Is It Really Safe to Fly Your Pets - Pet Shipping

Many people are under the misconception that “hundreds” and even “thousands” of pets are injured or killed each year during flights. This simply is not the case.

There was a figure going around the Internet that “5000 pets a year are injured or killed on flights yearly”. It turns out this was a poor extrapolation from an offhand remark made by someone at the Department of Transportation. It was not based on any hard facts.

Starting in May of 2005, the DOT (Department of Transportation) began keeping records of all incidents involving pets. This was certainly welcome by those of us in the pet relocation industry. The results from over three years of data showed that only 102 pets passed away, 48 were injured and 30 were lost. The results are HERE:

If the original statistics had been true, over 15,000 pets would have been killed or injured. The actual results were 180 incidents. This includes injuries and pets which got loose at the airport. Obviously any loss is troubling however the statistics bear out that it is less than one tenth of one percent. The fact is that pet transportation via the airlines is exceedingly safe as long as common sense is used and the proper procedures are followed.