Dog dead, another injured covered in blood, during terrifying Jetpet animal flight
A French mastiff has died and a golden retriever arrived covered in blood with four toenails missing, during transit services arranged by animal transport company Jetpets.
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES.
Distraught per owner Anne Rewai said she was heartbroken to learn her ‘big boy’ Nui died during a flight from Bunbury, Western Australia, to Wellington New Zealand on Friday.
“I am deeply distraught & utterly disappointed in the way Melbourne office have handled this whole affair,” she wrote on the Jetpets Facebook page – which has since been removed.
A Jetpets spokesperson said in a statement, the company immediately made contact with Ms Rewai after notifying her of her pet’s passing, and communication continued.
“Unfortunately Nui was found deceased upon arrival in Auckland,” Jetpets said in a statement.
“Initial findings indicate Nui passed from natural causes and the final post mortem results will be available in coming days. Jetpets feel the pain at the loss and commiserate with the family,” the statement said.
A second traumatic Jetpets flight experience occurred on Friday, leaving golden retriever Calvin badly injured.
Pet owner Arjun Sivadesan said he was expecting a wonderful reunion with Calvin after flying him from Melbourne to Brisbane, but instead the pair spent the afternoon at the vet.
“It was a tragic sight when I saw him,” Arjun Sivadesan said of finding his golden retriever covered in blood when he went to collect him from the airport.
“I don’t have words to describe it. It’s easily the worst day of my life in the past decade,” Mr Sivadesan said.
“He is in a world of pain and not walking much.”
“They treat pets like cargo. They put them in a cage and push them on a flight,” he said of his experience with Jetpets, who claim to be ‘Australia's trusted pet people’ according to their website.
Mr Sivadesan said he was looking forward to having a nice time with Calvin on Friday, playing in the park, but instead he said he rushed his pet to the vet to treat his injuries.
He said he was fearful at the amount of blood lost and that he had taken the following week off work to administer the dog’s medication and care for him.
A Qantas freight staff member is believed to have called Jetpets to alert them of Calvin’s condition upon landing, before a Jetpets representative passed the message on to him, Mr Sivadesan confirmed.
“They said: ‘Something has happened. Your pet obtained some injuries. It looks like he was scratching at the door and lost a toenail’. But he lost four!” he said.
“They said ‘don’t be alarmed, he’s calm now’.”
Mr Sivadesan said Calvin travelled well during the other longer international flights and the other pet transportation companies provided regular updates and photos of Calvin’s progress.
Mr Sivadesan said he asked Jetpets to call him before Calvin boarded in Brisbane, to ensure he was feeling well enough to travel but he did not receive a notification. When he spoke to Jetpets about this, the company claimed a driver sent him a text message, but he said he never received one.
He said Jetpets told him the company ‘was not fully functional on weekends’ so there was no company representative available to check on Calvin following the flight.
“If they are flying pets on weekends they have to take full responsibility…What ticks me off is they’re not looking to find out what went wrong and accept accountability," he said.
Jetpets was contactable 24/7, according to a Jetpet's spokesperson.
The company representative said Jetpets was 'very upset' Calvin was injured and they could understand how distressing this is incident was for Calvin and his owners.
"We take pride in the service we provide and do our utmost to provide a positive experience for both the travelling pet and its owner, and of course are very upset that this was not the case for Calvin and his owners," a Jetpet representative said in a statement.
Jetpets said its team and airline partners were animal lovers, and the company 'do our utmost to take exceptionally good care of travelling pets'.
"If a pet was to present signs of being highly anxious or was demonstrating behaviour that may cause self-harm, both Jetpets and our Airline partners would not allow the pet to travel, and the owner would be contacted."
The spokesperson said Calvin appeared comfortable and relaxed pre-flight.
"Prior to boarding his flight, a Jetpets pet handler provided Calvin with a comfort stop. Having had an opportunity to stretch his legs, Calvin appeared comfortable inside his pet travel crate, and as such boarded the flight."
