Shipping a Pet???

[Navyfan06]

Hey everyone I was wondering if anyone has ever shipped a pet via commercial air or other means. My parents are giving me their dog and we are trying to figure out how to get her from their house in North Georgia to Corpus without doing the 1200 mile car ride over Christmas holidays. The dog is large size so she won't fit in as a carry on bag and I was curious if anyone has any expierence moving their animal.

Also too, another random animal question, but with people going to places like Hawaii and Japan, how would you ship an animal out there if you got orders to one of those places?

Thanks,

Navyfan06

 

[Gatordev]

Hey everyone I was wondering if anyone has ever shipped a pet via commercial air or other means. My parents are giving me their dog and we are trying to figure out how to get her from their house in North Georgia to Corpus without doing the 1200 mile car ride over Christmas holidays. The dog is large size so she won't fit in as a carry on bag and I was curious if anyone has any expierence moving their animal.

Also too, another random animal question, but with people going to places like Hawaii and Japan, how would you ship an animal out there if you got orders to one of those places?

Thanks,

Navyfan06

You ship it the same way you ship it CONUS, just w/ the extra required paperwork. For shipping INCONUS, it's not a big deal, you just need to coordinate w/ the airline. A lot of times they won't ship pets in the heat of the summer, but obviously that's not a big deal now.

As I reread your post, I'm realizing that you may not be flying w/ your pet. Either way, I'd call the airline first and get details and then you can buy the actual tickets as necessary.

 

[k_smittay]

Also too, another random animal question, but with people going to places like Hawaii and Japan, how would you ship an animal out there if you got orders to one of those places?

Also, be very careful when shipping your pet to an overseas duty station and trying to get the animal back. I had no problem shipping my 80 lb. black lab to Italy, but it was almost impossible to bring him home. I was told countless times by airport terminal and navy personnel to just give him away or let him run free. We were really close to chartering a flight for him, but that would have cost us over $2000. In the end we just showed up with him at the airport in his carrier the day we had to leave, and they didnt ask questions.

MAC flights have limited spaces for pets and they fill up quickly. Just check with each commercial airline because they all have different rules.

 

[Navyfan06]

@Gatordev- Thanks for the info, I am unsure right now if I will be flying back with the dog. Thanks for the advice.

@K_smitty - They wanted you to let him run free? Yea I would have serious issues with that (and my mother would kill me) so I will be sure to keep that in mind.

 

[Stagger]

I had the make the same decision of whether or not to bring my pet on the plane. In the end if you do decide to fly with your dog in the cargo hold, I'd check with the vet to make sure he's up for the trip (can take possible cold temps and can stay put for a few hours without water, in an small, confined space.) And do your dog a favor and don't tranquilize him - it makes them more vulnerable to all the above. Hope this helps!

 

[helo_wifey]

We have both of our cats here in Japan, and another wife on the site is taking their dogs to Guam soon.

If you need specific details for overseas you can pm me, but it's quite an involved process and I'm too lazy to post it all on here.

 

[crysmc]

There was a recent thread about shipping pets to Guam/Japan. Here it is: http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?p=374805

Also, I've shipped a pet CONUS and it's really easy. A lot of airlines will ship a pet in temperature controlled cargo. Like gatordev said, there are limitations based on hot weather conditions, but that shouldn't be a problem now. Your pet will have to be up to date on their vaccinations (primarily Rabies) and get a Health Certificate from a veterinarian I think up to 10 days prior to traveling. American Airlines gives a 50% military discount for shipping pets as cargo, but I think other airlines are pretty competitive with that pricing even without a discount.

Good luck and if you have specific questions, shoot me a PM.

 

[Flash]

Also, be very careful when shipping your pet to an overseas duty station and trying to get the animal back. I had no problem shipping my 80 lb. black lab to Italy, but it was almost impossible to bring him home. I was told countless times by airport terminal and navy personnel to just give him away or let him run free. We were really close to chartering a flight for him, but that would have cost us over $2000. In the end we just showed up with him at the airport in his carrier the day we had to leave, and they didnt ask questions.

MAC flights have limited spaces for pets and they fill up quickly. Just check with each commercial airline because they all have different rules.

A buddy of mine was stationed in Sigonella and said there are packs of dogs running all around Sicily and even on base, many of the ones on base are were apparently cut loose by their owners.

 

[insanebikerboy]

If we go overseas, here's how my dogs are gonna get there.

 

[Semper Jump Jet]

OCONUS will always be specific to the country you're shipping to, shipped my dog to the UK and avoided the quarantine, if anybody wants the info. PAPERWORK DRILL.

 

[k_smittay]

A buddy of mine was stationed in Sigonella and said there are packs of dogs running all around Sicily and even on base, many of the ones on base are were apparently cut loose by their owners.

Yea sig is where we came from. It was crazy all the wild dogs. No way my dog would be mixed up in that non-sense. I don't understand the folks who can get a dog then just let them go.

He's part of the family, and entitled the same treatment.

 

[COD Guy's Girl]

Also, be very careful when shipping your pet to an overseas duty station and trying to get the animal back. I had no problem shipping my 80 lb. black lab to Italy, but it was almost impossible to bring him home. I was told countless times by airport terminal and navy personnel to just give him away or let him run free. We were really close to chartering a flight for him, but that would have cost us over $2000. In the end we just showed up with him at the airport in his carrier the day we had to leave, and they didnt ask questions.

Wow, that's scary. We will be taking our cat there in Feb and now I'm worried. There's no way I would leave her there. Did they give you a reason to why they wouldn't let you bring the dog back? I would think they should warn us about that before we bring our animals there.

 

[k_smittay]

Wow, that's scary. We will be taking our cat there in Feb and now I'm worried. There's no way I would leave her there. Did they give you a reason to why they wouldn't let you bring the dog back? I would think they should warn us about that before we bring our animals there.

At first it was the temperature, they said it was to hot on the flightline for animals. Then I caught wind that an O-4 had his animals scheduled to go on the flight and I called them on it and they changed their minds and were going to let us, but then a couple days later they said the pet spots had booked up. The MAC flights were being stubborn.

Air Italia told me it was to hot as well, but we ended up just showing up with him and they took him.

 

[Ken_gone_flying]

Hey everyone I was wondering if anyone has ever shipped a pet via commercial air or other means. My parents are giving me their dog and we are trying to figure out how to get her from their house in North Georgia to Corpus without doing the 1200 mile car ride over Christmas holidays. The dog is large size so she won't fit in as a carry on bag and I was curious if anyone has any expierence moving their animal.

Also too, another random animal question, but with people going to places like Hawaii and Japan, how would you ship an animal out there if you got orders to one of those places?

Thanks,

Navyfan06

I always warn people of shipping pets via commercial airlines. Right after graduating high school I worked on the ramp for U.S. Airways. A plane ride in a cargo hold is about the most stressful thing a pet will ever go through. As if it weren't already enough stress on the animals, a lot of those rampers making minimum wage are total assholes and torment the pets on purpose, yelling at them, kicking their cages, and just being real mean to them. If you do decide to put your dog on a commercial flight, I can't stress to you how important it is to give your dog a sedative pill before the flight. Having an animal sleep the entire way through the trip is by far the easiest for them.

-Ken

 

[Nose]

My airline will let you move a pet two ways. First is as cargo, other is with you as a pax (he rides cargo either way.) I don't think either one of them is cheap.


Most airplanes have cargo compartment that is pressurized/conditioned. If we have pets in the hold we have to know. There is actually an abnormal procedure that changes depending on whether there are pets in the hold. (Divert or dump pressure). We call the switch the "Puppy snuffer" because if you have a pet and throw it, it will kill them. So we divert instead.

I don't doubt that a ride in an airplane is scary for a pet, but they get over it. (2 hours in kennel and airplane vice 15 in car is not a bad tradeoff)

Also, I've found that rampers I see work hard to take care of the pets being shipped. There are, as mentioned above, some asses, but they are few and far between.