Pets can be classed as baggage when taken on board flights, according to a top European court, meaning airlines are not required to pay higher compensation for lost animals.

The decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) comes after a dog escaped during a journey between Buenos Aires in Argentina and Barcelona in 2019 and was never recovered.

The court heard that the passenger, named only as Felicísima, and her mother bought tickets and checked in the dog, Mona, in a pet carrier. The animal was supposed to go into the hold of the plane due to its size and weight.

During check-in, Felicísima “did not make a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination concerning the baggage”, according to court documents.

The ECJ papers detail that during the boarding process, “the dog got out of the carrier, started running near the plane and could not be recovered.”

As a result, Felicísima launched a six-year court case, claiming €5,000 (£4,357) for the “non-material damage” suffered following the loss of her dog. She described the ordeal as “a disgrace”, according to the Guardian.

The airline, Iberia, accepted liability but not the size of the claim, arguing that the amount should be within the limit laid down for checked baggage.

The ECJ ruled that as a special declaration about the dog was not made before the flight, Felicísima was entitled to €1,578.82 (£1,372) – just over a third of the original claim.

In a summary of the ruling, the court stated that: “According to the Montreal Convention, other than carriage of cargo, aircrafts perform international carriage of persons and baggage.”

It said that the concept of “persons” corresponds to that of “passengers”, and therefore a pet cannot be considered to be a “passenger”. This means it falls within the concept of “baggage”, and compensation for the damage resulting from the loss of a pet is subject to the liability rules for baggage.

The court noted: “In the absence of any special declaration of interest in delivery at destination, the limit on an air carrier’s liability for the loss of baggage includes non-material damage as well as material damage.”

The ECJ added: “The fact that the protection of animal welfare is an objective of general interest recognised by the European Union does not prevent animals from being transported as “baggage” and from being regarded as such for the purposes of the liability resulting from the loss of an animal, upon the condition that full regard is paid to animal welfare requirements while they are transported.”

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