As the wildfires in Alberta, Canada continue to spread, more than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray have been forced to flee their homes, leaving behind all worldly possessions and losing everything in the process.
Mass evacuation is never easy, but when families are travelling with pets it can become even more problematic.
Thankfully, Canadian airlines West Jet and Canadian North are doing what they can to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Both airlines have been breaking their own rules – allowing families who are fleeing the devestation, to fly with their pets of all shapes and sizes.
The pets have already had to experience the trauma of the bushfires, so the airlines wanted to make the process of travelling as easy as possible on the four legged friends. The dogs and cats would normally be made to travel below deck in the cargo hold, but pets were allowed to travel in the cabin with their families to avoid further suffering and emotional turmoil.
“It’s definitely unusual to carry pets in the cabin, but due to the unusual circumstances we were able to bend the rules to accommodate these animals,” a spokesperson from Canadian North told Huffington Post Canada.
Canadian North Air and West Jet letting pets onboard for those fleeing Fort Mac. #united #fortmac #Canada pic.twitter.com/EBnXAqXtgY
— Melissa Przedborski (@mprzedborski) May 7, 2016
Thank you @CanadianNorth for flying evacuees & pets out of #ymm, & to your lovely flight attendants for sharing pics pic.twitter.com/cRru8wU8Cw — michelledhatt (@michelledhatt) May 6, 2016
Thx for all the kudos everyone. Happy to help move 2 & 4 legged pax from #ymm. Our FA Heidi shared this pic on FB 🙂 pic.twitter.com/IBChAWzMba
— Canadian North ✈ (@CanadianNorth) May 6, 2016