I’m stumped…completely… but not defeated. That’s why I am calling on the creative thinkers of SDMB. Please help me out. We are relocating back to Africa on the second week of August. Five people with three mini-dachshunds are going out of America and back to the bush.
My problem is how to bring the three small dogs with us. I originally thought we would just put them in their kennels and into the climate controlled section for cargo. They ship animals of all kinds, including horses, right? The one of two carriers into the capital city in Africa is Air France - and the French love their dogs. No problem… until I called Delta/Air France.
There’s an embargo on shipping dogs from May 15 to Sept 15 because of the heat. The airlines will not take dogs if the temperature is 85 degrees. I can understand that - it makes sense. No one wants to open the kennel at destintaion and find poor Fifi passed out from heat exhaustion or dehydration–or worse, stone cold dead. Flights to Paris leave early evening and you have to check you dog in at least 4 hours in advance of the flight - that turns out to be the hottest time of the day. Dogs fly cargo on all int’l flights.
We can take our dogs on the plane on domestic flights, but we can take only two kennels…and they have to fit under the seats. I guess mom and puppy can travel together… My preference is tht they travel in their own kennels and live animal cargo because they will probably be squirmy and will bark. Hopefully the movie won’t have a barking dog in it… Honeybunny will go ballistic!
I called another airline because there is that second company that flies into African capital city… although we must travel American across the ocean. Airline Two says will you can take you dogs in the cabin from Atlanta [not on embargo list] we live in NE Florida, fly to Detroit, change planes to int’l flight with dogs in cabin to Brussels to catch your flight. Second int’l carrier is Brussels Airline - the new replacement Sabena. I don’t know if they take dogs… The problem with airline two is that I can take only two dogs in economy class and one dog first class. Do you know how much a firt class ticket from Florida to Africa?
I’ve got to find a solution for our dogs. My brain is fried right now with details, details, details of this move.
AirAnimal looks like a possibility… but the service is really expensive. They say tax deductible [1795 x 3 = 5400!]. I’m hoping that we might be able to negotiate that down by doing some of the work ourselves [kennel, driving dogs to Tampa, customs clearance in Kinshasa, documents…]. Delta quoted about $1400 just in cargo costs for all three dogs.
Has anyone on the SDMB shipped their dogs internationally???
kiffa, have you tried contacting any breeders? They are the masters of shipping animals and may have the solution for you. I suspect that a breeder of mini-dachshunds might have more sympathy for your plight.
Yes, brachy, please come down and help spackle, paint, clean and pack! hey, you know how to fly — but I guess renting a plane would be a bit more expensive than the Tampa connection.
breeder… Dachshund rescue. I wonder if I can get some help there. I read about some travel assistance to help out dachshund owners… thanks this might be a good lead.
Does the number of dogs you can take in the cabin depend on the number of adults travelling? If so, it might be worth hiring someone to be another adult and in effect courier your dog. That shouldn’t be more than a second-class air fare - definitely not cheap, but (presuming US prices are similar to UK), cheaper than the prices you’ve mentioned before.
The number of dogs allowed on a US carrier is a total of three: two in economy and one in first class - period. So three different passengers can reserve “pet space” on one flight. Some airlines will only allow one pet per group. Airline Two representative bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying “BUY a first class ticket if you really love your dog”… we’re still working on this.
kiffa - You may have to split your group up and have 3 people travel one day and 2 the next. The first group could take two of the dogs as carry-on and the second group could take the last dog. That is assuming that you are all adults. Traveling with children and small dogs is just too hard to think of! Best of luck to you.
Unfortunately we are two adults and three kids [teens under sixteen]. Another complicating factor is that there are only a few weekly flights from Europe to our destination in Africa. Even tho we could fly separately from the US, we would undoubtedly bump into each other in Europe.
The Humane Society said that I should check with rescue missions who have folks who travel frequently and will take dogs with them… she didn’t know about Europe. I would have to find three people since the airlines limit folks to one animal… shit this is too complicated!!!
(happy for you but still