Air Canada Denies All Responsibility In 5 Million Dollar Lawsuit -- More Animals Suffer

This is Air Canada's first public response in regards to the 5 million dollar lawsuit for loosing family pet.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact People: Attorney David Blatte, Tel. (510) 548-7382
or Andrew Wysotski and Lori Learmont Tel. (707) 422-9292
Email Address: lawyer@vegan.org

Air Canada Denies All Responsibility In 5 Million Dollar Lawsuit -- More Animals Suffer

In their first public response to the $5,000,000 lawsuit brought against Air Canada for losing the cat Fu on the airport runway of the San Francisco International Airport, Air Canada has denied all wrongdoing and even gone so far as to blame the owners of the cat. Air Canadas response came in their Answer to the Complaint, filed with the San Francisco Superior Court.

Air Canada has also begun legal maneuvering transferring the case to federal court. They are claiming that the Warsaw Convention, an international treaty, which may severely limit damages to the same amount as if the cat was baggage, applies to this case and that the laws of California do not.

In suing Air Canada we had hoped to stop them from harming any more companion animals and from breaking any more peoples hearts. Instead, the abuse has continued and we keep hearing further horror stories", Wysotski said. Wysotski also makes the following points:

1.   Air Canada has not made, and apparently does not intend to make, one single change in the way they handle peoples companion animals.
2.   Since our case, Air Canada has continued to mistreat and lose further pets. They are repeat offenders.
3.   Even to this day Air Canada has never offered us ANY compensation for the loose of Fu.
4.   Unbelievably, they try and blame us for their negligence (they provide no details on how thats even possible).
5.   They also claim that liability, if any, should be limited to the same amount as baggage -- compensated at a few dollars per pound. Fu weighs 7 pounds.

The case, which has received international attention, began when Andrew Wysotski and Lori Learmont were moving from Toronto to San Francisco, entrusting their five cats to Air Canada. When they arrived in San Francisco, they were shocked to see that one of the crates was completely unhinged, with cat litter scattered throughout the cage. A second crate containing two cats was not damaged, but one of the cats had a broken tooth.

It was the third cage, however, which led to a nightmare for Learmont and Wysotski. There was a gigantic hole in the cage, the door was broken open, and their cat Fu, who was part of their family for 14 years, was nowhere to be found. The couple was told their pet was lost on the airport runway, and she remains missing to this day.

Attorney David Blatte, who brought the suit on behalf of Wysotski and Learmont, is equally disgusted. By this response they clearly indicate that they just do not care about animals or their customers." Blatte is referring to data from the American Transportation Association which suggests that every year over 5,000 cats and dogs die or are lost by the airlines.

We brought this suit for two reasons," explains Wysotski. We want Air Canada and the other airlines to learn that animals are important and to start treating them with care. And we want the public to know just how dangerous it is to transport your pet on a commercial airline. We would never have taken the gamble with our pets had we known." As a result of this incident, Learmont and Wysotski now see it as their duty to warn other pet owners. For more information, visit their websites at www.AirCanadaAnimalAbuse.com and www.AirCanadaBoycott.com.