My God, this is TERRIBLE! I hope the lawyer is able to do something about this. That is UNACCEPTABLE. Gah, it makes me so mad...

Were the animals left outside during the delay by accident, or is that standard procedure? How could people just leave them out there??



Looking at their pictures... they were such pretty babies.

I hope you are having a necropsy done on the last glider. I don't think you will get anywhere with continental unless you do.
You can go here to see there was no rain yesterday Weather yesterday

It could be that they got rained on someplace other than Houston. Without Linda being able to post here we really can't say what happened. I do know that Linda has shipped more than just these babies and is experienced with the proccess.

This is utterly ridiculous. The fact that we pay these people to ensure the safe delivery of these animals should be well enough to keep them alive and well. That they were irresponsible enough to keep them in conditions that would leave so many in danger is unacceptable. Honestly, I don't think i've ever been so angry/sad about creatures I haven't even seen but if there are plans for contacting the news with this i'd be glad to sign any petition necessary to push it through. I am so, so sorry this had to happen.

How horrible! I'm sorry to all those who lost a glider. There has to be something that can be done to prevent this!! Let me know if I can be of any help with a petition or anything.

It is really an unfortunate situation. My family bred Cavalier Spaniels in the past, and I actually flew to England twice to get pups so they would not be shipped. I really hope that this tragedy will help improve airlines' methods so we can trust them with our pets.

If a petition or letter-writing campaign is started, please let me know. I would be happy to help make the airlines aware of how they can help protect our babies.

I have used Continental many times. I have not had issues except this last time when I was not told of the delay. I put my 3 in 2 separate keepers in 1 cat carrier. they had about half an apple per keeper for food/water. I had checked Huston weather before I shipped and knew there was a high of 87. This was my responsibility to know and check. If I had been on top of my game there would have been a cool pack JUST INCASE I should have used one and again I do feel for Linda this could have been my babies and I know the WHAT if's and Why's are flying. Linda I said it before hun. You lost a set but you have saved so many. Know I would back you 100% to keep doing your best for the gliders. With out you more would have been lost thru different means.

How Awful!! My heart goes out to all involved in this tragedy.

I really am sorry to hear about this. I am so sorry for all the people who were getting babies and they lost their babies in this situation. But also when shipping any gliders through the airlines, they can be insured. Yes it is extra but well worth it. because of this situation right here. Does anyone know if the person shipping these gliders had any insurance on these babies? Because If they did then the airlines no matter what is responsible for these babies up to the full amount insured on all of them. That's why we who ship gliders, insure our babies to help with any kind of accident that may come up or occur. But the gliders do have to be health checked through your vet and health certificates are manitory to have to get insurance on them.

Again, I am very sorry for CarrieT, Danielle, Linda & TracyLynn losses.

Sending love, hugs & prayers for healing power.

Anita

Oh how awful! How can live animals be considered personal property? If you kick your dog, is that not a crime? How is this any different? It's abuse, negligence, you name it.

cyndie

It is horrible and tragic to loose the 4, but if they'd stayed in the situation from which they were rescued, all 16 would have died. Linda is doing a wonderful thing. She is heartbroken about this loss. And probably doing plenty of second guessing and kicking herself, etc.

But I'm with you, cyndie - the lives Linda saves are greater than the lives that were lost.

For an update on some of these babies, click:

update

I am heartbroken from this great tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with all invovled. It greatly saddens me because I have been shipped a pet through Continental's pet program. I am blessed that my baby arrived happy and healthy. I did worry about her safety at the time, but was assured that it was a good program. The breeder did, however, restrict her shipping to different areas based on time of year and extreme temperature/weather changes.

I believe that if Continental is not going to take some kind of action against the department/employees at fault, they should take responsibility. It is their program and their assurances that customers are relying on when they place their beloved pets on Continental's flights. I agree that some media coverage might be the type of action that is needed. Also this tragic event could be reported to an animal rights organization.

All day today I have been concerned and thinking about this because I ship a lot of gliders a year. The most I ever sent was 5. Judie reminded me of when Cindy Carnes lost her glider in a car last year. The gliders were found wet when there was no water around. I keep thinking these gliders suffocated. That makes me sad as I think of their struggles. Priscilla has shipped a few hundred gliders and I called her tonight since she lives in Houston. She said she only has shipped one large shipment and that was to Pazik. She said that when the gliders arrived they were wet. They were shipped in a Taconic and it had not rained either. She said none of the gliders died, but that they were both puzzled because they were wet also because they were shipped directly from Houston to Las Vegas and there was no rain on either end. She said it was hot and in the summer. She agreed with me that the gliders did not have enough oxygen in these bags and because there were so many in such a small space, that there was not enough oxygen in the container. With the temps rising, it just made things worse.

what about shipping only on night flights when the sun is not so hot

I would hope that maybe a petition to allow people to fly with thier gliders in cabin would come up too.. If they can't care for our babies the way they should be, then they need to let US do it..
So sorry to all involved.. Unfortunately I know all too well how you must be feeling. I lost 6 babies on thier way to Canada (via train, negligence on the part of the buyer, not shipping company), as did Leyna and several others from this board. Hugs to all!

Personally, I don't like shipping at night. We have a choice here in Tulsa to either ship at 6:20am or 4:30pm. I only ship at 4:30 if the layover is too long at the 6:20am flight. After four hour layover they kennel the gliders. I ship over thirty gliders a year and I had two problems with Continental. The first incident was My flight was late leaving Tulsa and the turn around to the next flight in Houston was 40 min. The gliders had to be kenneled all night in Houston. Well because they don't have kennels like dogs, they left them in their carriers all night. I always put apples and grapes in the bags. I had them in a cat carrier and they were in rubbermaid type boxes inside with snap lids and holes drilled. There were three gliders being shipped. Two were joeys and one adult female. The connecting flight for Ohio was late in the afternoon and they didn't get there until after 4. The flight was delayed again because of rain in Ohio. The gliders were suppose to be brought up to the baggage claim area and my client waited there. Now remember, this is this is about 34 hours after they left my house. She waited and waited and the gliders came up on the baggage ramp. The attendant waiting with her was appalled and the glider carrier as well as gliders were sopping wet and cold. The next day she took them to her vet to have them checked out and they were fine. I don't getting wet would have hurt them. It rains in Australia and they do get wet there too. It was the stress of being in a 5" by 6" box all night that would have killed them. I ended up writing a letter of complaint and was able to receive a letter of apology as well as a credit on my credit card for the flight. The next incident was a flight going to New Jersey. The gliders were left on the Tarmac that morning on the (at that time) 6:45 flight. Doyle, a worker for Continental called me at 7:30 and said that the glider had been left behind. It was in a cat carrier so it was visibly noticable. My client had taken the day off to pick up the glider in New Jersey. I told him that it was going to be tough to tell my client that he could not pick up his glider that day. He said, "Let me see what I can do for you". He called me back a few min later saying that the glider was riding in the cockpit of the next flight to Jersey. It was not an animal safe jet under where they keep the animals normally, so it had to ride as a passenger. I wonder if they put the jet on auto pilot and got him out and played with him???? It was totally against airline regulations, but they did make it right by me and the glider arrived two hours early because there was no stopover.
I ship over 30 shippings a year and have done so for 5 years. These are the only incidents I have had. The most I have shipped in one carrier was 5. They were in a cat carrier in different boxes inside. Even that time I was nervous.
Cindy, I would like more information on a coolpack. I am not sure what that is.

My heart goes out for the gliders lost and the people they were to go to, esp the little girl.

I had at one point 25 gliders shipped just like this and all at once about this time of year and no problems, I do not feel this was the shipper. Its kind of irrelevent in this post.
This thread is for mourning the loss of gliders, there is a thread open to discuss shipping methods.
Tracy I'm sorry for your loss, trying to help you get this thread back on subject. You have my number call if you need anything.

In the end, NO ONE knows exactly what happened.

What I do know because I WAS THERE TO SEE the shipping container, is that the airline puts all of the "live animal" stickers and the shipping info stickers OVER THE VENTILATION HOLES. No kidding, no speculation. Thats a fact I saw with my own eyes.

Im in awe that so many people can sit back, speculate, and point fingers based on their own personal opinions. Did you see the shipping crate? Did you see the pouches? I did, Tracy did, and Linda did. Thats it. If they got overheated... why would the gliders in the thicker pouches survive, even a joey, and the gliders in the thinner pouches die? Does that make any sense?

In all, I didnt want to get into this debate, I really didnt. But I also cant sit back and let people speculate and blame Linda when they dont even have any facts to base it on.

This thread is to post your condolences only for the loss of these little ones. There is a thread in Glider Talk to discuss the alternatives to safely shipping gliders.

Unfortunately, I will have to close this thread.

Hi. For those of you that do not know me, My name is Tracy and my daughter Danielle and I were the ones who received the shipment containing the gliders that had passed away.

This has been a very difficult couple of days for us, but I wanted to thank everyone for the hugs, prayers, thoughts, PM's and offers for a replacement family for my daughter. At this time, she isn't ready to commit to another family. She wants to find closure on PopRocks, Twizzlers and Starburst before she commits again, and I support her in that decission.

The one hope I have as a result of this tragedy is that we can work together as a community to come up with alternatives to help make shipping of these sweet creatures safer. Please post your ideas, they will help.

Also, please leave the drama and critisism off the board. I know we are all passionate about these creatures, but we need to go forward, not back.

My sympathy to CarrieT who lost one of her girls without ever even meeting her. She named her Sara, and she is burried in my garden nexxt to our lost family.

I also wish the best to Elee and her new family of 3 and CarrieT and her shipment survivor Hannah.

As for my family, we will continue to morn the loss of sweet PopRocks, Twizzler and Starburst, but will also be that much more greatful for the colony of 8 that survived.

Please give your gliders an extra hug to show them how much they mean to you.

I am requesting that this thread be locked for personal reasons. You may pm me if you feel you need to