Show dog dies in jet's cargo hold
Family grieves loss of prize Rottweiler
Kerry Williamson and Tarina White
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
A Calgary couple wants answers after their champion show dog and beloved pet was found dead following a flight from Toronto.
Jim and Jacqueline Can want to know what happened to Ally, their two-year-old Rottweiler, who left Toronto fit and healthy but arrived in Calgary lying dead in her kennel in a pool of feces and vomit.
Jetsgo is investigating the dog's death, while the Can family has sent a lawyer's letter asking for answers and suggesting legal action against the airline.
"This was our loving pet," said Jim Can, adding Ally had flown numerous times. "I believe we deserve an explanation."
The Calgary family flew east on Jetsgo with their children Ceylan, 10, and Jordan, 7, to show Ally in the Rottweiler Club of Canada's annual Niagara Sieger Show, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
When the family returned to Calgary on Labour Day Monday, airline officials told them Ally died in her cage on board the plane.
The family was led into a Jetsgo office to see the dog, which was "ice cold" and motionless in her cage, said Jim Can.
Photographs taken of the cage show scratches on the inside and dents on the outside of the door and a side panel. The cage was filled with the dog's vomit, feces, blood and chunks of fur, said Jim.
A spokesman for Jetsgo said the company is investigating the incident. Brad Cicero said it is the first time an animal has died aboard a Jetsgo flight.
"Obviously, there is no disputing the fact that upon arrival in Calgary the dog was deceased, and when it boarded in Toronto it obviously seems to be in reasonable condition," said Cicero. "Obviously, we are very concerned that something like this would happen. We do have some compassion for the family in this situation."
Cicero said an officer from the city police airport unit filed a report on the incident, stating the cage was damaged from the inside.
"The cage was damaged slightly," he said. "But according to the police officer that inspected it, the dog had damaged it from the inside. According to the report, that was the only visible damage."
Jim wants to know what happened to Ally's cage during the flight.
"There is absolutely no way on this planet that she could have possibly . . . exerted panic unless something severe happened to her," said Jim.
The family took the dog to a veterinarian for an autopsy, which revealed Ally choked to death on her vomit.
The dog made three flights within an 11-day period before its death.
Lawyer Dick Olson sent a letter to Jetsgo's head office in Saint-Laurent, Que., on the family's behalf last Wednesday, informing the airline of the dog's death. Jetsgo has yet to respond, Olson said Monday.
Ally was 4 1/2 months old when the the Cans bought her from a Quebec breeder. They began showing Ally almost immediately with the Calgary Kennel Club.
Jacqueline said Ally was like a member of the family.
"She was always very happy and had energy like you'd never seen. The first thing she would do when she saw someone was roll over and give them her belly for a rub," she said.
"She was the dog that was just ecstatic to see you. She was just a really neat dog."
Jacqueline Can said her children have struggled with their pet's death.
"They cried. Our son said the other day 'I wish she would come back, if I could just have her one more time.' My daughter has had nightmares," she said.
"Our family is upset about it, because you won't get another dog like that."
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© The Calgary Herald 2004