Plastic Dog Crates
Plastic Pet Carrier are great for pet travelling. Many of these come as “Airline Approved” for air travel. These cages offer a secure place where your dog can get some peaceful time. Mostly the plastic cage is used as a secondary cage for transportation and outside of the home. They can also be used every day if desired. These are some of the pros and cons of plastic cages that you should consider before buying.
Advantages of a Plastic Dog Cage
- It is lightweight which makes them ideal for travel.
- Many are a prerequisite for air travel (you cannot fly without such a cage.)
- It is harder for escapologist pets to let themselves out.
- Some of the plastic cages are dual purpose. Their top half can be removed leaving a suitable plastic tray that can be used as a pet bed.
Disadvantages of a Plastic Dog Cage
- Plastic cages are harder to keep clean and odorless as compared to the wire cages.
- These cannot be folded flat for storage like a wire cage.
- It offers much less ventilation as compared to other cages due to predominantly solid walls. Therefore, they are not suitable for warm climates.
- These are unsuitable for the pets who like great visibility of their surroundings when cages because their walls are solid.
New Zealand Cage Requirements for Travelling Pets
In New Zealand, the Air New Zealand has special requirements for anyone who want to bring their pet to the airplane. For the pet’s comfort and safety, they have emphasized that the flight cage must be of adequate size. They reserve the right to refuse to ship your pet if the carrier is inadequate, even if the cage manufacturer claims that it meets the airline guidelines. Some airlines even impose regulations that exceed industry-standards and they may require you to buy larger crates for your pet than normal.
Air New Zealand requires the your pet carrier to be of large enough for the pet to stand up, lie down and turn around in a natural manner. Moreover, they emphasize that it should be strong to protect your pet during transport. The door should be secure so that it may not open accidentally or your pet could not open it. Your pet should not be able to fit his nose and paws through any ventilation opening or door mesh because it may cause injury. Air New Zealand requires the container to be made out of rigid plastic or wood. Fire board or wire mesh containers are not allowed on the flights.
For plastic containers, the following requirements must be fulfilled:
- A plastic cage that has latches between the top and bottom halves it will not be accepted. Bolts/screws should be added in each corner and at least one down each side of the cage. If the pet cage is longer than 60 cm there must be at least two bolts down each side.
- Straps are not an acceptable mean of securing the cage and will not be accepted by the airline.
- For plastic cages, the door hinge and locking pins must engage the container beyond the horizontal extrusions above and below the door opening where locking pins are fitted by at least 1.6 cm.
- A bolt or cable tie must be applied within 3 cm of the door to ensure its robustness.
- The cage doors must be strengthened by attaching cable ties to all four corners of the door. This will prevent the door from being open by the animal.
- Cage doors that have a ‘twist clip’ around the locking pins will not be permitted for air travel.
- Applying the cable ties through ventilation holes is not allowed.
- Once applied, the cable ties must not be cut short. Because it may result in a sharp stub which could potentially injure you or the animal.