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Pets can be classified as stuff when taken on board flightsAccording to a top European court, this means airlines are not required to pay high compensation for lost animals.
The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) comes after a dog ran away during a trip between Buenos Aires and Barcelona, Argentina in 2019 and was never recovered.
The court heard that the passenger, named only as Felissima, and her mother bought tickets and checked the dog, Mona, in a pet carrier. It was believed that the animal would be caught by the plane due to its size and weight.
According to court documents, during check-in, Felissima “did not make a specific declaration of interest in delivery at the destination regarding the baggage”.
ecj papers During the boarding process, “the dog escaped from the carrier, began running near the plane and could not be rescued,” the account states.
As a result, Felissima launched a six-year court case, claiming €5,000 (£4,357) for “non-physical damage” suffered following the loss of her dog. He described the incident as “disgraceful” Patron,
The airline, Iberia, admitted liability but not the size of the claim, arguing that the amount should have been within the limits set for checked baggage.
The ECJ ruled that because no specific declaration had been made about the dog before the flight, Felissima was entitled to €1,578.82 (£1,372) – slightly more than a third of the original claim.
one in Summary of JudgmentThe court stated that: “In accordance with the Montreal Convention, aircraft carry out the international carriage of persons and baggage, in addition to the carriage of goods.”
It states that the concept of “persons” corresponds to “passengers”, and therefore a pet cannot be considered a “passenger”. This means that it falls under the concept of “goods”, and compensation Damage caused by the loss of a pet is subject to baggage liability rules.
The court said: “In the absence of any specific declaration of interest in delivery at the destination, the scope of an air carrier’s liability for loss of baggage includes non-physical damage as well as physical damage.”
The ECJ said: “The fact that the protection of animal welfare is an objective of general interest recognized by the EU does not prevent animals from being transported as “goods” and being treated as such for the purposes of liability resulting in harm to an animal, on condition that close attention is paid to animal welfare requirements when transporting them.”
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