New job, new insight

So I've recently starting working at the airport by my house. It's a private company sharing the runway with the Buffalo airstrip. But some of the days when I get to work, a few of us go over and help load smaller planes from UPS and Fedex that are flying out. So as I'm in the plane stacking boxes, I get one of those white boxes with red arrows and holes poked in the top, "LIVE ANIMAL" and some company that said "reptile" something on the return address, i forget what (im sure everybody has excitedly gotten one of these overnighted to them before) and asked the pilot if he keeps it in the cabin with him, like they do with live bees for some reason or another. He said no, it goes in the back with the rest of the boxes. I was like, ok, and CAREFULLY put it between two boxes on top so it wouldnt move too much in flight. Jump ahead 20 minutes, my plane is loaded and taxi'ing out. I look over at another plane being loaded and watch as the kid sitting in the plane is throwing boxes to his buddy farther up in the fuselage. Now i knew they did this because ive gotten mashed boxes all the time at my house. No biggie. But then i see another "LIVE ANIMAL" box running up the conveyor belt to the plane, and i think, o he'll see it and be careful. NOPE. that box must have flipped 2-3 times before it landed and rolled some more. And its not that he didnt see it i would think, but more along the lines that he didnt care. So now after seeing that, I'm going to have a hard time buying online anymore seeing how they treat LIVE ANIMALS being shipped. Has anybody ever had problems like this before or is it just me ranting? :rage:

Oh, man, dude. :( Well, thank you for being there are doing your part, anyway!

I can't really comment, though, because I've never ordered anything live online.

Whenever I would get a snake shipped I would make sure that its very soft padding all over in the box to try to make sure that the snake wouldn't get injured

Well the padding only does so much in the box. Theyre still getting rolled around, stressed out. And depending on the size of the deli cup you put em in might also leave a lot of room for them to get hirt too. A bag would b worse id think. Ive ordered 1/3 of my snakes omline and id hate to think tht they wete getting treated this way

This treatment is exactly why it is so important to pack an animal properly. The deli cup and/or box should never allow enough space for them to slide around in, and there should always be holes for ventiliation and plenting of padding (I use 3/4" styrofoam walls plus paper towels and shredded paper). I also will not feed within three days of shipping. Easily half of my animals have arrived via Fedex, and most of my babies go out that way. I have yet to get or be informed of a crushed box (knock on wood), although I am sure they get tossed around a bit. Yes, it's probably stressful for a few hours, but proper packing should nearly eliminate physical risk to the animal, and BPs seem to have a very short memory for "emotional" stress. :gj:

I would be searching through your company's policies to see if there are any special handling requirements for packages like that one. If there is I would make a note and make sure the right people hear about the wrong being done. If there is no such policy I would find the desk of whoever puts such policies in place and request that something be done. Be the change you want to see in the world.

well I dont work for fedex or ups. my company just goes over in the morning and loads a plane with cargo, then go back to our office

If the animal was packed properly, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I would go see if there is a handling policy in place. If not, then get one in place.

I'm not surprised at all. My boxes of snakes always look banged up when I get them, but the snakes are fine. The lady at the airport even slammed down the box in front of me one time. The staff know there are snakes inside, I think that's why they treat the boxes poorly.

This is why I only order online through people I know and trust. If someone doesn't pack them properly and leaves too much room for the snake to get jostled around there could definitely be a problem. I also knew the snakes ride in back with the cargo because I've asked before, but like I said, they almost always arrive safe and sound.

you should tell a manager. that behavior is unacceptable. coming from a 21 yr old that should mean something. that guy does not even deserve his :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ty job