FAA Augments Safe Air Travel for Animals Act
As of April, U.S. airlines must report the death or injury of
a “family household pet” during air travel to the
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer
Protection Division.
Each U.S. airline that transports animals must submit a monthly
report that includes detailed information on incidents in
which an animal dies, is injured or escapes, as well as any
remedial action that the carrier may take to prevent future
incidents.
The reporting requirements do not apply to incidents involving
commercial animal shipments.
The final ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration augments
the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act, enacted in April 2000.
Compromise language adopted by the 106th Congress called
for joint action by the FAA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington).
The FAA failed to address a number of defects in the initial
proposed rule before adopting its final rule, according to
PIJAC.
“Among other things, the proposal attempted to dictate
USDA’s role, although that agency had not been consulted
in the course of the rulemaking. Now FAA has published a final
rule which simply excludes USDA, but does not remedy a number
of other shortcomings that were raised with FAA during the
public comment period,” said Michael Maddox, legislative
specialist for PIJAC. “If allowed to stand as published,
this rule could adversely impact the ability to ship pet animals
by air.”
PIJAC is challenging the rulemaking’s “substantive
and procedural defects” through the White House budget
office, which has yet to approve the reporting requirements.
[May 2005 PET AGE]
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