Bringing pets on the plane

[mollyandcody]

Hello! So if I end up going to an international school I would like to bring my golden retriever with me. However, I am very nervous at the idea of having to put him on a plane, especially that he's too big for me to bring to my seat. Anyone have any experience with pets and planes? Or is anyone else wanting to bring their animals with them to an international school?

Thanks

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[DogtorCK]

I know some airlines allow you to buy a seat for a dog. I've been thinking about the same thing, especially since my girl is the biggest scaredy cat ever. I know she'd live, but I hate the idea of crating her and putting her in cargo. She'd freak out *literally* the entire way there.

 

[Caiter92]

There are a bunch of threads about moving for Ross and SGU. I would look for them, they have good advice about this

The school should also have resources to help. I believe there was something about being sure to have a direct flight from Florida to your island though for the final leg, because some connect through another island that has a very strict quarantine policy, and if anything isn't in order, they'll euthanize the pet.

Also, just from my own experience with clients at work screwing up paper work for moving with pets, I'd look if there is any sort of "pet visa" service in your area. We have one we refer clients moving internationally to at work, and all he does is make sure you have all the paper work needed. It's especially helpful for counties with less straight forward policies, though it is more expensive than doing it on your own. They'll walk you through everything and make sure it's all in order so there are no issues.

Congrats and good luck!

 

[Starry-chan]

Euthanize people's pets??? Why don't they give it the opportunity to be taken back where it came from?

 

[Caiter92]

It was Barbados I'm pretty sure? I don't know if it was on here or on a blog, but I swear when I was researching SGU and Ross (last year when I had decided to pursue vetmed again) I found a post about moving with pets to the islands,
And it said to make sure to have no layover there if you had pets because of very strict quarantine laws and what can happen if everything isn't in order.

 

[Caiter92]

Google tells me it may actually be Barbuda and Antigua I'm thinking of that have those strict restrictions, but still, it is something that can happen. Which is why I think people should not do the health and import paperwork on their own when there are many restrictions. It's too easy to over look something if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[rockatiel]

On another thread, a current Ross student told me that flying a larger dog on a plane can be precarious only because they can't fly if the temperature gets too high. So if you're scheduled to leave the island on one day and the temperature is above what it's supposed to be... Your dog can't go on the plane. It's just something to think about. This is the temp at both the island and the next destinationz

 

[StartingoverVet]

On another thread, a current Ross student told me that flying a larger dog on a plane can be precarious only because they can't fly if the temperature gets too high. So if you're scheduled to leave the island on one day and the temperature is above what it's supposed to be... Your dog can't go on the plane. It's just something to think about. This is the temp at both the island and the next destinationz

which is why you fly in the early morning or the evening from warm destinations.

 

[allygator13]

Barbados and Trinidad are countries that I know of that classmates of mine have had major issues flying through. Definitely go direct from Miami/JFK to wherever you're trying to go if you can!

 

[Minnerbelle]

Euthanize people's pets??? Why don't they give it the opportunity to be taken back where it came from?

There are some countries that will do that. I persuaded an owner once to forget taking the dog on a long vacation to some country because it said that if all requirements aren't satisfactorily met, the animal is destroyed on site...

 

[Starry-chan]

There are some countries that will do that. I persuaded an owner once to forget taking the dog on a long vacation to some country because it said that if all requirements aren't satisfactorily met, the animal is destroyed on site...

Are they third world countries or something?

 

[mollyandcody]

Thanks for all the tips If I end up going to SGU, there are direct flights from Toronto (where I live). But if I go to Ross, I'll definitely make sure to have my layover in Florida. And if I go to one in the UK, I'm hoping euthanasia is something I won't have to think about!
But I'm also worried how the airport employees will handle him And I don't know how nervous it will make him to be in an unknown place without me for a couple hours.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Thanks for all the tips If I end up going to SGU, there are direct flights from Toronto (where I live). But if I go to Ross, I'll definitely make sure to have my layover in Florida. And if I go to one in the UK, I'm hoping euthanasia is something I won't have to think about!
But I'm also worried how the airport employees will handle him And I don't know how nervous it will make him to be in an unknown place without me for a couple hours.

When it comes to traveling with pets, I feel like you'll only hear negative stories even though those are probably more rare than good experiences. Michigan's main airport is right by my house, so a lot of friends/high school classmates ended up working there. They have said they've seen carriers tossed about a bit (not to say that the animals were in danger at all, just not handled as gently as they could have been), but the vast majority of the time, you'll see airport employees trying to comfort pets by talking to them and whatnot. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a plane loader who is going to beat on your dog's carrier just because they don't care. For starters, you can often watch the crew load pets onto the plane depending on when you board and the crew is well aware of that. The only other thing I can say is that the planes are loaded quickly, so carriers might be slid from one person to the next if they aren't of carrying weight.

Too warm of a temperature was brought up, but what about too cold?

ETA: http://www.dryfur.com/pet-inside-cargo-baggage-area-plane.htm This is a video of a dog being loaded! It looks like this website has a lot of pet travel info, but I can't speak for it's accuracy!

 

[deleted498041]

Jetblue (was it Jetblue?) doesn't fly pets in cargo anymore because of all the mishaps that occurred. Sorry, but that definitely speaks to me if a company is willing to shut down a source of revenue because of all the problems that were occurring. I would never fly my pet in a cargo hold. I understand that refusal is just not possible for some people but putting them on cargo just skeeves me out.