Why are live animals transported by air?

There are many reasons why people wish to transport live animals. The animals may be personal pets, or guide and assistance dogs. They may be sporting animals, agricultural animals for breeding, food animals being transported for slaughter, zoological animals and species being transported for reasons of science. Transporting animals for long periods of time is considered unnecessarily cruel and to be avoided whenever possible. Therefore, for long journeys the only speedy option is to use aircraft.