Breed Banning in Airlines

[Deborah Reid]

hey all! I know I have not been around for a while, but I thought you all would be interested in this:

I received an email from a fellow rottweiler breeder this morning about American Airlines banning the shipment of certain breeds of dogs.

Here is the link to American Airlines: www.aa.com
Here is the link to the American Airlines Cargo Dept: www.aacargo.com
Here is the link to the specific page that the information is located at: http://www.aacargo.com/shipping/inst...ns/animals.htm
Scroll down to almost the very bottom, it is under the heading: Exceptions to Canine Acceptance.

Here is the text:

Exceptions to Canine Acceptance
American Airlines does not accept the following breeds of dogs: American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bull Terrier, Doberman Pinscher and Rottweiler. The acceptance of crossbreeds of dogs that contain one or more of these breeds is also prohibited. However, puppies of these breeds may be accepted for shipment when between the age of 8 and 12 weeks old. Also, AA Cargo personnel may refuse acceptance of any dog that exhibits aggressive behavior.

Unfortunately, they do not have an email contact. But this is the information that I was able to get.

They put the ban in affective August 1st, 2002. No one that I talked to knew why they put it in, nor could they give me any definite answers to any incidences that may have occurred. One person suggested that it was put into affect by the FAA or the USDA.

The only contact information I could get is:

American Airlines
Executive Offices
P.O. Box 619612
Mail Drop 2400
DFW Airport, TX 75261-9616

Here are a couple of the phone numbers that I called:
American Airlines Cargo Customer Service Dept: 1-800-227-4622
American Airlines Corporate Communications Dept: 1-817-967-1577
American Airlines Executive Office: 1-817-967-2000

They also gave me a fax number: 1-817-967-4162

I contacted the USDA (Executive Services Division, phone number 202-720-8482, website: www.usda.gov ) and spoke to a lady named Teresa.
She directed me to the Animal and Plant Health Services Dept of the USDA (phone number 301-734-7833, website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ {I couldn't get the website to load}, email address: ace@usda.gov ), where I spoke to a lady named Joyce, who confirmed that the USDA does not have an breed-specific regulations regarding shipping dogs.
However, she did say that the one concern that they have is that there has been several cases of "large, aggressive dogs" chewing through or breaking out of their crates during flight. To offer suggestions for this problem, or direct any comments to the APHS Department, please send an email to Dr. Chester Jipson, Deputy Administrator for the Animal Care Staff, email: ace@usda.gov .

Next I contacted the FAA ( Washington Headquarters, phone number: 202-267-3883, website www.faa.gov ) and spoke with a Mr. Dave Kontney, Program Manager, who said that the FAA did not have anything to do with it.

My next step was to check other airlines.

Delta http://www.delta.com/home/index.jsp
They have no breed restrictions.
Pet Travel Information http://www.delta.com/travel/trav_ser...avel/index.jsp
Phone number: 888-736-3738
Email comments: Judy.goodman@delta.com Damaso.rodriguez@delta.com
Fax number: 972-453-4250
Address:
Delta Airlines Pet First Department
2409 N. Support Rd.
P.O. Box 610564
BSW Airport Texas 75261

Alaska / Horizon Air http://www.horizonair.com/
They have no breed restrictions.
Shipping your Pets and Other animals http://www2.alaskaair.com/cargo/AS_Q...ng.asp#Animals
Phone number: 800-225-2752
Alaska Air Email comments form: https://www2.alaskaair.com/ssl/help/...@alaskaair.com
Horizon Air Email comments form: https://www2.alaskaair.com/ssl/help/...HorizonAir.com
Address:
Alaska Airlines Horizon Air
P.O. Box 68900 19521 Pacific Hwy South
Seattle, WA 98168 Seattle, WA 98188

United Airlines http://www.ual.com/
No breed specific restrictions.
Services: Special Handling - Animals http://www.unitedcargo.com/services/SpecAnimals.jsp
Phone number: 800-822-2746 (800-UA-CARGO)
Email comments form: http://www.unitedcargo.com/utilities/contactus.jsp
Fax number: 847-700-7883
Address:
United Airlines Cargo
Consumer Affairs - WHQWS
P.O. Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666-0100

Continental Airlines http://new.continental.com/
Embargo on Pitbulls (was very specific to mention not against Am. Staffs, etc, just "Pitbulls") that they will not ship them older than 6 months of age and/or over 20 pounds. When asked for reasons behind this, Bob, a supervisor at the Animal Desk, stated: "From their own experience as well as reports of other [airlines] experience, the pitbull has a breed tendency to chew through plastic crates, which can cause injury to the dog. If they manage to escape from the crate, they can then injure people or cause damage to the aircraft".
The website reads: "Embargo of American Pit Bull Terriers (Pit Bulls, Pit Bull Terriers)
Continental no longer accepts American Pit Bull Terriers and we will refuse any animal that is offensive or shows aggression. This embargo does not apply to American Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, or Miniature Bull Terriers. Crossbreeds with American Pit Bull Terriers are also excluded from this embargo."
He gave me a lead to contact the Department of Transportation (which is the FAA, and I have already spoken with them) to look up a bill regulating this, and also to contact the Veterniary Association to get a listing of these types of incidents.
PetSafe Program: http://www.cocargo.com/cocargo/CargoPages/liveanim.asp
Phone number: 800-421-2456
Email comments: cocargo@coair.com
Fax number: 281-553-5262
Address:
Continental Airlines Attn: Live Animal Desk
533 North Park Central Ste 100
Houston TX 77073

America West Airlines http://www.americawest.com/homeIE.asp
America West does not accept pets in its cargo department.

Northwest Airlines http://www.nwa.com/home.html
No breed specific regulations or bans.
Priority Pet Service: http://www.nwa.com/services/shipping...cts/ppet.shtml
Phone number: 800-692-2746
Email comments form: http://www.nwa.com/cgi-bin/gen_cargo.pl
Fax number: 612-970-3838 attn: Tony or Kate
Address:
Northwest Airlines c/o Cargo Call Center
5101 NorthWest Drive
Mailstop C5679
Saint Paul MN 55111
Northwest Airlines

US Airways www.usairways.com
Do not have any restrictions due to the dogs breed.
Animal Shipments: http://www.usairways.com/cargo/services/special.htm
Phone number: 888-300-0099
Email comments form: http://www.usairwayscargo.com/cargo/...contact_us.htm
Fax number: 703-872-5375
Address:
US Airways c/o Cargo Customer Relations
2345 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22227

I can't think of any other airlines off the top of my head, but if you would like me to call them up and ask them, I am more than open to suggestions =)

Next, I tried to contact the American Veterinary Medical Association: http://www.avma.org/
Phone number: 847-925-8070, email: avmainfo@avma.org , unfortunately, I could not get an answer there at the Headquarters, and the Government Relations Division was closed for "staff appreciation day" (wouldn't we all like to be so lucky LOL).
I will keep trying to get ahold of them next week to get the statistic on the "incidences" of dogs chewing their way out of crates during flight.

I am not a good write, however I will be composing a letter of complaint to American Airlines (and I am also going to send one to Continental). But along with that, I am going to be emailing the AFHS to offer suggestions for solving the incidences of dogs chewing out of their crates during flights, as well as my opinion of breed specific banning.

I am going to send this email to everyone "dog" that I know of, including the Rottweiler clubs, Against Breed Specific Banning Associations, etc.

Unfortunately what happens all too often is one company does something, and soon all the other ducks line up in a row.

Every airline I talked to, other than Continental, were appalled at the breed bans. However, that was just one person, so I am going to make sure to send them each an email, letting them now how much I appreciate their stance against breed specific bans.

Please forward this to anyone you know who would like to be involved in stopping breed specific bans. We thought they were bad when they banned breeds in towns, then counties, etc.. now they are moving to airlines!

Sincerely,
Deborah Reid
Balkenwind Rottweilers
www.balkenwind.com
(208) 253-4496
P.O. Box 363
Council, Idaho 83612 USA

[Judi W]

> The American Kennel Club (AKC) has learned that American Airlines is
> implementing a new policy prohibiting the shipment of Rottweilers,
> Doberman Pinschers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers,
> American Pit Bull Terriers and any mixed-breeds containing one or more
> of these breeds. The AKC believes this policy will unfairly punish many
> responsible dog owners and has written to the airline to voice its
> concerns.
>
> The AKC strongly opposes any policy that determines a dog to be
> "dangerous" based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs.
> Regulations should not be based on breed identity. A dog's behavior,
> and not its breed, should determine whether it is accepted for air
> shipment.
>
> The AKC is urging American Airlines to reconsider its breed-specific
> policy, and we encourage dog owners to contact the airline to request
> the same. Please direct your letters to:
>
> Donald Carty
> Chairman and CEO, American Airlines
> PO Box 619612
> Mail Drop 2400
> DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612
>
> NOTE:
>
> In addition to e-mailing all Delegates, the AKC has posted the above
> alert on the AKC Web site home page, www.akc.org. We are also in the
> process of contacting all parent clubs of breeds restricted in this
> policy to urge them to contact American Airlines to express opposition.

[Deborah Reid]

Thanks Judi! I didn't even think to look on the AKC site to see if they had anything up about it. It is nice to know they are willing to take a stance against this kind of discrimination!