Some Airlines Can Now Classify Traveling Pets as Cargo, Leaving Animals with Less Protection If They Are Hurt or Lost

Pets can now be classified as cargo on some airlines, according to a new court ruling.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday, Oct. 16, that a pet traveling in a plane’s cargo hold counts as baggage, meaning airlines are not required to pay a higher compensation if the animal is lost or hurt, per U.K. newspaper The Guardian and CBS News. 

This comes following a dispute between an Argentine passenger — whose dog Mona went missing at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while traveling to Barcelona, Spain — and Spanish airline Iberia, per Argentine newspaper Clarín.

Mona went missing before the Iberia flight in October 2019 and was never seen again. Due to her size and weight, the dog had to travel in the cargo hold, per Clarín.

“The dog got out of the carrier, started running near the plane and could not be recovered,” the translated court papers read, per The Guardian.

The dog escaped from its pet crate while being taken to the plane and ran across the airport runway and was chased by three vans, per CBS News. According to Mona’s owner, Grisel Ortiz, her mother witnessed the scene from inside the plane.

At the time, Iberia said, “Mona broke the opposite side of the cage and escaped through there,” per Clarín.

“Many people laugh because they don’t understand what Mona means to me. Since she went missing, all I do is cry and stay glued to my phone waiting for a miracle,” Ortiz told Clarín in January 2020, three months after Mona went missing. 

The owner said she put her three dogs in their crates herself and “saw perfectly how Mona’s was tightly closed and sealed.”

Ortiz lodged a claim following the incident and sought 5,000 euros ($5,400) in damages from Iberia, per CBS News. A six-year court case also followed, per The Guardian.

Iberia did accept responsibility for the incident but argued that the compensation should be limited to the lower amount for checked baggage under the Montréal Convention, per CBS News. 

The Montréal Convention is an international agreement that covers airline liability and in their ruling the ECJ sided with the airline.

“The Montréal convention clearly refers to persons and baggage. It therefore follows from the clear wording of this provision that the term ‘persons’ covers ‘passengers’, such that a pet cannot be considered a ‘passenger,’ ” the ECJ said in their ruling, per The Guardian.

“It must therefore be considered that, for the purposes of air transport, a pet falls within the concept of ‘baggage’ and compensation for damage resulting from its loss during such transport is subject to the liability regime laid down for baggage,” the ECJ added.

“Even though the ordinary meaning of the word ‘baggage’ refers to objects, this alone does not lead to the conclusion that pets fall outside that concept,” the court added, per CBS News.

The court also noted that Ortiz had not made a “special declaration of interest” at check-in for her animals, according to the outlet. This is an option allowing higher compensation for an additional fee with carrier approval.

Reacting to this, Ortiz’s lawyer, Carlos Villacorta Salis, told AFP, per CBS News, that “no airline in the world will accept a special declaration of value” for a pet in the plane’s hold and called it a “false argument.”

The lawyer also said he was “very disappointed” with the ruling. “I believe that a great opportunity has been missed to continue raising awareness of the rights of animals and the people who care for them. Ultimately, the ECJ considers that pets do not deserve special or enhanced legal protection compared to a simple suitcase,” he said, per The Guardian.

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According to Spanish reports on the original case, the court ruled that because a special declaration was not made before the flight, Mona’s owner is only entitled to €1,578.82 — around $1843 — per The Guardian.

The judgment is advisory and the final ruling is left to the Spanish court handling the compensation claim, per CBS News. (The judge in the Spanish court referred the case to the ECJ to examine a matter of law at the heart of the case, per The Guardian.)

After Mona went missing, her owner Ortiz started a Facebook group seeking information on her whereabouts called ‘We’re Looking for Mona,’ per Clarín. 

Ortiz also offered a cash reward, but her efforts have so far been successful.