Still, critters from elephants to otters manage to get where they need to go. Racehorses have been flying since the 1920s. Livestock and zoo animals, accompanied by reams of paperwork and housed in custom containers, are regular cargo on board planes flying in and out of Houston. These days the barnyard animals are often joined by larger dogs in the care of professional pet shippers. Koalas fly free, at least when they're headed for the Houston Zoo.
Marsupial movement is a special case.
They go like a person. A federal law took effect last October requiring airlines to provide the Department of Transportation with monthly reports on the loss, injury or death of animals on flights. The latest figures, for the first two months of this year, show that of 4,561 assorted consumer complaints fielded against U.S. carriers, only two involved animals. The companies were Alaska Airlines and Houston's own Continental Airlines. Andrea Grover, founder of Aurora Picture Show here, almost became one of those statistics.