Report Details

Type: Death Date of Incident: May 17, 2012 Location: Atlanta, GA Routing: Brussels, BE (BRU) – Atlanta, GA (ATL) – Oklahoma City, OK (OKC) – Flight 081 AWB: 006-34093393 Description of Animal: 16 yr old female Dalmatian named “Penny” Description of Incident: Penny was a 16 year old spayed Dalmatian, who was accepted by our vendors in Brussels, Belgium for transport on DL081, May 17, 2012. All documents were reviewed and processed in accordance with Delta’s live animal handling procedures.

DL081 departed Belgium as schedule at 1131 and arrived into the ATL area on-time. The weather reports for BRU and ATL, respectively was 52ºF at departure and 81ºF on arrival into ATL. During the loading process in BRU, the ramp crew was mindful to leave adequate space for ventilation purposes. Also the captain was verbally notified of the animal’s presence so the heat and air circulating system could be activated during flight. There were no indications of any mechanical malfunctions while Penney was in-transit.

On arrival in ATL, the ramp handling crew noticed Penny was motionless. Supervisors were immediately contacted and Penney was delivered to the cargo warehouse to await pick up by our local veterinarian for further evaluations. Cause of Incident: Although Penny had lesions noted in the renal tubules and neuronal necrosis, along with thyroid carcinomas, according to the pathologist at the University of Georgia, Penny likely died of possible hyperthermia which led to ischemic necrosis of the gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, Penny had a BCS of 4/5 with abundant body fat stores. Corrective Action Taken: None Warranted