AR-News: Breeders and farmers to be exempted from requirement of airlines to report animal deaths (US)

[Karen Dawn]

St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
August 13, 2003 Wednesday

BUSINESS; Pg. 1E
 FAA: Some pets count, others don't

STEVE HUETTEL




A proposal to require airlines to report their care of animals gets narrowed
by the FAA. Breeders and farmers' animals would be exempt.

Airlines will be required to report to the government how often pets die or
are lost or injured while being shipped as air cargo. But the Federal
Aviation Administration rules released Monday apply only to animals kept as
pets in people's homes - not those shipped by farmers or breeders to pet
shops.

The decision was welcome news to Florida's tropical fish farm industry,
which relies on airlines to get its products to retailers across the country
and overseas.

A proposed regulation issued last fall covered all animals shipped in
commercial airliners. Delta Air Lines wrote the agency that it would
consider not accepting animals as cargo if the rule wasn't changed. American
Airlines said the proposed regulation would cost $1.8-million a year and
pledged to pass on those costs to its cargo customers.

"If this went through as originally proposed, there would have been major
repercussions," said Tim Hennessy, president of EkkWill Waterlife Resources
in Gibsonton. There are about 200 tropical fish farms in Florida, and they
generated $42-million in sales in 2001. Most, like EkkWill, are in or around
Hillsborough County.

Not everyone was happy with the final rules. Animal rights advocates were
disappointed, saying Congress intended to protect all animals shipped by
air.

"We were afraid (the FAA) would interpret the law in the most restrictive
fashion," said Lisa Weisberg, senior vice president of the American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It doesn't matter if it's an
individual's pet or a dog or cat shipped for resale."

Because no one previously required airlines to keep statistics on how many
animals die or are injured in transit, the numbers are sharply disputed.

The ASPCA and other animal rights organizations use a figure of 5,000 dead
dogs and cats a year, citing a decade-old statement by the Air Transport
Association, an airline trade group.

That number is vastly exaggerated, the association says, and includes
animals the airlines refused to fly because they appeared ill or lacked a
health certificate or approved container.

Under the new rules, which still need approval from the Office of Management
and Budget, airlines will report monthly on pets that are lost, injured or
die in their custody. The statistics will be published by the Department of
Transportation along with other consumer information, such as on-time
flights and mishandled luggage.

- Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel at sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.