Air Travel Policies Put Pets Through Hoops

Dog and cat owners are encountering tighter rules for flying their pets aboard airlines in the wake of the terror attacks, adding hassles, delays and hundreds of dollars in higher costs.

With an estimated 500,000 pets flying in U.S. skies annually, the new policies--which vary by airline--are causing confusion among pet owners and a boom in business for pet shippers.

“People are really desperate and they’re angry,” said Millie Woolf, owner of Tampa, Fla.-based Air Animal and spokeswoman for the Independent Pet and Animal Transportation Assn. International.

Most affected by the new policies are animals that are unaccompanied by a passenger. Airlines typically have allowed owners to book pets as cargo. Since the attacks, however, airlines are requiring all cargo--pets included--to be handled by “known shippers” or Federal Aviation Administration-registered “indirect air carriers.”

“Before Sept. 11 . . . people could walk up and tender a pet, but that is no longer the case,” said an American Airlines spokeswoman. “All the airlines should be working on the same [rules]--that all cargo can only be accepted from known shippers.”

Those shippers generally require at least a seven-day waiting period before they ship a pet, which allows them to check the background of the shipper.

“The airlines don’t just want any old person putting a pet on the plane,” said Bridget Monrad, owner of Tucson-based Happy Tails Pet Services. “They want to know the origin of that pet--who had the pet in their possession before it was tendered to the airline.”

Clients also are checked for good credit and a consistent billing address, and even veterinarians are researched to ensure they are legitimate, according to Monrad and other shippers.

Airlines are directing breeders and pet owners, who used to ship pets themselves, to specialized animal transport companies--overwhelming some with hundreds of calls a day. For consumers, the new restrictions can send costs skyrocketing.

Checking a pet as baggage generally costs about $75 on most airlines, with cargo prices varying. Shipping a pet professionally can cost as little as $250 domestically and $450 internationally, said Shoshana Weissman, general manager of Kennel Club near Los Angeles International Airport. But other transporters can charge far more for basic services, and on top of that there can be boarding and surface transportation fees.

Janice Cipparrone, owner of San Francisco-based Pet Express and president of the pet transport association, said shipping a large dog across the country can run as much as $1,200, a stinging price spike for pet owners who used to ship on their own. The charges also have come as a blow to those animal breeders not recognized as “known shippers,” forcing them to add another intermediary to their business mix.

Monsieur Harvey, a golden retriever puppy who was poised to move to Switzerland when the attacks occurred, has been stranded at Kennel Club because of the changes.

His family, the Van Houdens of Newport Beach, had planned to take him on the same plane with them. But after Sept. 11, “the airline chaos made this impossible,” said J.P. van Houden.

The family booked Monsieur Harvey into Kennel Club--where he lounges on his own bed in a Lion King-theme room watching animal videos such as “Babe” on his personal television. He is now awaiting some vaccinations before he can be cleared for travel, according to Kennel Club staff.

“We did not want to be in a position with nonrefundable tickets and told ‘sorry’ he may not board,” Van Houden said in an e-mail. “Everyone at several airlines had different chaotic answers. . . . We miss him so much!”

Even before the attacks, some airlines had begun changing policies on pet transportation. Some limited pets to those whose carriers fit under a cabin seat. Others, such as United Airlines and Continental Airlines, stopped accepting them as checked baggage in response to animal-rights advocate complaints that baggage is often left on unsheltered tarmacs and not handled as carefully as cargo.

Some airlines--including American and Delta Air Lines--are still allowing passengers to check their pets as baggage if they are flying on the same plane.

But for others, cargo is the only option--and in most cases that now means hiring a specialist.

The cargo shippers--including pet specialists--were required to seek FAA certification in late 1999, as cargo regulations were tightened in the aftermath of the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, pet shippers said.

But Woolf and other shippers said only United required the use of known shippers for pets before Sept. 11. Now, cargo agents at all airlines are informing callers that an FAA directive means all goods must go through such companies.

FAA officials note that the regulations apply to all cargo and are not specific to pet transport. Gerald Moore, the FAA’s dangerous goods and cargo security coordinator in Los Angeles, declined to discuss the security measures required of certified pet shippers, saying they are confidential.

The Sept. 11 attacks took a toll on pet owners in other unforeseen ways, as pets flying unaccompanied were stranded in cities far from their owners when aircraft were grounded.

Kennel Club, for example, intervened to care for two turtles that were on their way from Florida to Honolulu when all planes were forced to head for the nearest airports. Cargo employees had cordoned off the turtles and were feeding them lettuce when Kennel Club staff stepped in.

For members of the pet transport association, who have grown in number to 110 from just six in 1979, the changes have been close to overwhelming. Some small companies have stopped answering the phones, accepting only e-mail inquiries.

“I’ve had people say, ‘It must be good for your business,’ ” said Cipparrone, who is receiving several hundred calls a day. “And I say, ‘Yeah, but at what cost? This is not the way I wanted to increase business.’ ”

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Airline Pet Policies

Policies on pet travel vary, but all pets being shipped as cargo must now be handled by designated “known shippers” or FAA-registered “indirect air carriers.” Here is a sampling of airline policies.

American Airlines: Accepts pets that fit under the cabin seat. Can check pets as baggage, but unaccompanied pets must be handled by known shippers. Since Sept. 11, pets traveling unaccompanied as cargo must be handled by known shippers.

America West Airlines: Accepts pets that fit under the cabin seat. Does not allow any pets to be shipped as cargo or baggage.

Continental Airlines: Accepts pets that fit under the cabin seat. Others must be shipped as cargo with known shippers, or individuals can apply for a shipper account number, a process that takes at least 10 days.

Delta Air Lines: Accepts pets that fit under the cabin seat. Can check pets as baggage, but unaccompanied pets must be handled by known shippers.

Northwest Airlines: Northwest suspended all pet travel Sept. 11, but now allows pets that fit under the cabin seat and as checked baggage. Unaccompanied pets must be handled by known shippers.

Southwest Airlines: Transports only service animals, such as guide dogs.

United Airlines: Accepts pets that fit under the cabin seat. Does not allow pets to be checked as baggage. Pets shipped as cargo must be handled by known shippers.

Source: Times research