minutes in 10 degree weather. When she was reunited with her owner, she could not move her head or paws, and was rushed to a vet wrapped in a coat. Upon arrival at the vet, she had passed away. Because of the cold, Snickers was bleeding from the mouth and nose, a symptom of hypothermia.
A Delta Airlines spokeswoman had the following to say:
“We are turning our attention now to offering our condolences and discussing how we can provide some kind of restitution to support her during this time”
Sadly this is just another tragic incident that shows the need for better regulation of pet transport. The US Department of Transportation does track animal deaths, but only of pets that die in transit in the cabin. No numbers are recorded for deaths of pets in the cargo hold.
[Photo: AP/Heather Lombardini]