BRITISH Airways has banned dogs from being carried as cargo after airline staff found a pooch stuck in a crate classified as too small following a flight.
Bosses have axed the service — for which it charges up to £700 — and ordered an investigation into the rule breach after the animal was discovered in the container at Heathrow.
The move could hit parent company International Airlines Group. Its handling division, IAG Cargo, deals with dog transportation to Britain.
It could also embarrass BA, which has partnered with wildlife charity Born Free to draw up measures to help customers avoid holidays that could promote cruelty of animals.
A source said the blunder probe was under way last night.
Neither the breed of dog, or size of its container, has been revealed.
The source told The Sun: “It’s obviously something serious for them to halt all dog cargo on British Airways.
“The customers with the dogs are responsible for providing the crates or boxes but there are rules as to what size they are for each animal.
“Clearly something has gone wrong here and they will be keen to find out how it has happened.”
A BA spokesman said: “We take the responsibility of transporting and caring for animals travelling on our network extremely seriously.
“We are currently investigating a recent non-compliance incident where an incorrect container was used in the carriage of a dog.
“We expect every shipment to meet the high animal welfare standards we set.”
“During this investigation we won’t accept any new bookings for canine movements. Once the investigation is complete, we will revisit this decision.
“This does not affect current bookings and we will continue to accept other animal bookings.”
Assistance or emotional support dogs will still be allowed in the cabin.
There are few statistics on pets carried as cargo. The most recent reveal there were 26 deaths in 2016.
Last October, Spanish flier Iberia — another IAG subsidiary — was fined £142,000 when 12 capybara rodents died on and after a flight from Peru to London after 56 hours without water in cramped cages.
Earlier in the year, the firm was again in trouble for flying a dog in a cage deemed too small.
