When we moved from the United Arab Emirates to Germany, I arranged for the British Veterinary Centre (BVC) in Abu Dhabi to organise the transport of my three bulldogs, Butch, Brutus and Biggie. The vet pronounced them in good health and they were booked on to the same Etihad flight as me. The BVC dropped them at the airport at 9.30pm, and they were kept in an air-conditioned animal lounge for three hours before being transferred to the aircraft. It seems they were then left without air conditioning. Butch was found to have died and Biggie and Brutus were seriously ill and had to be removed from the plane and taken back to the BVC for urgent treatment.
We were on the plane unaware. It wasn’t until we landed in Germany that we found messages from the BVC informing us of what had happened. Etihad never said a word to us, and has never apologised. In the end it offered to fly out Biggie and Brutus for free two weeks later, but no one offered to pay for the costs of their medical treatment or Butch’s cremation. Those dogs are my children and I don’t think I will ever recover.
AJ, Germany
