Flying with a companion animal is not safe. Every year, animals are injured, traumatized, lost, or killed during air travel. Yet this reality is hidden from the public under a carefully maintained illusion of safety. Airlines, airports, and third-party transport companies profit from a system that puts animals at risk — without accountability, transparency, or compassion.
In the past 20 years, the United States (the only country legally required to report such data) has recorded over 400 deaths, 220 injuries, and 60 lost animals during flights. The true global toll is undoubtedly far higher. Most fatalities are caused by suffocation, heatstroke, heart failure, and severe anxiety — conditions entirely preventable with proper care. Behind these tragedies is a lack of regulation, training, and responsibility. Most incidents stem from human negligence — especially on the ground at airports.
Animals transported in the hold are isolated in darkness, often crammed among luggage and other animals. They are exposed to deafening noises, toxic smells, and extreme temperatures. No one is there to intervene if they suffer or panic. If an alarm goes off, the pilot must depressurize the entire compartment, often with fatal consequences.
The risk cannot be minimized with percentages, as more and more transport companies do to sell their services: the idea that the risks are insignificant because the number of incidents is small compared to the total number of flights is profoundly wrong. Even if only one dog is injured or dies during transport, that is already one too many. Saying it is safe “because it was only one” is a misleading statement both ethically and logically.
Anyone who tells you that flying in the hold is safe, that it’s just a matter of getting the animal used to the carrier, or that sometimes it’s even better than traveling in the cabin due to the animal’s temperament… is either lying or has no idea what they’re talking about.
Even in the cabin, animals are not treated as sentient beings. They must remain confined under a seat, inside a carrier — without exception. Their safety and comfort depend entirely on the empathy (or lack thereof) of each crew member.
Airports treat animals like cargo. Carriers are stacked, dropped, left unattended on hot tarmacs or freezing grounds for long periods. Handlers are often poorly trained, indifferent, or subcontracted workers with no animal welfare experience. This is systemic animal abuse, and it must be named as such.
Pet transport companies are sometimes necessary, but that is not a reason for them to lie or create the illusion that everything will be “fantastic” thanks to their services. In reality, they often add an extra layer of risk and worry for the animal. Handing your family member over to a third party usually means more hours inside the cage, as animals are dropped off earlier and left waiting without you. There is no real coordination with airlines, nor any guarantee that your animal will be properly cared for during transit — despite what is promised. Sadly, we have documented and proven this with real tragedies on our wall. The dangers exist not only on the plane and at the airport, but also before even reaching the airport, when the transport company takes your animal away.
Airlines are not legally responsible for animal accidents. Most do not follow clear protocols, and airport authorities rarely step in to help. In the event of injury, loss, or death, families are left alone, and no one is held accountable. This lack of responsibility is worsened by the fact that many animal-handling staff don’t even work for the airlines but are outsourced contractors — poorly paid, undertrained, and unequipped to care for living beings.
Veterinarians, ethologists, animal behaviorists, and animal protection organizations — including The Humane Society and Animal Legal Defense Fund — strongly discourage flying with animals, especially in the cargo hold.
Why? Because the physical dangers are matched by psychological trauma: anxiety, panic, and stress responses that may go unnoticed but leave long-lasting damage. Every animal is different, just like every human. And the system treats none of them as individuals.
It is time to challenge this system at the international level. We must:
