Report Details

INCIDENT #2 CO Flight #34 Houston to London Dog – Pug / 6 years old May 9, 2008 Male/ Name: “Gizmo”

Owner/Guardian

REDACTED

Narrative Description:

Description of the Incident: 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.

Description of the Cause of the Incident: 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: None. The death of this pet was not transit related.