My beautiful Boxer dog Duke died when flying with Qantas from Sydney to Brisbane. Duke suffered a terrible death- on a day that was extremely hot, he was left in a crate, out on the tarmac, with no shade for at least an hour.

Qantas baggage handlers thought it was ok to leave Duke on the tarmac while they loaded all the passengers' luggage, and then continued to leave him out there after the flight was delayed. I became increasingly distressed as I watched him sitting out on the tarmac and each time I alerted Qantas staff of my fears for Duke's safety, they assured me Duke was fine.

Qantas investigated Duke's death and have told me they accept no liability for what happened. Their response is that they followed standard animal handling procedures and then continued with their standard statement on 'snub nosed' breeds being at higher risk when flying. I want everyone to know Duke's death had NOTHING to do with the flying, he travelled from WA to NSW two weeks prior, a much longer flight without issue.

Qantas, Duke died because you neglected your duty of care and left him out in the heat for so long, he became overheated. An extremely dangerous condition for any dog regardless of breed. If you left a dog in a car you would face prosecution. To me, this is no different.

I know I can't bring Duke back, but I want to make sure no-one else loses their beloved pet this way. Sadly, since losing my beautiful Boxer, a Bulldog puppy has also died under the same circumstances on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Melbourne. I have also heard of other tragic stories pets going missing, pets being given to the wrong person, pets collapsing on arrival and needing medical attention and others that haven't survived.

If this is Qantas' standard, we need change! Beloved pets cannot continue to lose their lives through Qantas neglect. That's why I'm calling on the airline to undertake a full review of their policies and procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Please, sign and share my petition and let Qantas know that our pets are precious cargo!

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