Dog in the cargo plan?

[question everything]

Last week we flew on a small plan - MD 90, I think. As soon as we were on board, we could hear a dog howling. It came from the cargo section. We obviously did not hear him (her?) during the flight, but did once we landed. It really broke my heart. Is there no way to provide the dog with some sedative, or relaxant? I'd hate to think that the poor one was scared out of his mind, crying throughout the flight wondering what was going on.

[iscooterliberally]

1. Poor thing!

I would either buy a seat on the plane for my dogs, or just skip the flight and drive. I think it's cruel to put animals in the cargo section. Airlines should have pet friendly flights so people can bring them on board. I remember years ago when I was in Colombia the folks down there brought their animals on board. There was this old woman in the front row holding a chicken one time.

[Phentex]

3. ditto!

The airlines do not care about our pets. I would never leave them with people who treat them as cargo.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Up to the owners to give sedative to their dog prior to being put on the plane. I flew

my dogs across the country every time I moved and always made sure the vet had supplied proper sedatives.

[BigmanPigman]

4. I flew with my 7 pound dog from CA to France and had sedatives

but didn't give her any since I wanted to see how she would react to the plane first. This was a bad plan since when we landed in NY to change planes we were stuck on the runway for 4 hours and my dog figured how to get out of her carry bag by unzipping it from the inside when I went to the bathroom. I barely made my connecting flight and once settled I took her out of the bag to give her ice chips for hydration. The flight attendant saw her on my lap and threatened to "red flag" her and put her in cargo. We were over the Atlantic so I don't know how she thought she would be able to do that but she was scary! On the way home 6 weeks later coming home the SAME flight attendant was on my plane! What are the odds. I had given my dog a sedative and was able to keep her calm and safe from that mean woman. I am grateful to two older women on both flights who fell in love with my dog and kept an eye out for the mean woman so I could take care of her and not get punished.