Dog as Airplane Cargo

[buckhamilton]

I have seen some different stories on this site about flying with dogs and other pets. It seems most people agree that a pet must travel in the manifest cargo of the plane.

I saw also mention of a temperature limit that some airlines have for transporting pets- they cannot travel if the temperature at any point in the journey exceeds 85 degrees F.

Does anyone have any more experience with this policy? Is it only certain airlines? Do the ones that do not have this policy have a different type of manifest cargo (or a special section of cargo) that is more animal-friendly?

I am moving in June and I expect my dog to come over in June or July.

Thanks!

[JPMeaney]

It is true that dogs cant' fly on planes if anywhere exceeds 85 (snub nosed dogs it's 75). Korean Airlines does not have this restriction, but they will be subject to a 4 month quarantine for stopping in Korea!!

We have a boxer and had to deal with the 75 degree issue...it wasn't going to happen, but we found a company out of Houston (Animal Port Houston) that has a good enough relationship with KLM to lean on them some and used his contacts to get our boxer here even though it was above 75 in HK on the day they arrived...it wasn't cheap though...about $4K USD to get the 2 dogs here!

You are really going to have some serious difficulty getting your dog over here in June or July...you might want to start looking for someone who can care for them until it cools off here (I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I believe it to be fairly accurate information.)

Try contacting David at Animal Port Houston...see if he can help.

[icebergsecret]

Hi JPMeaney,
Are you from Houston? I am moving to hk from houston after this summer. I contacted the Animal Port Houston and BKS international pet shipping Inc., but I prefer the BKS, they sent me emails itemizing every charge. they quoted me $3305 for two small dogs and four cats at today's rate. this does not include the import permit or any charge once the pets arrive at hk. But the problem is they fly KLM, the pets will fly from houston to Amsterdam and then to hk. I don't know if this can cause problem. As the requirement of acfd, the flight should be non stop and no stay over. Am I correct? the people in BKS told me it's good to have a stay over because it's easier for the pets. But I perfer a direct flight. I don't want my pets stay over foreign country. The more people handle them, the more likely mistake will happen.
I have two pomeranian and four fat cats. I hope everything can work out perfectly. I can send you the detailed BKS quote if you want to have a look.
Thanks
Rachel

[Exalted Shrimp]

Concerns on air travel for dogs is water. I just flew mine from HK to Narita to LA to seattle! Our flight was supposed to be HK -Narita -Seattle. Then HK-Narita Hawaii SEattle. But when we arrived at the airport. The flight delays started and continued throughout. My point is once the animals are loaded you don't see them again till you and or they hit customs. Which for me was LA. Now this was a long time, I was not allowed to see them CHECK on them for 16 hours. When they arrived in LA I couldnt give them water until my bags were checked into alaska airlines for the LA Seattle link (another NW delay). The dogs were sooooo thirsty I finally gave them water as I pushed them through the airport in a mad rush to check in for the Alaska flight. Which by the way I had to start cryin to make! The other thing was the staff at Nw in La were horrible one of my dogs had pooped a little in her cage so it smelled (no way to clean it) so as the dogs waited for my bags to be scanned and checked 1 guy proceeded to laugh and spray air freshener? all around her cage which she undoughtedly enhaled. I told him to knock it off and quit sprayin in her face. He of course said he didn't do it I of course said I saw you and so on(they all thought this was so funny) as the dogs still waited waterless!
My point is I spent 4800.00 HK dollars to send them on NW If I were you I would spend as much as you possibly can to get them to your destination as soon as possible! Because the animals are miserable on any flight and the water problem is a great concern! Kathy

[JPMeaney]

Iceberg...I did live in Houston and my dogs did leave from there. I have to tell you that what Shrimp said is true...pay the money and get your animals taken care of...it'll be cheap sending them home, but getting them here is rather expensive. We paid $3500USD to Animal Port Houston (keep in mind that $2500 of this was airfare alone...KLM is one of the most expensive, but they take EXCELLENT care of your animals for that fee.) Ours stayed in Amsterdam overnight...though you want to be reunited with your dogs ASAP it is good for tehm to have some time mid flight to get out of their cage, have it cleaned and drink and eat.

They then arrived in HK on a Saturday evening (we did too, on different flights) but we didn't get in till after 10 pm so they were boarded in HK (handled by Export-A-Pet) and then delivered to our apt on Sunday morning.

The export a pet costs including the boarding and delivery came out to about $750 USD. the total was rather expensive, but well worth it to know that they were beign taken care of in a stressful situation as well as possible.

You won't ahve any problem with quarantine b/c they stay overnight in Amsterdam...and export a pet has contacts all over the airport assuring that your dogs can get through quickly and easily once they arrive at customs.

Export a pet will handle all of the paper work on the HK end...the US end is pretty easy...just talk with Paul at EAP and he'll tell you what you need to get done, then find a USDA vet and have them fill out the paperwork...your current vet should be able to help in locating the proper USDA vet in Houston...we got our paperwork in Mississippi, where we were living before the move adn then shipped them out of Houston. I have heard that it's more dificult to get the rabies free stamp in TX, but if you can just get the vet to sign off on something like "no reported rabies cases in terrestrial animals, possibly in bats" this should work...talk to Paul at EAP for confirmation though.
good luck!!

[hek]

Icebergsecret- I moved from New York to Hong Kong in January. My cats flew on KLM via Amsterdam. They arrived here safely and everyone I dealt with at Export a Pet was great. It must be better for the pets to have a stopover.

[icebergsecret]

Thank you guys!! It helps a lot.
Since I knew I will go back to hk this year, I have been worried about shipping the pets to hk.
one of the certificate requirement need the pets show good history of rabies. But two of my cats were stray cats when I got them last year. Will there be a problem? I think I really have to talk to export a pet in hk.
If I move to hk this november, when should I start planning and doing all the paperworks?
Thanks
Rachel

[JPMeaney]

no worries...as long as your pet has a rabies vaccination no less than 30 days before arriving and no longer than 1 year you're ok...plus they give them a rabies shot and AVID microchip when they arrive...don't bother getting this chip done early, HK decided to save money on the readers so they only read 8 characters, the one's you get in the US will have 12 digits and will be unreadable here.the paperwork really isn't that bad. you need to get your import license ~30 days before travel, the USDA stuff can't be more than 10 or 14 days old, i forget which...talk to EAP...they can give you all the documets and will check everything before your pets board the plane to make sure there are no problems

[hek]

Iceberg secret-I would talk to someone at Export a pet about the cats not having prior Rabies shots. If I remember correctly, I had to show proof the my cats had prior innoculations (i.e. to build up an immunity). This was no problem since my cats are 4 years old and had been vaccinated yearly. I also needed my vet to fill out a monkeypox declaration. Here's their website if you don't have it. http://209.15.128.240/b2b/export-a-pet/main.html

[icebergsecret]

Thanks a lot. Are you guys in hk right now? Are you chinese? How are your pets in hk?
I will contact the Export a pet as soon as possible.
Rachel