U.S. Department 

of Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

GENERAL COUNSEL 

May 1, 2012 

Certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested 

John Melia, Esq. 

Litigation Fellow 

Animal Legal Defense Fund 

170 E. Cotati A venue 

Cotati, California 94931 

Dear Mr. Melia: 

Secretary LaHood has asked that I respond to your April 12 letter on behalf of the Animal Legal 

Defense Fund (ALDF) regarding the recent death of fourteen monkeys which were shipped by 

air by a Miami-based animal importer. You express concern that these deaths are not required to 

be reported under the U.S. Depaatment of Transportation's (Department) regulation requiring the 

reporting of the loss. injury or death of animals in air transpmt because the Department defines 

''animals" in the rule to mean those that are being kept as a pet in a family household in the 

United States. You urge the Department to amend this regulation so that airlines are required to 

report all incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of animals that occur while' they are 

traveling in the airline's care, custody, or control, whether the animal is being shipped as a pet by 

its owner or as patt of a commercial shipment. You point out that ALDF submitted a petition for 

rulemaking on this matter in August 2010, and request the Department to promptly open a 

comment period on the petition. I appreciate the opportunity to provide you information about 

the Department's planned course of action in this area. 

First. l am pleased to advise you that the Department will be issuing a notice of proposed 

rulemaking to amend this regulation shortly. This NPRM will address. among other things. the 

issues raised in ALDF's petition. This includes questions on whether the regulation should 

remain as is and cover only household pets, or be expanded to cover all animals or cet1ain types 

of animals (e.g., cats and dogs) regardless of whether they are pets being shipped by their owners 

or part of commercial shipments. 

In addition, we will be forwarding a copy of your letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to make sure that they are aware of the 

incident described in your letter. Although the Department issued the regulation for reporting 

the loss, injury or death of animals in air transportation and will work on any amendment, the 

overall health and safety standards for the transportation of animals by airlines are administered 

by APHIS. I would like to emphasize that the commercial shipments of animals that are not 

reported to the Department are still subject to APHIS standards. 
I have placed a copy of this correspondence in the ALDF petition for rulemaking docket. For 

your reference, the docket number is DOT-OST-2010-0211. If I can provide further information 

or assistance, please contact Vinh Nguyen, of my staff, or Blane Workie, Deputy Assistant 

General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. at (202) 366-9342. 

Sincerely, 

Si.:e~ Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings 
April 12, 2012 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

SecretaJy 

U.S. Depattment ofTran.sp01tation 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

The Honorable Michael P. Huerta 

Acting Administrator 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

The Honorable Tom Vilsacl< 

Secretaty 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

1400 Independence Ave., S.W. 

Washington, DC 20250 

Dear Mr. LaHood, Mr. Huerta, and Mt·. Vilsack: 

I 

~··~.:ARTMENT OF '.~~.NSPORTATION 

.; ~~i<ET OPERATIONS 

Z~IZilAY-2 PI~:Ol 

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (wwv>.nldf.org) is deeply concemed about the recent case 

of Robert Conyers, a Miami-based animal impotter; who was acquitted in Los Angeles last 

week of l 0 counts of animal cruelty related to the failed transportation of 25 monkeys from 

Miami to Bangkok. Due to complications including bad weather, pape1work issues, and poor 

communication, the monkeys were shipped from Miami to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to 

China, and then from China back to Los Angeles before finally being released from their 

containers. By the end of the four-day ordeal, 14 of the monkeys were dead from starvation, 

dehydnition, ofhypothennia. One more had to be euthanized, and those who survived 

needed significant veterinaty care. · 

This debacle underscores the perils that millions of animals traveling through American 

airspace face when they are loaded onto planes each year. Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 4172 t, 

the Federal Aviation Administration must collect data on the number of animals killed, 

injured, and lost during air transport in the United States. As written, however, FAA 

administrative regulations only require airlines to report casualties among "pets" in the 

course of air travel. This narrow interpretation does not require airlines to report deaths, 

injuries, or losses of non-pet animals, including Conyers' monkeys. Household pets make 

up only a portion of the animals regularly transported on airlines, meaning that only a 

portion of the animals harmed during air travel are reported each year. Under the current 

regulatOJy scheme, the totnl number of animals killed, injured, and lost by airlines remains a 

mystery. 

In August of2010, t11c Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted a petition to tbe FAA and 

the Depat1ment of Transportation to IH'omulgate new mles requiring ail'lines to repo1·t 

deaths, inju1·ies, and losses of all animals, whether or not the animals m·e pets. We 

•·equest that the DOT pr·omptly open a comment pc1·iod on ALDF's 2010 petition and 

move fonvard with implementing this critical change. This change would provide 

lawmakers and the general public ·with a complete picture of the dangers of transporting 

IT;·\ 

~~ r~~~. /g· . \;t b. 0 . \\ .. / ,-~~..-.Y 

Animal legal Defense Fund 

170 East Cotati Avenue 

Cotati, California 94931 

T 707.795.2533 

F 707.795.7280 

info@aldf.org 

aldf.org 

Winning the case against cruelty 
animals by airplane, allowing them to make educated choices about this practice in the 

future. 

Even if Conyers had accurate information about the hazards of air travel for animals, it is 

unclear whether he would have nu,de different decisions about the handling of his monkeys. 

What is clear is that t11e American public has the right to know about tragic incidents like 

this before handing their own animals over to airlines. The current regulatory scheme allows 

other cases like Conyers' to slip quietly by the public's notice, giving a false sense of 

security when transp01ting animals by plane. Though nothing we do now can save Conyers' 

monkeys from the teiTible ends they suffered, requiring that all animal casualties be reported 

to the FAA can save other animals from similar fates in the fttture. 

By educating the public about the risks of animal air travel, and by holding airlines and 

individuals accountable for the decisions they make when shipping animals, we can spare 

innocent animaJs from the cold, lonely deaths that too often await them in airplane cargo 

holds. Please consider ALDF's petition with the best interests of animals in mind and clarify 

for us the DOT's planned course of action to prevent tragedies like the Conyers case in the 

future. 

Sincerely, 

/~~ #{d~ 

John Melia, Esq. 

Litigation Fellow 

Animal Legal Defense Fund 

170 E. Cotati Ave. 

Cotati, CA 94931 

(707)795-2533 ext. ·1 038 

jmelia@aldf.org 

cc: Joseph Liebennan 

706 Senate Hmt Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Robert Menendez 

528 Senate Hart Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Richard Durbin 

711 Senate Hart Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Animal Legal Defense Fund 

170 East Cotati Aven_ue 

Cotati, California 94931 

T 707.795.2533 

F 707.795.7280 

info@aldf.org 

aldf.org 

Winning the case against cruelty l r ·.-. • •. • ;; ., ~' •• •