WA Press:For a fee, skies are friendlier to animals

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Posted by Desiree on May 19, 2002 at 14:28:07:

5/19/2002

For a fee, skies are friendlier to animals

BEVERLY BEYETTE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Classical music played soothingly as Riley the golden retriever was whisked by private limo (OK, van) to Los Angeles International Airport for his Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. From there, it would be on to Christchurch where, after 30 days in quarantine, he will join owner Ann Weatherford in their new home.
Riley's travel agent? Kennel Club LAX, one of the pet transport specialists nationwide who each year try to make the skies a little friendlier for the estimated 60,000 animals -- dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, fish and assorted others -- that fly domestically, as well as internationally, each month.

Agencies such as Jet-A-Pet, Paws Around the World and Happy Tails Travel are in business to handle ticketing and paperwork, and generally minimize stress for pet owners dealing with the double trauma of moving and shipping their beloveds as cargo.

Pet transport professionals make flight arrangements, transport the animal to a vet for its checkup, getting permits for international travel and making quarantine facility reservations where necessary. Most will pick up the pet, deliver it to the airport and, at the other end, to the owner's new residence.

"It's a no-worry situation," says James O'Brien of Burlingame, Calif.-based O'Brien Animal Transportation Services and president of the Independent Pet and Animal Transportation Association, whose 100-plus member companies are involved in the handling, boarding and moving of small animals. "A lot of people don't know how to do this, a lot don't have time. Say they're relocating and they have two or three children, a bird, a cat and a dog and they're moving their furniture. They turn the pets over to a professional shipper and they know the animal will be cared for."

Fees add up

So what does convenience cost? There is a coordination fee plus the per-pound charges levied by airlines. There is a fee for boarding the pet overnight, which often is recommended to help calm preflight jitters and acclimate him to his traveling crate. O'Brien offers "guesstimates" for a dog being shipped across country "with all the trimmings": $800 to $1,500 for a large dog, $800 for a medium-size dog and $500 to $600 for a small dog.

Price is determined also by how many services are provided and how far the animal is traveling. "I've seen tickets that are $3,000 and tickets that are $100, like for sending a cat to Arizona," says Shoshana Weissman, general manager of Kennel Club LAX.

For the pet born with a silver bone in his mouth, there are other options. San Francisco-based Lasco Intl.'s air charter division recently sent a pair of Irish setters -- and their handler -- from San Francisco to Honolulu in a Learjet. The flight, during which the dogs roamed freely in the cabin and lounged on leather seats covered with a fur rug, set the owner back about $30,000.

"Some people think more of their pet than they do of their children," says Lasco founder Jack Maita. "We had one client who was going to Europe and wanted her dog brought over. That was about $80,000." The company has Learjets or Gulfstreams but, Maita says, "If you want a 747, we'll provide it."

Maita, whose clients include celebrities and Fortune 500 types, isn't surprised that clients will pay from $1,300 to $7,500 an hour to charter a pet jet. "You see how badly we (humans) are treated upstairs (in a commercial plane)," he observes.

Some pet transporters such as Kennel Club LAX, which also offers long-term boarding, will coddle its short-term boarders preflight with perks ranging from pedicures to massages.

All kinds of animals

People in the business have seen it all. Says Rosemary Filippelli of Worldwide Pet Transport in New York, "I was just speaking with a woman who has a whole slew of (animals) -- uromastyx, which are dragony things, a king snake, four rats, a pet chameleon, 10 dragons, a cockatiel and two Scotties. " They are being moved from Atlanta to Seattle.

Just how do you ship a snake? "They go in a pet carrier. We put them in pillowcases or burlap bags that they can breathe through. They will usually just curl around (and stay put)."

"We do everything from aardvarks to zebras," O'Brien says. Has he shipped either? Well, no -- make that "fins, feathers, fur or fangs." He has shipped elephants to zoos. (A 747 can accommodate two). "We generally turn down animals we consider dangerous or vicious."

"I've moved animals that I wouldn't touch myself," says Millie Woolf, owner of Tampa, Fla.-based Air Animal. She mentions tarantulas and iguanas. Since she founded the pet transport association in 1979, Woolf says, the industry has changed, shifting away from people traveling with pets to those relocating. And, as laws have changed and airlines have become more vigilant about pets, "It has become harder and harder to just hop on a plane with a dog or cat."

Janice Cipparrone has accommodated clients by cooking special preflight pet meals and she recently shipped two tortoises to Switzerland "with a container of deli fruit salad. They loved the strawberries."

On one thing everyone in the business seems agreed: No tranquilizers. "They can have an adverse effect at high altitude," explains Filippelli, "like if you have a few drinks on a plane, you get more of a buzz than you do on the ground." A tranquilized pet might suffer stress-induced respiratory problems, become dehydrated from excessive drooling, suffer balance problems in case of air turbulence and is at risk of choking should it vomit because of impaired gag reflex.

No one touts flying as a pleasant experience for the pet, even though airlines require that shipping crates be large enough to permit pets to stand and turn. Says Filippelli, "I think cats probably can stay in a container longer, but both cats and dogs want to get out as quickly as possible -- and I certainly don't blame them."

Although cargo holds are pressurized and temperature controlled, the Humane Society recommends transporting a pet by air only when "absolutely necessary." It cites statistics from the Air Transport Association: More than 5,000 animals die, are injured or lost on commercial flights each year as a result of temperature extremes, poor ventilation, oxygen deprivation and rough handling. But some people have no choice -- neither Amtrak nor Greyhound ships pets.

For a fee, skies are friendlier to animals

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: 5/19/2002 : For a fee, skies are friendlier to animals : : BEVERLY BEYETTE LOS ANGELES TIMES : Classical music played soothingly as Riley the golden retriever was whisked by private limo (OK, van) to Los Angeles International Airport for his Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. From there, it would be on to Christchurch where, after 30 days in quarantine, he will join owner Ann Weatherford in their new home. : Riley's travel agent? Kennel Club LAX, one of the pet transport specialists nationwide who each year try to make the skies a little friendlier for the estimated 60,000 animals -- dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, fish and assorted others -- that fly domestically, as well as internationally, each month. : Agencies such as Jet-A-Pet, Paws Around the World and Happy Tails Travel are in business to handle ticketing and paperwork, and generally minimize stress for pet owners dealing with the double trauma of moving and shipping their beloveds as cargo. : Pet transport professionals make flight arrangements, transport the animal to a vet for its checkup, getting permits for international travel and making quarantine facility reservations where necessary. Most will pick up the pet, deliver it to the airport and, at the other end, to the owner's new residence. : "It's a no-worry situation," says James O'Brien of Burlingame, Calif.-based O'Brien Animal Transportation Services and president of the Independent Pet and Animal Transportation Association, whose 100-plus member companies are involved in the handling, boarding and moving of small animals. "A lot of people don't know how to do this, a lot don't have time. Say they're relocating and they have two or three children, a bird, a cat and a dog and they're moving their furniture. They turn the pets over to a professional shipper and they know the animal will be cared for." : Fees add up : So what does convenience cost? There is a coordination fee plus the per-pound charges levied by airlines. There is a fee for boarding the pet overnight, which often is recommended to help calm preflight jitters and acclimate him to his traveling crate. O'Brien offers "guesstimates" for a dog being shipped across country "with all the trimmings": $800 to $1,500 for a large dog, $800 for a medium-size dog and $500 to $600 for a small dog. : Price is determined also by how many services are provided and how far the animal is traveling. "I've seen tickets that are $3,000 and tickets that are $100, like for sending a cat to Arizona," says Shoshana Weissman, general manager of Kennel Club LAX. : For the pet born with a silver bone in his mouth, there are other options. San Francisco-based Lasco Intl.'s air charter division recently sent a pair of Irish setters -- and their handler -- from San Francisco to Honolulu in a Learjet. The flight, during which the dogs roamed freely in the cabin and lounged on leather seats covered with a fur rug, set the owner back about $30,000. : "Some people think more of their pet than they do of their children," says Lasco founder Jack Maita. "We had one client who was going to Europe and wanted her dog brought over. That was about $80,000." The company has Learjets or Gulfstreams but, Maita says, "If you want a 747, we'll provide it." : Maita, whose clients include celebrities and Fortune 500 types, isn't surprised that clients will pay from $1,300 to $7,500 an hour to charter a pet jet. "You see how badly we (humans) are treated upstairs (in a commercial plane)," he observes. : Some pet transporters such as Kennel Club LAX, which also offers long-term boarding, will coddle its short-term boarders preflight with perks ranging from pedicures to massages. : All kinds of animals : People in the business have seen it all. Says Rosemary Filippelli of Worldwide Pet Transport in New York, "I was just speaking with a woman who has a whole slew of (animals) -- uromastyx, which are dragony things, a king snake, four rats, a pet chameleon, 10 dragons, a cockatiel and two Scotties. " They are being moved from Atlanta to Seattle. : Just how do you ship a snake? "They go in a pet carrier. We put them in pillowcases or burlap bags that they can breathe through. They will usually just curl around (and stay put)." : "We do everything from aardvarks to zebras," O'Brien says. Has he shipped either? Well, no -- make that "fins, feathers, fur or fangs." He has shipped elephants to zoos. (A 747 can accommodate two). "We generally turn down animals we consider dangerous or vicious." : "I've moved animals that I wouldn't touch myself," says Millie Woolf, owner of Tampa, Fla.-based Air Animal. She mentions tarantulas and iguanas. Since she founded the pet transport association in 1979, Woolf says, the industry has changed, shifting away from people traveling with pets to those relocating. And, as laws have changed and airlines have become more vigilant about pets, "It has become harder and harder to just hop on a plane with a dog or cat." : Janice Cipparrone has accommodated clients by cooking special preflight pet meals and she recently shipped two tortoises to Switzerland "with a container of deli fruit salad. They loved the strawberries." : On one thing everyone in the business seems agreed: No tranquilizers. "They can have an adverse effect at high altitude," explains Filippelli, "like if you have a few drinks on a plane, you get more of a buzz than you do on the ground." A tranquilized pet might suffer stress-induced respiratory problems, become dehydrated from excessive drooling, suffer balance problems in case of air turbulence and is at risk of choking should it vomit because of impaired gag reflex. : No one touts flying as a pleasant experience for the pet, even though airlines require that shipping crates be large enough to permit pets to stand and turn. Says Filippelli, "I think cats probably can stay in a container longer, but both cats and dogs want to get out as quickly as possible -- and I certainly don't blame them." : Although cargo holds are pressurized and temperature controlled, the Humane Society recommends transporting a pet by air only when "absolutely necessary." It cites statistics from the Air Transport Association: More than 5,000 animals die, are injured or lost on commercial flights each year as a result of temperature extremes, poor ventilation, oxygen deprivation and rough handling. But some people have no choice -- neither Amtrak nor Greyhound ships pets. :

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