Two Bouviers died on a ferry on the way to a show in the UK

Oh no!

That is the trouble you aren't allowed on the car deck once your boarded.  I know that the coach and dogs were fairly warm when we went over for the World show in 2002.

I had frozen water in their crate for mine as I knew it would be warm.

I am a bit worried now. we are going over on 26th August for the Rotterdam show. we have never done this crossing before, any advice?

They were left in the car not the kennels, something must have frightened the bitch as she was found in the front of the car

I've taken dogs across on the North Sea Ferries before Pet Passports & the dogs were in kennels & I know a good number of Schutzhund dogs go across on the NSF now, this was on the Stena Line Ferry from The Hook Of Holland to Harwich, are you going that way ?

Surely they died from the heat not fright she was probably trying to escape it poor creature :(  It's jolly hot on the car decks at the best of times because of proximity to the engines.  Many years ago we booked an overnight cabin, one of the cheaper ones in the centre of the ship, never again :( it was stiffling. 
In these ambient temperatures I'm afraid I really would not risk it and would probably cancel the trip.

They said it was not hot in the car, they had the air conditioning going when they parked and left it cool.  The sun could not get to the car.

Can you leave air con. running when the engine isn't?  I've never had a car with it.  It may have been cool when they were boarding but it soon warms up when the ferries engines run.  It was clearly something environmental if two died.

No, I didn't say it was left on, but the car was cool when they left it and they said it wasn't hot when they returned and opened the car.  Which is why they think something scared the dog or something else happened.

If the car was cool and it wasn't hot when they returned the dogs would be alive.  Unless it is the biggest freak of nature that natural causes took both at the sametime it had to be heat. What we think is hot after a car door is open and what is hot to to hairy dogs in the car with limited air and space is a totally different thing. :rolleyes:

I guess it is possible that fumes were responsible, rather than heat?

Not in a position to know, but very worrying - particularly as I will be bringing dogs back from the continent early next year.

M.

Yes the car decks always seem very fumey to me but again it is odd that two dogs proved so sensitive to that that it killed them and I can't see why the fumes would have been greater than usual, people drive on and switch off and dogs survive it all the time.  I would continue to be more worried about heat, if you are travelling in the early months I reckon you should be fine but I would seriously consider taking a ferry at all in the height of summer if I could not remove the dog from the car deck.

Some further snippets from the breed notes, which apparently come directly from one of the owners/travellers ...

>After investigating the kennel facilities on board, they decided it would be safer to leave the dogs in the car with windows down as there were no locks on the kennels. The hold was cool and they were assured the dogs would be regularly checked by the crew.

>The vet attending agreed that it was not hot enough for the dogs to succumb to heat in the time. Stena are investigating.

I can understand it was such a huge shock, but in the interests of education it is a shame PMs were not done.

M.

Believe me, the effects of air con last milliseconds few when its switched off... Its has no lasting effect whatsoever else we would all be driving round with it only on for 5 mins at a time.

Yes thats the one. I have travelled several times Dover /Calais and to Belfast. Always seemed quite cool down below but never travelled at this time of year before. I did not realise there was an option about kennels on board anyway. Just assumed we had to leave them in the car.

After  this I think Stena will be extra careful & possibly monitor the dogs frequently

One puppy that was collected from me by the new owners was visited several times in the kennels on the car deck by her new owner, a very very forceful young German lady, who wouldn't take no even from the captain ! I knew the first officer on the ferry & he told me the Captain ended up telling her just to ask the Purser to get someone to take her down to visit her bitch whenever she wanted !!!

We took a pup to N. Ireland last summer and it was hot. Not a very long crossing of course but I was worried. We were lucky enough to be able to park INSIDE the ferry, in the middle, but had we had to drive just a bit further out we would have ended up out in the sun and it would have been a lot hotter. I notcied that most people with dogs had tailgates and left the boot open. At least out at sea it will be breezy. They really ought to have somebody going round checking though, whether they allow the owners to go and check or not.......

It depends if the car deck is enclosed or not.  My father did 22 years on the lower decks and he had a few choice "Navy" words for how hot it gets.  If the big ends doors are opened by the time people have queued down the stairs it would feel a lot cooler than when the engines were running at full. 
I can just about see one dog dying from fright if perhaps it had a dodgy heart but two?  Presumably there will be a PM.

Apparently no PM - the article suggests that one dog has already been buried, one cremated.

M.

Odd, if they were mine I would be desperate to know what went wrong.

Brainless.

A friend of mine regularly takes his dogs over to his house in France and is allowed to visit the dogs during the crossing and also take the dogs for a little wee break on the Car deck.

STAR:
Perhaps it might be worth contacting the Ferry company and asking what their policy is in terms of travelling with dogs as it may not apply to all companies or all countries.
In the meantime I would invest in fans which will plug into the cigarette lighter or cage ones and put some wet towels or cooling mats down. :)

Very sad - and one of them was the Crufts group winning Gijs Santos from the Dogsfarm too - although I'm sure to his owners, the pet bit is the all important one.

M.

http://www.dogsfarm.nl/english/index.htm

Its an english translation that doesn't really make a lot of sense through one of those online things I would think but you get the gist of it all.

He's just married one of the Niece's of the Franhowil schip kennels on 1st July 06.

Gosh that was hard to understand. So sad though.

As far as I am aware the Ferry companies on channel crossings all charge for the dogs, surely then they should be ensuring their safety?

I contacted Stena and this is their reply:-

''Thank you for your mail of 30th July that has been forwarded from our webmaster.

Unfortunately 2 dogs did die during a recent crossing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich due to the extremely hot external temperatures that were totally outside of our control.

A full investigation is currently underway with regard to this incident and without saying too much Stena Line are confident the procedures we have in place to be adequate.

Vehicles holding dogs are always parked on the lower deck of the vessel and as close as possible to the most ventilated areas of the car deck . At check-in a window hanger is supplied and this should be displayed in the vehicle at all times to help us identify cars that are carrying pets. Windows should be left partly open to allow ventilation. In extreme conditions. such as though experienced recently, our staff may make a recommendation that the animals are left in one of our kennels rather than the vehicle but this is obviously at the choice of the passenger.
We also allow an escorted visit to the car deck during the crossing to check on your animals. This can be arranged at the information desk after embarkation. 

We certainly understand your concerns but our procedures have been checked and approved by DEFRA and they have issued no further instructions to us in light of recent events.

We understand you have a choice in which route you take but hope you decide to use the Harwich - Hoek route for your future crossing

That's a good reply from Stena

I recently contected P&O Ferries because the North Sea Ferries are now in the PP scheme & the website indicated otherwise

I'm pleased to say they have now updated their site :D & it carries this page

Only £15 per dog(each way) & Air Conditioned Kennels The journey is longer than the other routes but I would be happier having the dogs in Air Con Kennels & the ferries are really excellent.

Odd that they said you can visit the animals, but the DW report said they weren't allowed down.

I went with Stena to Ireland last year and was able to go down and check on my dogs, someone came with me. IT was for the Belfast so later in the year and alot cooler BUT I have to say even at that time of year I was suprised just how warm it had gotten.  It was a very short crossing also .I would in future check out the kennels I think.