I’m pretty sure that rabbit was insured (if I spent that kind of money on an animal I’d insure it!) and I’ll bet the insurance company will be doing their own investigation. I sincerely hope it was an act of God and not negligence on the part of United, my money is on a heart defect that the vet missed.
I have to say that I am not willing to simply shrug off the death of a pet in a cargo hold due to heat, cold, or asphyxiation! If airlines are going to accept people’s dogs and cats in appropriate carriers as cargo, than they had damned well better make sure that they maintain the cargo hold withing appropriate temperatures and with sufficient oxygen. Years ago there was a lot of publicity about bad conditions leading to deaths, and I think the airlines cleaned up their acts as a result. I have no idea what special circumstances might affect giant rabbits, but @Himom I think you are very cavalier in your attitude toward people who have no choice but to fly their pets in cargo!
Lets not jump to conclusions. This article http://abc7chicago.com/pets/giant-rabbit-dies-after-united-airlines-flight/1919020/ says the rabbit was alive when taken to the pet cargo holding area, and that sometimes bieingin an enclosed cargo area of the plane with other animals that are natural preditors can be very stressful, even if they are all in separate cages, and that the stress response can persist after they deplane. So the poor little critter may have had a stress induced cardiac arrest.
No one KNOWS why bunny died. I certainly don’t. I know from owning bunnies that they CAN die of fright. I have seen and heard nothing to date that shows United or anyone else did anything specifically wrong.
A Chicago airport cop beat up the poor bunny.
I’m not jumping to any conclusions. I’m just saying that shrugging off a pet death in a cargo hold is not acceptable.
I would not shrug off a pet death, however, I would never, ever, put my beloved dogs in the cargo compartment. Especially something like a bunny, when who knows what other animals are down there, that poor animal must have been petrified. I understand that sometimes people have no other choice, but I would not do it casually.
I flew 727’s and DC-10’s for a couple of years at AA. I don’t remember which airplane it was on, but one of them had something we called the, “dead dog switch”. Meaning, of course, if there were animals onboard and we forgot to put the switch in the on position, well…you know what happens. Every time the ramp agent told us there were animals onboard, I became very paranoid about that. I was horrified of the thought that I could forget, and often you are very rushed. Or what if they forgot to tell us? So I’m not putting my beloved girls in the cargo compartment. Ever. :o3 :o3
When I was in college we moved to Holland, and flew our two dogs there. A couple years later, they flew back. We were afraid for them both times, given the horror stories one heard, but they were fine. I agree that only in such circumstances, where it is either give the dog away or fly it, would I fly my dog anywhere in cargo. If we moved to the opposite coast, she and I would drive.
My avatars flew business class from overseas. Had to send Mr. B over to complete the move because there was a limit of one cabin pet per pax (carrier under seat). The reason I got them business class? If the petless pax sitting next to the cats objected, the cats would have been booted into cargo - that was the airline’s rule. The agent who helped me book the tickets was a cat lady herself - it really helped. 
The boy cat had to go on the diet to make sure he would not be deemed too heavy for transport.
I recently flew from HI - there was a bunny in a carrier brought into the cabin.
Funny, business class kitties! Spoiled little things, aren’t they? 
That seems an unpleasant rule, that if someone sitting near you complains, they get booted to the cargo compartment. Makes it difficult to plan.
Unpleasant but necessary as the passenger sitting next to you could have allergies.
I would just ask someone to swap seats with me, easy enough, especially if you’re offering them a better seat.
I was definitely not about allergies - only pax in the same row was entitled to this. I read the rules very carefully.
Wonder if Bugs Bunny will be writing/calling in to United telling them they’d better upgrade all bunny rabbits to business/first-class or he’ll work with competitor airlines to make them regret not doing so…
LOL quickest settlement in history in the David Dau case!
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/27/united-settles-with-passenger-dragged-off-flight.html
That was fast!
Originally I was kind of on United’s side, I really don’t think it’s a good idea for big bunnies to fly as cargo but they settled with the breeder (because she bought the ticket?) and not the owner and cremated the big bunny within hours of it’s death preventing the owner from finding out cause of death and the owner is the one out the cost of the bunny and transportation? Something doesn’t sound right.
If I’ve got this wrong please let me know. It seems United really needs to work on its PR!
This the plaintiff’a lawyer talking… I would take whatever he says with a grain of salt.