Flight sponsor
A flight sponsor is the colloquial term for travelers who "sponsor" an animal during a flight so that it can travel with them in their name and in a suitable animal transport box in the hold of the aircraft or, in the case of smaller animals, in the passenger area.
The sponsors do not want to enter into any legal or moral obligation in the sense of a sponsorship , but simply provide an unused part of their entitlement to transport to the airline free of charge. Any additional costs incurred for the transport will be paid on site by the animal welfare organizations that have placed the animal. Whether an animal can be taken with you at all, and if so, how much it costs, depends on the airline in question. Before taking animals with them, the flight customer should clarify the options with the airline before booking the flight in order to avoid complications or even being excluded from flight transport.
Some airlines require that the animal to be transported is owned by the traveler. As the owner, flight sponsors are then fully responsible to government agencies (customs, veterinary authorities) in the exporting and importing country and are liable for violations e.g. B. against vaccination regulations.
The organization and handling of the necessary examinations, vaccinations , papers and certificates, the check-in and check-out as well as the organization of a suitable container is taken over by the animal welfare organization. For this purpose, a representative from the animal welfare organization is usually on site both on departure in the holiday country and on arrival.
Flight sponsorships are mainly used or sought for when returning from Mediterranean countries, as many pets are usually brought to Germany from animal shelters in these countries. Especially in Spain, especially the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, in Portugal, in Italy, in Turkey and in Greece, numerous pets are waiting to be transported by flight sponsors.
The legal situation for flight sponsors is - especially in non-EU countries - complex, as the import regulations are very difficult for laypeople to understand. While the private transport of animals is often simplified, there are stricter requirements for commercial imports (from third countries) or commercial transport (within the EU). a. from the Internal Market Animal Disease Protection Ordinance. Responsible for compliance with the provisions on protection against the introduction of animal diseases such as B. Rabies is the flight sponsor in these cases. Corresponding risks also exist in popular holiday destinations such as Turkey, Egypt, Morocco or Tunisia. In some cases, violations can only be implemented by repatriating the animals, quarantining or even killing them. The flight sponsor is at least liable to the authorities for the resulting costs.
abuse
In the meantime, there is increasing knowledge that private flight sponsors are also involved by individuals or organizations who breed animals in their countries of origin specifically for the German pet market (BT-Drs. 17/10572 p. 46).
Web links
- Info video on the topic of flight sponsors (WDR) (wmv; 8.9 MB)
- Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture - Regulations for entry with pets into the European Union
- Customs: traveling with pets
- Documentation of a flight sponsorship in the form of a photo book (PDF approx. 22 MB)
- Database for arranging flight sponsorships for dogs and cats who are in emergency situations abroad
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tessa M. Hillermann, Valentin J. Schatz: Cross-border dog and house cat transports within the EU through so-called flight sponsorships: Legal requirements through the EU Trade Control and Expert System . In: Nature and Law . tape 41 , no. 9 , September 1, 2019, ISSN 1439-0515 , p. 595-600 , doi : 10.1007 / s10357-019-3574-8 .
- ^ Draft of a third law to amend the Animal Welfare Act (PDF) German Bundestag. August 29, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2019.