Dear friends,
I write to you today with a heavy heart. Due to a recent change
in the pet shipping policy for United Airlines, the future of our
beloved dog is in jeopardy. After my husband spends a year serving
his country in Afghanistan, away from his three children, we will
head to another U.S. Mission somewhere in the world. At that time,
we may have to make an extremely difficult choice concerning a very
important member of our family—our Lucky dog. Depending on where
our country needs us, we can either pay an exorbitant fee and risk
having him die in a cargo terminal, or we can find him a new home. Either way, I don't know how we could live without him.
United Airlines has granted military members a special waiver to
facilitate an international pet move and to make the cost of shipping
a pet more affordable. Within the past couple of weeks, 2,800
members of the U.S. Foreign Service launched an email campaign
entreating United to include civilian federal employees on a
permanent change of station in this exemption. United said no and
insulted 12,000 civilian heroes when they explained that United
had developed the waiver for the military "in recognition of the
commitment made by members of our military and the family members
(including the four-legged ones) who share in their sacrifice"
and intends to limit this "special process" to military
families only.
It was President Theodore Roosevelt that
popularized the phrase, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
Roosevelt knew that it took both to maintain effective foreign
relations. While United Airlines has chosen to honor our military
(“big stick”) as they should, they have made an egregious error
in not also including the diplomatic corps (“speak softly.”) One
is not more important than the other; they are both necessary. They
both make sacrifices. They both serve our country.
And so dear friends, I beg you, please join
us in fighting United Airlines on this unfair and outrageous new
policy. Please, help us keep our family together.
okay, you made me cry! great video, great message, sad state of affairs that it's necessary at all...
ReplyDeleteThat's awful! I do hope they come around.
ReplyDeleteLucky is so lucky to have you as a voice. God bless our American pets. Great blog! Hope that it makes impact with the proper people.
ReplyDeleteThat's horrible! I really hope they change their minds. The video you made is excellent and very moving. So sorry you're having to deal with this amidst all the other chaos.
ReplyDelete