Animals
WATER WORRIES FOR FELINE'S FLIGHTThis happened a couple of months ago. I was flying from Hawaii to Malaysia with a overnight transit in Taiwan. I have a cat, so when I bought my ticket I asked the airline what the requirements were to fly with my cat. It required lots of paperwork and specific measurements of cages allowed on the plane. I called the airline several times to confirm what was needed to bring my cat home. In the past when my friend took her cat home she was told the maximum measurements for the cage. More recently when she showed up at the airport with the cage she was told that it was too big and she had to get a new one. It was a good thing that they had a smaller cage there for her to buy.
So I was afraid that I might have the same problem...that's why I called them so many times. Anyway, when I got there they never checked the paperwork that they insisted I needed to have in order to fly my cat back. It was when I was about to check in my cat that they told me that no water is allowed in the cage. Only food. Nobody told me that! I bought special water and food bowls for the cage where it's basically stuck to the cage door so that it won't spill out.
Then they told me that no water is allowed. They even told me that if by accident the water was to spill out of the cage, it might cause some electrical problems and would in turn cause the plane to crash! Yes....that was what the man at the check-in told me. He then told me that I should have used ice cubes instead of water since they would melt slowly and not spill out when they moved my cat's cage.
Nobody told me that when I called them...numerous times. I know I get really dehydrated when I fly....in fact I drink a lot of water. So there was no way I was going to let my cat into the plane without water. The man was trying to bully me into throwing away the water in my cat's cage. He then told me that if I didn't do it, I wouldn't be able to board the plane.
My friends who were flying with me tried to change his mind but he wasn't going to. Then I told him that if he wanted me to throw the water out, I was going to report to it to the ASPCA. Animal Cruelty....right? That seemed to work; in fact, he even lowered his voice and asked his manager to come out. His manager was very nice. I told the manager about the whole situation, and she nicely told me that perhaps I needed to put less water in the bowl and assured me that that once my cat got in Taiwan she would have someone refill the bowl so that my cat would have water at all times.
When I got to Taipei they had someone meet me at the overnight check-in desk to tell me that my cat was doing fine and that they had given my cat more water. In fact, the next day when we had to check in again the man behind the counter told me that my cat was doing all right. That was nice of them. They kept me up to date about my cat.
If they had told me to put ice cubes instead of water in the bowl, I would have gladly done it, but nobody did. And I hated it when the man at the first check-in counter in Honolulu tried to bully me into throwing away the water. This might not be much compared to the other horrible tales that I've read about, but it was horrible when it happened to me. 5/08 Signed, Diesel's Mom
DOG BUSTS LOOSETwelve years ago, I was on a Varig Airlines flight from Manaus (Amazon) to Rio de Janeiro. I had been living for one year in the Amazon, working as manager of a jungle lodge, and had brought my cocker spaniel with me from Rio. So, to move back to Rio, I bought a very expensive, pit-bull proof flight cage for my little cocker spaniel.
Justly "doped" for the flight, my dog was sent into the baggage hold area of the aircraft. All OK I thought, except that it must be rather cold down there.
Upon approaching Brasilia (a stopover on the way to Rio), the captain made the following announcement: "Will the passenger who embarked a LIVE animal please present themselves to a flight attendant." My first thought was "live, as opposed to what?" I KNEW the captain was speaking about MY dog, and I thought the worst. I immediately questioned a flight attendant and they told me that my little cocker spaniel had "broken out" of his cage and was found running around the bagged hold when they went to take the baggage out.
The thought of a cocker spaniel bouncing up and down upon landing made me want to laugh, but this was MY dog, and for sure he could not have survived this torture.....!! He was alive, and they brought him to me in his quite broken cage; he was a bit shook up (understandably). At first the captain (I got the whole crew involved in this) agreed to let me take my dog on my lap, then no, then yes, then no; by this time, the plane was ready to take off again for Rio, and the final word from the captain was that I would have to buy another cage (at 11:00 pm) and embark my dog the next day. I said this was impossible, and that my 12 year old son was waiting for our dog in Rio and that neither I nor my dog would get off the plane. (I couldn't believe I was causing such a scandal, not like me at all, but it worked!!!) We finally took off, after I improvised a make shift cage out of a cardboard box....such much for pit-bull proof cages for cocker spaniels. 12/07
FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED
Last year was my first time in the United States (I moved to Florida after I graduated from college), and for Christmas, I decided to go home to the Bahamas to spend the holidays with my mother. Since it is only me and my pet cat living in Florida, I thought it would be cool if I took her along. So I do all the required paperwork, arrive the required two hours before my flight with one drugged-up cat in tow, and I am assured my spot on the plane, along with my kitty. I wait the two hours, my flight comes in on time, and as I'm about to board, I get pulled over by a flight attendant and told that my cat must go in the baggage compartment. I go "What the hell?" It is then explained to me that there is a passenger with a small dog on the same flight, and they're both already on board. Since only one animal can be in the luggage compartment, this woman's dog got it. I then inform the woman that I was told that the first person who was traveling with a pet who checked in, their pet automatically got that one spot in the cabin. She goes: "Well, the woman with the dog was here first." I go: "No, I was here first. I was the first one to check in. I was told I could take MY cat on board." At this point I'm starting to get angry - but trying to keep my temper and also trying to remember that my fellow passengers just want to leave as well. This continues for several minutes, and I'm seriously debating the idea of finding this woman and bawling her out. The problem was, the plane I was on...their baggage compartment isn't very...livable for animals. DASH-80 I think the plane was. I didn't see the problem with the both of us having the animals in the cabin. I point that out and was told, well, there can only be one. Twenty minutes later...I don't know what happened, but they had to go back to the ticket agent - I think even call the Bahamas - my cat and I were allowed on board. No idea where the dog was, and for the whole flight I halfway expected the dog's owner to come up to me and start something. When I landed in the Bahamas though, I did hear some barking. I guess they let him stay in the cabin after all. But still, first come first served...10/07 Signed, Irked in Palm Beach
COCK GETS CLOCKED
Twenty years ago I took a flight home from the Dominican Republic that was totally full and there was a lot of commotion as people were getting situated. After everyone was sitting and we were preparing to take off, I heard what I thought was a chicken cluck. After a minute or so it got more frequent and louder and I was certain it was a bird. Other people noticed as well, and then the attendant came back and it was discovered that a fellow across the aisle a row ahead of me had a live fighting cock in a paper bag on his lap. The stewardess informed him that live animals were not permitted. In response, the angry passenger grabbed the bag and apparently killed the bird within the bag by twisting its neck. Everyone could hear the twist and crack. People were gasping, but incredibly this satisfied the attendant and away we went! How bizarre is that? 10/07
CARRY-ON LUGGAGE CONTAINS SURPRISE
After boarding a flight from Denver to Nashville, I noticed that the scruffy-looking couple (mid 20's) in the row in front of me were having a hard time deciding what to do with their gym bag-sized carry-on. Their indecisiveness was getting in the way of people boarding, so they finally just sat down (switching seats with another passenger as well) and the man placed the bag in his lap. Sitting right behind them, I couldn't help noticing that he kept fiddling with the bag, drawing a lot of attention to himself. After everyone was seated, a flight attendant approached the couple and informed them they would have to leave the plane. About then, the bag started meowing and squirming in the man's hands. They argued at first, but after a minute, reluctantly agreed to take a later flight. We all had a quiet laugh as they left the plane with their pet cat. I have no idea how they got through security with a cat in a carry-on, and I would have liked to have seen the X-ray at the security checkpoint. Thankfully, on the plane, they had not "let the cat out of the bag". 10/07
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