TSA and Herding Cats
 

"A case of "cat scratch fever" caused a small panic at Salt Lake International Airport.

It happened this morning when a man attempted to take his kitty through security. Security officials asked him to take the animal out of its carrying case. When he did, the cat took off."

Link: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1145844


I am sure there is a good reason why TSA needs to pull a cat out of a carrier. I can't wait to hear it.

So the cat doesn't have to go through the x-ray.

...and why didn't he have a harness and/or leash on the cat?

I know I've read a couple different places that any animal going into the pax compartment will have to be removed from the carrier and the carrier x-ray'ed like other carry-ons. The cat owner should have been better prepared to control his cat; I don't see this episode as the TSA's fault.

Do you have a cat? If not, you might not be aware how difficult it can be to get one into a carrier, much less get a harness/leash on one. Many times, one cannot simply "control" a cat. Also, cats are a little strange in what spooks them. They are not necessarily consistent in their behavior.

How many people would you expect to know that information especially in light of all the "illegal" items confiscated every day at checkpoints?

The cat obviously needs to placed in a sealed Ziploc bag.

Only if it is drooling. (We gave our cat Gravol to sedate her for her flight to Paris, and she drooled and foamed at the mouth for a couple of hours.)

If the cat was this way on the ground at the checkpoint, I wonder what would have happened 30,000 feet in the air? Point here is that pet owners who opt to bring their pets with them as carry-on have a responsibility to keep that pet under control at all times, especially when on board the aircraft.

The standard procedure is for the owner to remove the pet from the kennel, load the kennel into the x-ray, and then carry the pet through the WTMD. And while the x-ray radiation would not necessarily harm an animal, I think medical experts across the board caution that you not expose any living thing to x-ray radiation when it's not absolutely necessary (such as part of a medical examination). And this isn't some big secret. However, every once in a while, I encounter a passenger, who for some unknown reason, thought it would be okay to load a kennel with the pet still inside into the x-ray machine.

At one of my classes, I asked how many TSOs had ever x-rayed an animal. Several hands were raised, and the majority of them were the more seasoned screeners. The ones who didn't raise their hands, a great majority of them having less than a year of screening experience, looked at me in horror when I asked the question. I smiled and told them, "we don't want it to happen; we don't let it happen, but it happens. You haven't really earned your stripes as a screener until it happens to you."

The name of this thread leaves me no choice but to provide the link to the Cat Herding video.

http://www.easycall.net/fun/herding-cats.shtml

ROFL!! I remember the first time I saw this on TV. Thanks for the link.

But what about those claws? The bag will be threaded before you get it sealed.

Love that video.

I know my cat freaked out when I moved and flew her from PHX to SLC. I was told I had to take her out of the carrier and my words to TSA were "ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME? You ready to see a cat run away from me?" Sure enough, the cat was sedated enough that she just laid in my arms and we went thru security and right back in the carrier. I NOW know to put a leash on her if she is to travel with me again.

I mean she was a mess when I took her in for her shots and such at the vet, the vet couldn't even touch her and just did a 'visual' inspection, lets just say my arms/wrists looked like I tried to kill myself.

Apparently you do not own a cat. A cat can be "controlled" while in a carrier, but once the door is open, anything goes.

I still do not understand the need to put the carrier through the X-ray, with or without an occupant. Most carriers are fairly thin and can easily be inspected by hand - at least in the same amount of time it takes to remove and replace an animal. This seems to be a policy for the sake of uniformity.

This is indeed true. I have a cat, and I've never traveled with her. But even so, I am well aware of the regulations should the need arise. It's always been clear that the carrier (this is before 9/11/01, even, keep in mind) had to go through the x-ray and the cat had to come out. Thus, the cat should have a harness and leash unless you're darned sure that it's not going to be spooked, which is almost impossible to be sure of.

It may be true that the carrier could be inspected by hand. And yes, it sure isn't the easiest thing to get a cat into a harness who doesn't normally wear one. But because of unexpected circumstances in the airport, I would make sure mine had one if I was taking her there even if the rule about the carrier going through x-ray didn't exist. It's just common sense to have a way to control the cat when out of the carrier. What if the cat makes a mess that needs to be cleaned up, etc.?

I find various TSA procedures to be BS, but this time I don't think the blame belongs with the TSA. If you're taking a pet as carry-on baggage, there are numerous things to be aware of (limits on number of pets per flight, extra fee per airline, some airlines don't allow, etc.) and the security screening is just one more thing that is made very clear when making these arrangements.

And is that carrier inspected if your cat (or dog) flies in the belly of the aircraft? No it is not - so why even bother to take the animal out of the crate. If it's not going to inspected going into the cargo hold there should be no requirement to x-ray it when going into the cabin.

Especially if the cat decides that the moment is right for the 'afternoon crazies' and decides that a full speed maniacal run around the terminal with wild eyes is in order...:D

Yes, I do have cats, and I know exactly how difficult is to get them into carriers. My cats are rescued feral cats - it took 6 months to be able even touch one of them. I know exactly how difficult it is to control a cat - so I wouldn't even dream of taking one on a plane without taking adequate measures to ensure its safety.

As for not knowing the rules for examing pet carriers, sorry, that excuse doesn't fly with me. :D Pets require advance reservations made by phone, and my experience with carriers these days is that if you have any kind of unusual situation with ticketing, the phone agent reads you the rules ad nauseum before accepting the res. And what kind of pet owner wouldn't bother to find out what his pet would be subjected to before traveling?

Sounds like my 12 pound Maine Coon, which will never set foot inside an airport. :D

Now you went and injected common sense into this discussion. :p

It probably would cause less stress on the Cat if he/she is carried through the X-ray by the owner and not handled by a stranger (like a TSA agent.) But the whole experience would be stressful for any animals (and many humans I guess.)

I always wonder if the X-ray could damage the Cat. In addition, the small space might freak out some Cats.

Most Cats see the carrier and freak out. There are a few exceptions like Eddie who goese in the carrier easily (sometimes I think because he wants to go test his teeth on strangers. :) )

Many good posts here. I see your poor Cats have gone through the sometimes nightmare of travel.

I have had landed several new Cat sitting clients because they were tired of dealing with the frustrations of getting the Cats medicated, then dealing with security, then the Cat getting sick on flights. One client said her two Cats saw the vastness of O'Hare United Terminals that the one Cat almost bolted (the other hid in the case.) Both had harnesses on.

Every Cat has its own personality. I should know. I babysit Cats for a living and each one is different. Same with my Eddie (who would have made shreds of a TSA's agent shirt and pants... Eddie would probably have to go through secondary screening because he would object to going through the X-Ray and get a male agent to do it. Eddie probably would be denied boarding.

Eddie says he would only fly if it's first class. Since I don't have top tier on United anymore Eddie says he'll stay home. ;)

FYI: Here's another great thread if F-T ever gets a Travel with Pets forum

Going OMNI (off topic) here for a few moments...

LOVE the Herding Cats commerical. It debuted at one of the SUper Bowls and while watching it in Vegas at a casino party I could nto stop laughing at that spot.

True purrfect brilliance. (Like the original Meow Mix commericial.)

Herding Cats is like herding humans onto the big transcon flights, sometimes..

Having had to listen to a cat loudly *yowl* in the C cabin on a flight from CDG to ATL one day, I'm with Bart on the behavior of said cats in the cabin.

In fact (and at the risk of offending pet lovers), please sedate your cat before packing the little furball on board. I don't ever care to hear 10 straight hours of howling again.

Don't get me wrong: I've been owned by pet cats for many years and I do like them. It's just that I'd appreciate your not imposing your cat on me. I do feel the same way about a neighbor's cat that took to using parts of my yard as its sandbox.

I'm a converted cat lover and I'm completely on board with the other experienced cat people who have weighed in. You can get a cat used to wearing a leash and travelling if you teach them when they are a kitten. For those of us who get adopted by a stray, that isn't possible. Most cats associate the carrier with going to the vet and with something bad about to happen to them when they get there. They don't do well in strange environments and around a lot of noise. We humans want to rip most screener carnival barkers to shreds. Imagine what a cat with its enhanced senses is thinking when it encounters a carnival barker? I fully recognize that some people must travel with cats for certain reasons. For me, I would have to be in dire straits to subject either of ours to all that stress.

Does this request extend to howling children and their parents?

:) :) :) :) :)

I have hauled cats across the country in a flight before. In fact, when my mom moved out to California, my husband and I got a free (for us) trip out there to visit, as the rule was one cat per passenger - and mom had three cats. We each got the drugged cats. Mom's cat couldn't be drugged (she was 18 years old!) and the vet said that the flight trauma would be less stressful on her system than the drugs would be.

Luckily the poor thing slept most of the trip anyhow. However, she did NOT like getting taken out of the carrier and she has all her claws. Mom lost some blood even though the cat (Blossom) was well harnessed. The TSA guy wanted to take the cat through himself, but mom insisted she needed to. After seeing she was probably going to need a transfusion, and it was HER cat, the TSA guy agreed.

The cats all survived the trip, though Blossom moaned a bit on ascent and descent. She lived for another year after that :) (old frickin cat)

Did they declare a breach? Cat took off didn't it?


ab53

OT: So justify to the rest of us why TSA considers it safe to have ME walk through a backscatter XRAY machine? Even if the dose is lower than that used on your normal dirty underwear sterilization machine.

And the famous New Yorker cartoon, published 2 months after 9/11:

http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_d...sortBy=popular

At some random airport, and memory suggests it was YVR or ORD, I saw a sign on the x-ray machine that said that babies were to be removed from carriers before putting the carriers through.

Clearly that had been put there for a reason which begged the question: Who had been putting their babies through the X-ray machine?

Which is what the carrier is for & from personal experience, having gone thru this w/4 furpeople moving cross-country less than a month ago (& still bearing the scars to show for it!) I can personally vouch for the fact that they were fine while IN the carriers (even @ 30,000 feet!); it's the uncontrolled chaos that IS a TSA checkpoint that was where the problem was. And where, btw, the only howls were ever heard throughout our entire trip.

I would also echo the sentiments of the other posters who said putting a harness on a cat is MUCH easier said than done, especially when the cat is stressed, & even once it's on, there's no guarantee it will stay on (mine had figure 8 harness' on, but all managed to get out of them in almost no time).

Regardless of what some TSA SOP might say, the potential for harm to both animal & human by taking a highly stressed animal out of its 'safe' environment in that kind of chaotic situation far out weighs the risks of taking a very brief ride down the belt.

Has anyone taken the time to ask the cat?

Not true - there are lots of things (i.e. guns) that could be hidden in a carrier that wouldn't present a risk when in the cargo hold, but could when in the cabin of the aircraft. If you believe that WTMD and X-ray are appropriate screening tools for carry-on baggage, they should apply to all carry-on baggage.

Duplicate

I've never heard a single cat "yowl" while on board an aircraft. Too bad I can't say the same for screaming babies.

I have the unfortunate experience to tell you I've heard both. As annoying as screaming babies are, they hold no candle to a yowling cat across the aisle. 10 hours transatlantic <shudder>. At least a baby sleeps at some point.

Neither is pleasant....

I saw someone at LHR attempting to do just that :td:

Then carry the crate, with the cat it in, through the WTMD - that would pick up most guns. If someone wants to do a dirty deed in the air, they are going to do it, whether with a gun, a piece of a glass bottle or a shoelace. Some damage might be done but the other pax and the pilot by maneuvering the aircraft will take care of any perp.

So how much of a shock is it to see two beady eyes starring back at you on the xray monitor??? What about seeing an object move unexpectedly?

Does seeing an animal on the xray become a "just part of the job event" (like IT people finding porn on coworkers laptops)?

I have a cat and three dogs (had a fourth one but had to put him down recently). I clearly understand the responsibilities that come with owning a pet and traveling with one. Expecting the rest of the world to conform to your expectations is unrealistic.

If you're going to travel with a pet, understand the rules.

I don't know enough about how backscatter x-rays work to comment.