The Live Animal Label
Responsibilities
Every person involved with the commercial transport of animals has a responsibility as appropriate to their role in planning, organising, and carrying out the journey – to comply with regulations and protect the welfare of the animals, in particular not to cause them injury or undue suffering.
When live animals are transported by air, stringent regulations must be met. There are specific guidelines regarding the containers carrying the animals – some governmental regulations require that the container must be sealed during transportation and certain airlines will not carry wooden containers. However – one constant for all shipments is that they must display a green or red Live Animal label or Laboratory Animal label. This label is mandatory for all consignments to indicate to the carrier that live animals are on board.
IATA labelling requirements
Animals have been transported by air since the early 1930’s. In today’s modern world, carriage of live animals by air is considered the most humane and expedient method of transportation over long distances. Any cargo to be shipped by airline is usually held to higher safety standards than any other mode of transport and animal shipments are no exception to this rule. IATA (The International Air Transport Association) have published their own specific set of requirements that focus on the animals’ safety and welfare – Live Animals Regulations (LAR) is the worldwide standard for transporting live animals by commercial airlines. See the IATA Live Animals Regulations for details regarding labelling.
THe Live Animal Label on Containers
As well as the Live Animasl Label, IATA also requires that the ‘Orientation Arrows’ or ‘This Way Up’ labels are displayed on the container to indicate which way up it should be placed and maintained.
Both the ‘Live Animals Label’ and ‘This Way Up’ label must be placed on all four sides of the container whenever possible, ensuring that any ventilation is left uncovered. The label may be printed onto the container if possible.
This article should not be used in substitute for checking the exact requirements in the applicable modal regulations.
Hibiscus Live Animal labels are printed in-house and fully conform to all legislation standards.