Delta Responds to Snicker's Death on Flight 738

My momma is so mad that if she was a dog she'd be growling.  Here is Delta's response to killing Snickers, the little Sphynx kitten entrusted to their care on flight 738. 

From: Freeman, Billy [mailto:Billy.Freeman@delta.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 2:13 PM
To: 'Heather Lombardi'
Subject: RE: Sphynx Kitten Death

Dear Ms. Lombardi,

Thank you for your email. Please be assured that I did not take offense during our conversation or at certain statements in your email. I have been a Lead Peer Grief counselor with Delta for over 9 years, which has provided me with insight into the different ways that people express their grief.

As I indicted to you, we are conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident. When that investigation is completed, we will advise you accordingly. Delta is, of course, sensitive to our customer's concerns. Rest assured that we make every effort to comply with federal regulations governing the carriage of live animals. We have a number of safeguards built into our system and are constantly seeking ways to improve that system, when and where necessary. You will, I'm sure, recognize that situations do arise which are unexpected and beyond our control.

May we express our condolences for your loss. Please remember, however, that our air waybill (#006-0353-2104) is our contract of carriage with you and governs both your rights and liabilities and Delta's in this situation.

Thank you, in advance, for your patience and understanding."


Billy S. Freeman

Claims Manager

Delta Cargo


From: Heather Lombardi [mailto:heather@bbu.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 2:52 PM
To: 'Freeman, Billy'
Subject: RE: Sphynx Kitten Death

Hi Billy, I will do my very best to not take the comment about my rights & your liability to heart. (No promises though) To be honest, I don’t care about your liability or my rights. The only thing that concerns me is that an innocent animal lost its life on Flight #738. I want to know what went wrong & how Delta will fix the problem so another animal doesn’t need to suffer or lose its life. That is why I am asking questions, I want to know what went wrong.

I don’t care if you are sensitive to my concerns, what I care about is that you safely transport the animals that are trusted to you. So no need to be nice. Just deliver what you are paid for.

In regards to the safeguards in the system in place for the transport of live animals, doing a quick Google search will clearly indicate that the safeguards are not effective. Seeing what happened on Flight #738, the safeguards failed & it seems to be a trend not just with Delta, but across the board with all airlines.

Lets just pretend that I own a restaurant & my main cuisine was Italian food, but I decided that I wanted to start serving hamburgers as well to meet my paying customers desires/demand. I wear gloves, but sneeze in the vat of hamburger meat. I wear a hairnet, but don’t thoroughly cook the meat. I then kill a customer from E Coli. Who cares that the customer is dead -- I can sleep at night because I have safeguards, I wore gloves & a hairnet. (Hope you can connect the dots with that one)

I commend you for helping people grieve when they need it the most, it is a valiant thing to care & have compassion for others. I hope you see that the way I have chosen to grieve is to seek change. Change for a broken system that is letting so many animals down. I am a big girl; I will get over the loss of Snickers. Unfortunately, Snickers doesn’t quite have that same luxury since HER right to live was taken away.

I will happily volunteer to help Delta identify & make the changes needed to improve those broken safeguards as they claim they are constantly seeking. The best part is, I wouldn’t even charge you. I was raised to be proactive, I was taught that if there is a piece of paper on the floor to pick it up. You don’t walk by it complaining about it being there. You identify the problem & you fix it.

I hope to talk to you soon, Heather

RELATED LINKS:
USA Today 
Kitten Death on Delta 
People Magazine Pet Website