Airlines Told to Report Injuries, Deaths of Pets
New rules will require U.S. airlines to compile and release information on traveling pets that are killed or injured. The requirements are part of a bill approved by Congress last month.
Airlines will have to notify passengers about the conditions in which animals travel and submit monthly reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation on animals lost, injured or killed. The DOT will publish the information.
Congress took on the issue in response to reports of pets hurt or killed by rough handling, temperature extremes or oxygen depletion.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hailed the bill as “a stunning win for animals that must travel by air.” A spokeswoman for the Air Transport Assn., the airline industry trade group, said the rules are reasonable but warned that some airlines may choose to stop accepting animals as cargo rather than conform to the new law.
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