In fact, his biggest concern was not his own safety, but the vampires. “It helps being a guy who is 6ft 4in, and 220lbs,” he says. Even at the beginning, he was not too scared about the characters he would meet. Walking the streets at day and night, he began to home in on the places (typically goth clubs) where vampires might hang out. He realised that if he was ever going to get the chance to meet a real vampire, it was now. He was living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the time, just an hour’s drive from New Orleans, a city famed for its vibrant subcultures. “This is not a population who are asking to be found,” he says. Thanks to their fear of exposure, these communities have become adept at hiding, a barrier Browning faced when he started his study. “From what we can tell, most major cities across the world seem to have a vampire community,” says Williams. Before the Age of the Internet, they were largely isolated, but through dedicated webpages they have now forged thriving underground networks. But as a researcher at Louisiana State University, he was willing to go through with it for his latest project: an ethnographic study of the New Orleans “real vampire” community.Īnd yet, the practice seems to have lived on among a small group of people. “I’m actually pretty fearful of anything sharp approaching my skin,” he says. After they had cleaned up, the pair went to a charity dinner in aid of the homeless.Ī self-confessed “needle-phobe”, Browning had not been looking forward to the feeding. “He said my blood was not as metallic as it should have been – so he was a little disappointed,” he recalls apparently, diet, hydration and blood group can all make a subtle difference to the flavour. To Browning’s bemusement, he was not quite to his host’s taste. “He drank it a few times, then cleaned and bandaged me,” Browning says today. Lowering his lips to the wound, Browning's associate now starts lapping up the wine-dark liquid. He then punctures it with a disposable hobby scalpel, and squeezes until the blood starts flowing. His acquaintance first swabs a small patch on Browning’s upper back with alcohol. It begins as clinically as a medical procedure. Follow her on Twitter.In the French quarter of New Orleans, John Edgar Browning is about to take part in a "feeding". Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. The airline also paid for a necropsy and cremation for a deceased bulldog named Jax. Hawaiian Airlines refunded the pet and cargo fees for the owners. The carrier flew 7,518 animals and reported three deaths in 2016. However, in 2016, Hawaiian Airlines had a higher rate of events than other airlines, of 3.99 per 10,000 animals. Hawaiian Airlines ( HA) posted 0 incidents in 2017. The lost pet was a cat named Gaige that escaped its kennel at the Honolulu International Airport. One of those reported deaths was a kitten that had a pre-existing medical condition and an Aussie shepherd puppy that died from acute myocardial necrosis.Īlaska Airlines ( ALK) flew 114,974 animals in 2017, reporting two deaths and one missing animal for an incident rate of 0.26 for every 10,000 animals. The airline had a rate of 0.52 incidents per 10,000 animals. American Airlines transported 34,628 animals for a rate of 0.87 incidents per 10,000 animals transported.ĭelta ( DAL) disclosed two deaths and one injury of the 57,479 animals it flew in 2017. 2 for the most incidents in 2017, reporting two deaths, including a golden retriever and a German shepherd and an injured poodle. Meanwhile, American Airlines ( AAL) ranked No. Other deaths, including two geckos on a flight to Raleigh, didn’t have medical exams performed. Some of the animals died of natural causes, including a 9-year-old cat named Hope that had heart failure and a dog named Rocco that died of a cardiac abnormality due to congenital heart disease. The airline noted that two other animals onboard were found healthy upon arrival in San Francisco and no corrective action was taken. A medical exam attributed Lulu’s death to heat stroke. In another instance, a four-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lulu was found dead upon arriving in San Francisco. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() United said that it would “review existing procedures to enhance security of animals during acceptance process.” One exception was when a three-year-old Abyssinian named Riko escaped its shipping container during the acceptance process and was hit by a car. United also features safety tips on its website for customers traveling with pets.Īn examination of the reported incidents shows that in most cases no corrective action was taken by United since the deaths were considered from natural causes or a necropsy wasn’t performed, the filing shows. Hobart added that United does not know if competitors take the same approach to reporting incidents.
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