With apologies to Harry Shearer, we present this “tale of airport security” from the CBC News:
Mary Martell discovered Ginger, the family pet, in her luggage after a two-hour plane ride to Toronto and an hour's drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The cat apparently snuck into a bag while Martell was packing.
Martell said her bag was scanned at the airport, but she was not stopped.
“They had asked me, when they put ? the luggage through the X-ray, whether I had a turkey,” Martell said…
…The bag was sent on and loaded into the cargo bay of the airplane. Ginger, 3, was discovered when Martell opened her suitcase in her hotel room.
Fortunately, Ginger is doing well after her adventure. But don't you think that airport security could have detected a live animal in a suitcase? From a follow-up article:
When the cat went through screening, the X-ray machine would have shown just a faint image of some bones,” [Canadian Air Transport Security Authority spokesperson said,] “That, in itself is not a threat object to civil aviation. That would have passed through, no problem.”
But of course my toothpaste is a threat to civil aviation, and my musical instruments (including the acoustic folk instruments) get passed through the X-ray machine several times before being allowed to pass. And a bottle of water (purchased outside the terminal) cannot be carried, but an animal that is 75% water is OK…
Well, since it appears to be OK security-wise to carry live animals in suitcases, can people check in their crying babies, please?