**Animal Incident Report**

**to the U.S. Department of Transportation**

**Pursuant to 14 CFR § 234.13**

**Reporting Period: May 1-31, 2008**

**REDACTED**

**June 13, 2008**

**TOTAL ANIMALS SHPPED DURING REPORTING PERIOD: 8,993**

**TOTAL REPORTABLE INCIDENTS DURING PERIOD: 3**

**% OF REPORTABLE INCIDENTS TO ANIMALS HANDLED: 0.0003%**

**IMPORTANT NOTE:**

**Summer travel means that more pets will be flown on longer flights,
and some of those pets have not been acclimated to their crates or
transport. Also, some will have pre-existing conditions that are unknown
to the owner and their Veterinarians.**

**[INCIDENT #1:]{.underline}**

CO Flight #1410 Sarasota to Newark Dog -- Pekingnese Mix / 10 years old

May 9, 2008 Male/ Name: "Harry"

**[Owner/Guardian]{.underline}**

**REDACTED**

**[Narrative Description:]{.underline}**

**[Description of the Incident:]{.underline}**

This customer was traveling to France with her pet and upon arrival into
Newark for her connecting flight, the dog was found deceased in its
crate when agents opened the aircraft bin door.

**[Description of the Cause of the Incident:]{.underline}**

Temperatures in Sarasota upon departure were in the low 80's and
temperatures in Newark upon arrival were in the mid 50's. There were no
signs of any trauma, so a necropsy was performed at Continental's
expense. It concluded that, *"Harry was overweight .... And there was
excess abdominal fat....The heart appeared mildly enlarged.
Histopathology revealed degenerative cardiomyopathy as the cause of
death. Cardiomyopathy is a progressive disease causing weakening of the
heart muscle."*

**[Description of any corrective action taken:]{.underline}**

None. The death of this pet was not transit related.

**[INCIDENT #2]{.underline}**

CO Flight #34 Houston to London Dog -- Pug / 6 years old

May 9, 2008 Male/ Name: "Gizmo"

**[Owner/Guardian]{.underline}**

**REDACTED**

**[Narrative Description:]{.underline}**

**[Description of the Incident:]{.underline}**

This customer was shipping her dog to London and upon arrival at
London's Gatwick Airport, the dog was found deceased in its crate when
agents opened the aircraft bin door.

**DOT Incident Reporting**

**Page 2**

**June 13, 2008**

**[Description of the Cause of the Incident:]{.underline}**

It was confirmed that all procedures were followed as it pertains to
international travel and there were no equipment failures. There were
also no external signs of trauma, etc. A necropsy was performed in
London by a local veterinarian at Continental's expense. The necropsy
revealed that, *"The dog was grossly overweight for*

*the breed...Internal observations: large amount of fat....Heart: Large
amount of pericardial fat surrounding the cardiac muscle. Overall,
histological findings mirror the gross post mortem findings -- severe
pulmonary congestion, edema with patchy atelectasis and
emphysema....these changes reflect cardiorespiratory effort, i.e.
stress-related tachypnoea in an overweight, brachycephalic dog. Terminal
visceral blood pooling could also be partially responsible."*

**[Description of any corrective action taken:]{.underline}**

None. The death of this pet was not transit related.

**[INCIDENT #3:]{.underline}**

CO Flight #1751 San Juan, PR to Houston Dog -- English Bulldog Mixed /
3yrs old

May 30, 2008 Male/ Name: "

**[Owner/Guardian]{.underline}**

**REDACTED**

**[Narrative Description:]{.underline}**

**[Description of the Incident:]{.underline}**

This customer was shipping this dog to Charlotte, NC but upon arrival at
Houston (IAH), the dog was found deceased in its crate when agents
opened the aircraft bin door.

**[Description of the Cause of the Incident:]{.underline}**

The animal was lying deceased inside its crate and there were no signs
of trauma, etc. A necropsy was performed at Continental's expense to
determine the cause of death. The Histopathology revealed, "*It is
likely that the pulmonary lesion was caused by cardiovascular collapse
prior to death... He may have gotten excited during transportation
causing him to become dyspneic resulting in a cardiovascular collapse."*

**[Description of any corrective action taken:]{.underline}**

None. The death of this pet was not transit related.