It's the general buisiness forum... so I think I can post semi-anonymous information without getting in trouble...
Looking at a single situation out of multiples, my views on airline shipping that isn't carried out as being planned long in advance, where you simply bring a box of new animals with you when you go to reboard is a horrible idea...
Problems with ignorant clerks being unfamiliar with policies... Problems where the package might not end up on a direct flight... and one horror story in particular that makes me distrustful.
Coming back from Daytona, shipping animals with the airline that he had his own ticket for, all properly boxed up and everything in order and legal... A friend of mine (I think he's a friend anyway... I consider him a friend, might not be mutual, beats me) witnessed baggage handlers dropping, kicking and violently shaking his boxes from the window of the plane after he had boarded, gathering around and doing so in a group, seemingly getting quite a bit of entertainment while doing so...
Upon arriving, the package which was shipped counter to counter (He hands them the box, they give him a receipt, he needs to go to claim it on the other end) comes down the chute with the regular (and at that point irradiated) luggage to roll around the carousel, beat up, torn up, battered, stained and containing a few grand in dead animals.
He reads the website... might post more specific details... when it's set out as a first hand account, it becomes even more noteworthy with the exact descriptions of the process and the aftermath in trying to deal with the airlines to claim the insurance.
Probably not really indicative of what's likely to happen... but sending the animals out through more usual routes rather than the day of as you board the plane is a lot safer, why take risks you don't have to?
