The Safe Journey of Pets Via Air Travel

It is more probable that you, a human being, will meet your demise in a vehicular accident (whether by car or airplane) than it is that your four legged friend will experience dangerous air travel.

Fearing for a pet's safety while the pet is in transit is a totally natural inclination for your average pet owner.  Pet owners are not experts in the beaurocratic processes that govern their pets' trips, nor are they well-aware of how dangerous (or safe) the journey is from A to B.  Often in the midst of tying up loose ends for their own moves, pet owners can easily let their worried minds run free and assume that FeFe is in the worst possible hands in the not-so-friendly skies.

Nothing could be further from the truth!  According to airline interviews and DOT statistics in the US, less than .01% of pets travelling by air experience an incident (Air Cargo World).  That's less than 1 out of every 10,000 pets that fly.  Furthermore, an incident does not always mean that the animal died (it can also mean injury).  

Most importantly, according to Marcel Brozius, a director of IPATA, these incidents are usually caused by pet owners, i.e. the animal was unhealthy prior to flight, the animal was too old for any kind of relocation, or worst of all, the animal was sedated.

"Usually when something goes wrong and an animal passes away, it has something to do [where] the animal wasn't healthy going into the flight," Brozius remarks.  He goes on to say,

"Sometimes, owners give tranquilizers, which can be fatal because it interacts with their system.  It lowers their blood pressure and so on."

It is NEVER ok to sedate an otherwise healthy pet for air travel, and it's important that pet owners are made aware of this.

Even though the chances of having an incident overall are less than 1 in every 10,000, some airlines like United even manage to exceed these results.  According to Tony Randgaard, marketting manager for United Cargo, there were approxiamately 110,000 dogs and cats that travelled via United in 2011.  There were two fatalities.

As a human being, you have a 1 in 98 chance of dying in an automobile accident (USA TODAY).  You have a 1 in 7,178 chance of expiring in an airplane-related incident.  Neither of these statistics probably affect your decision to take to the roads for pleasure and work, or to frequent the friendly skies for moving or vacation.

Similiarly, statistics that indicate an even less likely occurrence shouldn’t hinder your pet from making his or her necessary relocation to join you in your new home.  At Premier Pet Relocation, we are happy to address any concerns you may have about your pet travelling, and we only provide travel containers that have a dual set of locking mechanisms.  Even though the chance for a pet related airline incident is small, we do everything that needs to be done to assure that your pet will have the perfect flight.