Protesters protest at MT airport over the death of golden retriever Joca; video | Mato Grosso

Protesters protest at MT Airport over the death of golden retriever Joca; video/ Credit: Menotti Griggi

A group of protesters went to Marechal Rondon Airport, in Várzea Grande, metropolitan region of Cuiabá, to protest, this Sunday (28), the death of the golden retriever Joca (see video above).

In the video, it is possible to see owners accompanied by their dogs and members of NGOs in Mato Grosso asking for justice and holding signs saying: “We are not baggage. We are the love of someone’s life.”

The director of the Aliança 4 Patas shelter, in Cuiabá, Sandra Barbosa, emphasized the importance of airlines reviewing the transport of animals with the owner.

“The objective of getting justice for Joca is to try to get the airlines to review the transport of animals together with their guardian. The animal is not luggage, they have a life just like mine and yours and since they don’t speak, but we are fighting for them and for this to be changed,” he said.

According to the owner, a veterinary certificate was presented to the airline which indicated that the animal would survive a two and a half hour journey. However, due to the company’s error, Joca spent almost 8 hours on the journey.

Five-year-old golden retriever Joca was mistakenly taken to Fortaleza and it lasted about 1h30min on the boarding and disembarking runway, with a temperature of around 36°Caccording to the familyinside the kennel, without eating.

In a statement, Gol stated that it was surprised by Joca’s death because he had received care from the team in the capital of Ceará. According to the company, the death occurred shortly after landing in Guarulhos (read full note below).

Dog dies after being sent from SP to another state on a plane trip

5 actions were defined together with representatives from Gol, Latam, Azul Linhas Aéreas and the Brazilian Association of Airlines (Abear):

1. Holding public hearings to review and improve the transportation of animals on flights in Brazil and abroad;
2. Companies committed to submitting proposals and suggestions within 10 days;
3. Airlines will study whether it is feasible to track animals transported in aircraft holds;
4. The Ministry will invite representatives from the National Congress to a meeting to collect suggestions to improve the air transport of animals;
5. It will then be up to the Ministry to launch a National Policy for Air Transport of Animals (in the acronym PNTAA) to “guarantee greater safety and well-being for animals” in the 1st half of this year.

“GOL deeply regrets what happened to the dog Joca and sympathizes with the pain of his owner. The Company informs that the dog Joca should have gone to Sinop (OPS), on flight 1480 on 04/22, from Guarulhos (GRU), however, due to an operational failure the animal was boarded on a flight to Fortaleza (FOR).

As soon as the tutor arrived in Sinop, he was notified about what had happened and his choice was to return to Guarulhos (GRU) to meet Joca again.

The GOLLOG team in the capital of Ceará disembarked the Joca and took care of it until it boarded flight 1527 back to Guarulhos (GRU). During this period, records of Joca being accommodated back on the aircraft were sent to the guardian. Unfortunately, shortly after the flight landed at Guarulhos airport (GRU), coming from Fortaleza, we were surprised by the death of the animal.”