(Newser)
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Traveling with dogs may be more dangerous than you thought. Two recently died on United Airlines flights, highlighting the danger of flying with pets—and the apparent lack of responsibility taken by the airline, NBC News reports. Michael Jarboe's 2-year-old Neopolitan Mastiff, Barn Barn, died last month while flying from Miami to San Francisco. "What I found out is, when you check your pet, you run the exact same risk of them not showing up as you do with your luggage," Jarboe says. "That's kind of sobering."
Jarboe's vet says Barn Barn likely died of heat stroke—the same finding made after a necropsy on a golden retriever that died on a United flight this month, reports NBC News. This despite United's promise that dogs get pressurized, climate-controlled cabins during trips. In fact, United said Barn Barn's death "was not a result of transit-related handling," but agreed to refund the dog's fare and discuss further compensation. Jarboe, meanwhile, is still grieving. "It never occurred to me that when he was down in the hold he was dying," he says.
