Health Risks for Shipping Puppies as Air Cargo

Traveling with your puppy may be unavoidable in some instances. You don't want to leave it at home for long trips, or perhaps the breeder or individual providing you with the dog lives a long distance away and must send it via airplane. Smaller dogs are often able to fly in the cabin of the plane, provided the owner is flying along. Others must ride below in air cargo, which presents inherent risks -- including health-centric ones -- that may be detrimental to your tiny pooch.

  1. Heat-Related Health Issues

    • Airplanes can easily become hot and stuffy, with poor air quality, and that's in the air-controlled cabin. However, in the cargo hold, the air is only controlled during the flight. This means that puppies may be sitting in extreme heat in the cargo hold while waiting to be loaded or unloaded. This can cause heat-related health problems, such as heat stroke. Puppies, as they are still fragile in their early weeks of life, may be more likely to fall victim to this issue than larger, heartier, stronger dogs. In fact, the Dog Law website states that many airlines will no longer accept dogs during the summer months for travel in the cargo area. Federal laws also says that if pets will be subjected to temperatures above 85 degrees F for more than four hours during air travel, they are prohibited to fly as cargo.

    Disease Transmission

    • Sure, you are required to provide a rabies vaccination and so are other travelers before your puppy travels. However, the cargo area is close quarters and other puppies may be infected with other airborne diseases that can spread quickly in the hot and air-stifled quarters. This might include canine distemper virus, bordetella (kennel cough) and para influenza. While puppies should be vaccinated for these conditions in their first few months of life, it only takes one unvaccinated puppy to infect any other pups traveling in the same area.

    Physical Injuries

    • While it is rare, there is always the chance that your puppy may be handled wrong during the transfer to or from the plane. While you may carefully mark his cage, letting the ground crew know he is a puppy, and they may see it is an animal, you still may have one careless crew member to toss its cage off the plane or place it on the baggage claim conveyor belt. This may lead to the small puppy being tossed around in its kennel and sustaining physical injury as a result.

    Solutions

    • There are ways to avoid some of these risks, even if you must ship your puppy in the air cargo area. This includes purchasing a sturdy kennel made for traveling puppies. Provide plenty of food and water for the trip and request confirmation from the flight staff before each take-off or transfer that the dog is, in fact, on the plane. It's a hassle, but an accommodating crew is willing to verify this information for you. Try to get a direct flight to avoid numerous layovers or connecting flights to avoid your puppy being left behind.