The death of the pug placed in an overhead compartment during a United Airlines flight in mid-March was a tragedy. The flight attendant demanded the pet owner place the pet carrier in the overhead compartment because it was too large to fit fully under the seat. The owner argued, but finally obeyed. Passengers state that they could hear the dog barking for at least 30 minutes. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-united-airlines-dog-dies-overhead-bin-20180313-story.html
My heart goes out to this poor pet owner, who did as she was told—which all too many of us do.
But yet, the question in my mind is why didn’t she take the carrier out of the bulkhead during the flight? Of course hind sight is 20:20, but this is a case where she needed to advocate for her pet. The woman had a toddler and another child with her, so obviously she was overwhelmed. And she did what the “authorities” told her to do.
But what if the “authorities” are wrong? Which they clearly were in this case!
“PETA reminds everyone that it is up to each of us to keep our companion animals safe, and we should never allow someone to put them in harm’s way, including by confining them to a small space with no air flow –no trip is that important.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/us/united-airlines-dog-dies-trnd/index.html
All of us need to be better advocates for our dogs.
It’s happened to me, and it’s probably happened to you—maybe at the veterinarian. An “authority” tells us something about our pet that doesn’t seem quite right, but yet we trust their judgement over our own.
But if we listened to our gut instinct instead of the “authority” perhaps we would have helped our dog by getting a second veterinary opinion, or tried alternative medicines, or stopped over medicating our dog when they were getting sicker, or at least not getting better.
Several times I have trusted my vet, even when things seemed off. I have learned to get a second opinion. But not always—or not soon enough.
I was not a good advocate for Buffy when she first went to the ophthalmologist last summer and had a clean bill of health for her eyes—only to go blind in one eye the next day from glaucoma. I called the ophthalmologist about her squinting and eye irritation, and the receptionist told me he would call me back. He didn’t do so for over seven hours! And then he gave me the wrong advice.
Hindsight tells me I should have told the receptionist Buffy’s symptoms and taken a photo of her eye (which is what my vet did – then sent it to the ophthalmologist). Although I did call a second time after about three hours and they told me they had several emergencies, I should have left work and taken Buffy to my vet—she can always squeeze in an eye emergency. By the time the ophthalmologist finally saw Buffy, after the weekend, she was blind in that eye.
Another time, I had a vet tell me my limping dog had severe arthritis for months. Finally, after I insisted there was a bigger problem, the vet found out she had bone cancer. This was the first time I did not trust my vet and got a second opinion. If I had done so months earlier, I could have stopped poor Kaylee from suffering so much!
Be an advocate for your dog
I first heard the term “pet advocate” when I read The Dog Cancer Survival Book by Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM. He states, that we know our dog best and have the most to gain or lose. He defines an advocate as taking a leadership role in caring for your dog, not a backseat. You help assemble a team to help your dog, and you are the leader.
You are in charge—not your vet.
According to Being Your Dog’s Best Advocate, we should be making decisions that are in the best interest of our pets—which may conflict with our own desires and goals. You should filter decisions about your pet through a lens of advocacy for their best welfare. It’s about them, not us.
If I had been at home that day the Buffy suffered from high ocular pressure, I might have been a better advocate. Instead, I was at work, busy with a project. My thoughts only occasionally drifted to her eye problem. I made that day about me and not her. I was not a good advocate.
According to 7 Ways You Can Be an Advocate for Your Dog, advocating goes farther than protecting your dog, you need to be proactive. It means sometimes we have to speak up for our dogs, and never knowingly putting them in a situation that they can’t handle.
The first step is to understand your dog’s body language. Know what he is trying to tell you. Pay close attention to his ears, his face, and his tail. He’ll let you know if he is under stress. If possible, avoid or remove the stressor.
Watch your dog more, especially outdoors, at gatherings, at doggie daycare, and at the vet. How is he reacting? To learn more about interpreting dog body language, check out this nifty chart at https://i2.wp.com/tailsfromtheroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Dog-Body-Language-Chart-Chin.jpg
Are you ready to advocate for your dog? I am!
For more reading:
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/19_8/features/Advocate-for-Your-Dog_21504-1.html
Absolutely. I agree 100%. AS you know I wrote about very much the same thing and for good reason. I have been faced with so many incidents where I have to be his voice! I have challenged travel employees, I have very much stood my ground with my vet more times than I can count (over vaccination is such a big problem – that and anesthetic free dental IS beneficial darn it!) and so many other things … often due to his tiny size. yes. We must feel comfortable standing up to those in positions of authority.
Anesthesia free dental cleaning? I’ll have to ask my vet about that! Thanks for your comment
I know what you mean. I sometimes think I should have gotten a second opinion when I knew my previous cat was ill. The vets kept saying she was okay. About 4 months later, the cancer was discovered and she was gone 1 month after that.
I’m so sorry about the loss of your cat. I’ve learned the hard way that it is worth the extra cost to get a second opinion. Thanks for commenting.
Yes!! I couldn’t agree more. I understand exactly what you mean about experiences at the vet. Luckily my gut wouldn’t let me take one answer as bond and I have gotten 2nd opinions for my Dusty (when she was alive). I have no regrets in that regard and feel confident I explored all my options as a cat mom when she was ill. Regarding the airline passenger, I too, feel like she as the dog’s mom should have ignored the flight attendant and request to speak to the captain of the plane. Honestly if it was me, I would have been apologizing to the whole group of plane passengers because they’d have to land the plane mid flight for a non compliant passenger (me)who refused to put her cat in the overhead compartment.
Thanks for your comment. I didn’t know that airlines have to land for non-compliant passengers.
Thanks for your comment. I didn’t know that airlines have to land for non-compliant passengers.
The one piece of advice that I heard most often when I decided to train my youngest cat for therapy is: “Be your cat’s advocate”. When Rainy and I visit people, she looks to me to protect her. I need to tell people how to interact with her, hold her, and treat her. Being advocates probably isn’t something many of us are used to doing for our pets, but they’re are family, and so I agree we need to be ones.
Like you, I have enormous compassion for the woman who lost her dog on that flight. I wish that she or another passenger had opened the bin and given her dog some fresh air, but I guess it was a turbulent flight.
I hope you aren’t too hard on yourself about Buffy’s eye. If you had more knowledge at the time, you would have done things differently.
I’m not perfect by any means, but, I’m learning to trust my instincts more and more, and in a variety of different situations.
When my kids were little, their pediatrician told me “I am their doctor, but you are their mom. You know them best. Always trust your gut.” My respect grew for her that day, and it helped me to better advocate for them in many situations.
I try to be a good advocate for my dogs now. Last fall, I insisted on x rays for my dog, even though the vet said I should wait ten days to see if he improved. The x rays showed a different problem and he was able to get the proper medical care.
With all of life’s disappointments and challenges, the ones that are the hardest to accept are the ones where I didn’t listen to my better judgment.
I think that the situations on the planes are so stressful … you do something and next thing you’re dragged off in handcuffs. Who knows. So perhaps it’s the fear that stopped them from doing anything.
Dogs rely on us to be their voice. When we wander from that, the dogs suffer. I love that you are calling attention to this.
Advocacy is so important for our pets. We have to be their voices, so we also have to be really in tune with them. I agree that you definitely have to be proactive.
Indeed!!! I would be the first person kicked off the plane – my dog or not!
My mother recently took her dog to her vet to be groomed. They have a groomer on staff. Her dog came back with not one but BOTH ears having a nip behind them from the clippers, scissors, or something.
BOTH EARS!
NO ONE mentioned this to my mother who did not see the issue at the vet and took her pup home.
That night after her pup had itched and pawed at the cuts it became bloody and my mother saw the nips!
She took her pup back – the vet tried to make it seem like my mothers fault!
Did you “LET” your dog scratch behind his ears?
Did you use something on his ears that irritated him?
Etc and so on.
THEN get this THEN he took her pup back to the groomer!!
This groomer is in the back of the vets office and the humans are not allowed back there.
My mom was confused and when the vet came back asked him where her pup was.
He said “oh I noticed she did not trim his ears correctly and she is doing that now”
WHAT????
My mom did NOT want the groomer to do MORE damage.
She asked for her pup to be brought out and that she did not want him trimmed more.
Sorry, this is so long but at the end of it, all my mom left without much getting taken care of from them admitting a mistake to anything to help him stop itching.
Well, LOL you know me, I explained what she needed to do and back they went.
My mom got admission and some proper medicine for her pup.
The point is DO NOT let someone take your pup from you especially if they have already injured it.
Do NOT put your dog where you can not see what is happening to it.
Do not be so much of a people pleaser that you risk your pups safety.
My rule of thumb is if you would not allow something like it to happen to a child, do not let it happen to a pet!
End rant lol
Wow, what a great example of what I was talking about. My vet takes my dog to the back to do procedures (they claim the dog is calmer), but I really wish they would do the treatments in front of me. Great point!
I agree with you about advocating for your dog and ALWAYS following your gut instinct. I would also add that we need to advocate for each other as well. Other passengers must have also heard the dog barking – yet it doesn’t sound like anyone else stepped in to help either. Too often people do not intervene because it is not their dog, child, etc. I think that really needs to change as well.
There was a Facebook post from the woman sitting behind her. She had tried to google the issue but then had to turn off her phone in flight. She also held the woman’s baby when the owner found the puppy was dead. She clearly cared, but everyone was listening to the “authority” figure.
There was a Facebook post from the woman sitting behind her. She had tried to google the issue but then had to turn off her phone in flight. She also held the woman’s baby when the owner found the puppy was dead. She clearly cared, but everyone was listening to the “authority” figure.