The welfare of companion animals during transport — from car travel to air travel and long-distance rescue transport.
Companion animal transport welfare varies enormously by preparation, duration, and individual animal disposition. The well-prepared dog who has been gradually conditioned to enjoy car travel, whose crate is a place of comfort, and who has been given appropriate anti-nausea medication if needed has a fundamentally different travel experience from the stressed, untrained dog stuffed into an unfamiliar crate for a first-ever journey. The welfare difference is made before the journey starts — in the weeks of crate training, gradual exposure to vehicle movement, and positive association building that transform travel from a threatening experience to a manageable one.