US News

Military families may have to leave their pets in Guam

Military families moving from Guam to the US mainland next month may have to leave their four-legged best friends behind following United Airlines’ decision to suspend its pet transportation program, a report says.

The pooch-friendly shipping service isn’t slated to return until May, meaning some servicemembers could be forced to bid farewell to Fido on April 5 — when it’s time to ship out, according to Stars and Stripes.

“Our two pups will be stuck here,” explained one woman, who lives on Guam and wrote about her worries on Facebook Wednesday.

“We are devastated and not even sure we will leave without knowing they will be on a flight,” she said, noting how it could be at least a month before they’re reunited with their dogs.

United has promised to honor PetSafe reservations made on or before March 20, but many military families haven’t purchased their tickets yet. The airline is reportedly the only carrier making direct flights from Guam to the US mainland.
“Our pets are our family and we jump through many hoops to get them to Guam,” said Amber Fake, spouse of a Navy man stationed on the US territory.
“Now with United suspending the program without notice or exception, many military families are stuck with orders to (move) and no way to get their pets out of Guam,” she told Stars and Stripes.

Around 7,000 service members live on the Pacific island, according to the military site — and they don’t have access to Air Mobility Command rotator flights, which allow pet travel but don’t service Guam.

While Fake’s family isn’t scheduled to move in the immediate future, she said “many of the people I know are in panic mode.”

“[It’s] very disheartening and worrisome for myself and many other military families,” Fake added.

Families and spouses could essentially take a foreign flight to Japan or South Korea and then hop on a plan to the US, but it’s unclear if service members would be allowed to reroute their orders or accompany them.

Military officials on Guam have remained relatively quiet on the matter — posting a message Tuesday on the Andersen Passenger Terminal Facebook page, saying there were no options for servicemembers to ship their pets at this time.
“In light of the recent decision by United Airlines to suspend bookings for pets, we have begun to receive phone calls regarding the shipping of pets,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, we do not have commercially contracted passenger missions out of Andersen and are unable to ship pets at this time.”

According to officials, pets can only be shipped on AMC contracted missions, including Patriot Express flights. But space is reportedly very limited.

The United pet service suspension comes following a string of embarrassing incidents for the airline — several of which involved the deaths of animals.

Earlier this month, a Queens family came forward and claimed that their French bulldog puppy suffocated after being stowed away in an overhead bin against their wishes. United later took responsibility for the incident.

There were at least 18 animal deaths reported on United flights last year — more than any US carrier.

“We are taking this voluntary action to conduct a thorough and systematic review of our PetSafe program and make improvements that will ensure the best possible experience for our customers and their pets,” United said in statement Tuesday.
The airline expects to complete its review by May 1.