Breaking: ALDF Petitions Department of Transportation to Require Airlines to Report on Deaths of Animals Shipped as "Cargo"

On the heels of the deaths of seven puppies transported in the cargo hold on an American Airlines flight from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Chicago earlier this month, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has filed a petition with the Department of Transportation urging them to oblige air carriers to report on the deaths of any animals in transit, and to identify the shippers and consignees involved in their “shipment.” Currently, the Department of Transportation only requires airlines to report the deaths or disappearances of animals considered “pets”—meaning that there has been no accurate reporting on in-flight harm to dogs shipped by puppy mills or other animals transported as cargo. Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) have drafted a joint letter to the Secretary of Transportation, arguing that a “flawed interpretation of laws” has allowed animal death reporting to “slip through the cracks.” Read more...