[dss5staf]

I shipped a champion American Staffordshire Terrier to Louisville, Ky on Saturday November 30th in cargo without any problems they knew at the time the dog was supposed to be shipped out today (Monday Dec 2nd) as excess baggage for a dog show in Barcelona, Spain. When the handler got to the reservation desk to check in the agent stated that Rumble (the dog) couldn't fly because he was considered a snub nose breed. On their website Amstaffs are not on the banned list this is what the website states: We no longer accept brachycephalic, snub-nosed or mixed breeds of snub-nosed animals when the "Breed" on the Health Certificate states the following:

Dogs Affenpinscher, Boston Terrier, Boxer (All breeds), Brussels Griffon, Bulldog (All breeds), Cane Corso, Dogue De Bordeaux, English Toy Spaniel, Japanese Chin, Lhasa Apso, Mastiff (All breeds), Pekingese, Pit Bull, Presa Canario, Pug (All breeds), Shar Pei, Shih Tzu, Tibetan Spaniel

As you can see American Staffordshire Terrier isn't listed. A agent there didn't seem to think any other explanation was necessary just he was a snub nosed breed so not allowed on the plane. So now not only out entry fee, 150.00 worth of health certificates (domestic and international along with usda stamp) shipping dog from NC to Ky and the fees to the handler since he has to be paid regardless if he shows the dog or not all because of one agent not knowing the difference in breeds. I contacted AA Customer Relations and talked to several depts requesting a supervisor but they would not connect me to one instead they talked to their help desk and the last person I spoke with Yvette Smith basically told me any time a agent doesn't want to ship a dog they don't have to so if say the handler and the dog would have flown to Miami where they had a layover if that agent wanted to say the dog couldn't have flown he would have been stranded there. With all the big dog shows coming up there is a lot of people flying dogs across the country and in and out of the country for shows so a lot of money for the airlines and money spent in general. When you book the flight you tell them the breed so if there is a issue they should deny the reservation at that point. If he was flown on Saturday with this airline what changed from that time until today? I was even told by this Yvette she couldn't guarantee I could even get the dog shipped home by this airline. So not happy with the airline and making sure the dog show community is aware of the circumstances as well. I may have lost over 1000.00 because of this airline today but hoping to cause the airlines to lose more than that with people opting for other airlines due to the bad customer service.

[bilingual]

Originally Posted by dss5staf

I shipped a champion American Staffordshire Terrier to Louisville, Ky on Saturday November 30th in cargo without any problems they knew at the time the dog was supposed to be shipped out today (Monday Dec 2nd) as excess baggage for a dog show in Barcelona, Spain. When the handler got to the reservation desk to check in the agent stated that Rumble (the dog) couldn't fly because he was considered a snub nose breed. On their website Amstaffs are not on the banned list this is what the website states: We no longer accept brachycephalic, snub-nosed or mixed breeds of snub-nosed animals when the "Breed" on the Health Certificate states the following:

Dogs Affenpinscher, Boston Terrier, Boxer (All breeds), Brussels Griffon, Bulldog (All breeds), Cane Corso, Dogue De Bordeaux, English Toy Spaniel, Japanese Chin, Lhasa Apso, Mastiff (All breeds), Pekingese, Pit Bull, Presa Canario, Pug (All breeds), Shar Pei, Shih Tzu, Tibetan Spaniel

As you can see American Staffordshire Terrier isn't listed. A agent there didn't seem to think any other explanation was necessary just he was a snub nosed breed so not allowed on the plane. So now not only out entry fee, 150.00 worth of health certificates (domestic and international along with usda stamp) shipping dog from NC to Ky and the fees to the handler since he has to be paid regardless if he shows the dog or not all because of one agent not knowing the difference in breeds. I contacted AA Customer Relations and talked to several depts requesting a supervisor but they would not connect me to one instead they talked to their help desk and the last person I spoke with Yvette Smith basically told me any time a agent doesn't want to ship a dog they don't have to so if say the handler and the dog would have flown to Miami where they had a layover if that agent wanted to say the dog couldn't have flown he would have been stranded there. With all the big dog shows coming up there is a lot of people flying dogs across the country and in and out of the country for shows so a lot of money for the airlines and money spent in general. When you book the flight you tell them the breed so if there is a issue they should deny the reservation at that point. If he was flown on Saturday with this airline what changed from that time until today? I was even told by this Yvette she couldn't guarantee I could even get the dog shipped home by this airline. So not happy with the airline and making sure the dog show community is aware of the circumstances as well. I may have lost over 1000.00 because of this airline today but hoping to cause the airlines to lose more than that with people opting for other airlines due to the bad customer service.

American Staffordshire Terrier is a breed itself between Bulldog and Terrier, so the AA argument is correct.

[dss5staf]

If you go back far enough you will find the majority of dogs go back to mastiffs but that is beside the point of the dogs origination. Amstaffs used to be on the list but was taken off American Airlines flew the dog on Saturday with no problem. They also flew an Amstaff out to Spain earlier that day with no problem so they discriminated against this one particular dog. As many dogs that travel across the country and from overseas to dog shows this will cost the airlines a lot of money because there will be a lot of people switching airlines to ensure they can get to where they want to go and most importantly get back home. If the airlines aren't going to take a Amstaff then it should be across the board not just random. It has been previously reported that American refused a French Bulldog that was booked to ride in the cabin and this is a snub nosed breed but they allowed it to ride in cargo? For the Shar Pei Nationals there were 7 dogs booked on American as excess baggage only to be told they couldn't fly except as cargo. Sounds more like the airlines just want to screw selective dog owners out of more money when you are stranded and have no choice. Airline hasn't given a good reason why a dog can be accepted as cargo but not as excess baggage......

[Burgers]

Its just a dog..... heck its dinner in a lot of countries.
Airlines are primarily in the business of moving people. Dogs are a nuisance for them and of little revenue, need proof? Not listed as a line item in any 10-K filing. Pet Airways, couldn't make a dime. Two biggest players in the air shipping business won't ship dogs (Fedex, UPS)
Life isn't fair, one agent says no, another yes... all subjective.... again, its just a dog. Arbitrary discrimination of people, we have laws governing that, dogs.... not so much.
Such a shame these first world problems....

[bilingual]

Originally Posted by dss5staf

If you go back far enough you will find the majority of dogs go back to mastiffs but that is beside the point of the dogs origination. Amstaffs used to be on the list but was taken off American Airlines flew the dog on Saturday with no problem. They also flew an Amstaff out to Spain earlier that day with no problem so they discriminated against this one particular dog. As many dogs that travel across the country and from overseas to dog shows this will cost the airlines a lot of money because there will be a lot of people switching airlines to ensure they can get to where they want to go and most importantly get back home. If the airlines aren't going to take a Amstaff then it should be across the board not just random. It has been previously reported that American refused a French Bulldog that was booked to ride in the cabin and this is a snub nosed breed but they allowed it to ride in cargo? For the Shar Pei Nationals there were 7 dogs booked on American as excess baggage only to be told they couldn't fly except as cargo. Sounds more like the airlines just want to screw selective dog owners out of more money when you are stranded and have no choice. Airline hasn't given a good reason why a dog can be accepted as cargo but not as excess baggage......

Ok fair point, honestly i dont think any airline should travel with dangerous dog breeds, but AA has banned some breeds but the baning of your dog is not clearly written, and you should be able to obtain compensation.

[dss5staf]

The thing is my biggest complaint is they left the dog stranded. If they weren't going to accept him on the second leg of the flight why accept him on the first. The airline should be responsible for at least getting him home. With the two big shows coming up I am doing my dead level best to let them know this can happen to them. Apparently bilingual you have a problem with the breed maybe you need to do some history checking to see where the roots of the breed actually came from and what good they have done instead of just lumping the breed into the dangerous dog category but that is a whole other can of worms. American Staffordshire Terriers were on the banned list but were taken off by American Airlines they did in fact fly another dog out the same morning so it was just one particular agent. I think they all should have to take a test since half of them couldn't find a pit bull with both hands and a sign pointing to the correct breed. Do you have any idea how many people think they are boxers or even worse called boxer bulldogs which would be a mutt in itself? The majority of people see a big head, short coat and mostly cropped ears and automatically it is a pit bull in this case a amstaff. However they didn't vocally say the breed was the reason only that he was a snub nose and then the one person with customer relations saying she wouldn't even guarantee they would fly the dog home. Airlines are going bankrupt one after another you would think they would welcome any type of business. I could also point out the temperament tests, canine good citizen tests that amstaffs and pit bulls rule at but guess that would fall on deaf ears as well