Jet-set pets Law to improve care of animals

Traveling pets are getting as common as rolling luggage, and theestimated half-million jet-setters among them soon should be assuredof better treatment than your garment bag, thanks to new legislationthat recently cleared Congress.

The FAA Reauthorization Bill (HR 1000), which includes provisionsadopted from a bill that was called the Safe Air Travel for AnimalsAct, requires airlines to improve employees' training in handlinganimals and to report the loss, injury or death of any pets entrustedto their care. The reported incidents will for the first time be madeavailable to the public, just like on-time records and lost-baggagestatistics.

"This is a stunning win for animals that must travel by air aswell as for consumers who travel with their companion animals," NancyBlaney, director of the ASPCA National Legislative Office inWashington, D.C., said when the bill won congressional approval.

Pets have been left on freezing cold and searing hot tarmacs; theyhave been abandoned overnight on luggage carts; baggage has fallen onthem; baggage carts have been driven over them, the ASPCA says. Petshave also died from lack of air or excessive heat or cold in thecargo hold_which the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act would haveaddressed with climate-control requirements (dropped from the finalbill along with a provision for increased liability for incidentsinvolving animals), the ASPCA said.

When pets arrive at their destinations, they are also getting awarmer reception from mainstream lodgings eager to win the hearts oftheir doting owners.

"Finding a dog-friendly hotel has become much easier in the fiveyears we've had our dog," said Vicki Kung, co-founder ofDogpark.com. It lists, among other things, places where travelers canlet their pets run off-leash. "More people feel a vacation withoutthe dog is not a complete vacation, and dogs as members of the familyare much more accepted," she said. "I even know of a few places thatprefer dogs to children in terms of behavior."