Stowing dogs in potable kennels and sticking them in a plane's cargo hold is just mean. On my flight Friday from Greenville to Atlanta (a whole 36 minutes of flight time) while we taxied, a frightened, large dog - by the sound of it's deep throated bark - was incessantly barking, non stop in the cargo hold of our Airbus 319. I felt pity for the poor animal, in the dark, cold hold. Once we took off, the sound of the engines drowned out any further barking in flight. Once back on the ground in Atlanta, and idling in a taxiway waiting for our gate to be available, the poor pooch again began barking incessantly. Since we idled for 15 minutes (after flying for less than twice that long) the barking had a very disquieting effect on the 120 or so fellow passengers and I. Every 2 or three minutes, the pooch would stop barking for 10 or 20 seconds - perhaps hoping someone would come to his rescue - and then start up again, to the visible disconcernation of the passengers around me. He really was THAT loud.
If you're gonna travel a long distance with your pooch, drive, don't fly, please, for the pooch's sake.
I've heard that many times. It wasn't a dog. Disconcerting, though, until I found out what it was.
ReplyDeleteNo no, I heard the PTU - a typical air over oil transfer pump, where the air is cmopressible by the oil is not, so it hoooof-hooof-hoofs. The PTU cycling actually shut the dog up, scaring the be-jesus out of him. Once the PTU got quiet, the pooch began barking again. two distinct sets of sounds, decibel levels, frequencies, attacks and decays. The PTU was regular and mechanically annoying. The frightened pooch, much more troubling.
ReplyDeleteThen, on the ATL to PHX flight, the captain actually stated, "3 dogs and a bird have all been loaded safely". The Atlanta passengers had the good sense to sedate their canines before caging them and putting them in the hold for the long haul flight.