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homeless vet · Joined: 01 Apr 2009 Posts: 80

FYI to those with pets - taking your pet out of this hellhole of a country costs twice as much as bringing them here. It cost $1600 to import our dog from the US, quotes to export her home are $3700 so far. Plan ahead. You don't want to be one of those people who either are begging others to adopt your pet or put their pet down rather than take them home.

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

Have you tried KLM as accompanied or extra baggage (they still travel as live cargo but KLM is the best so far as I have experienced in 5 moves) It's worth a try if you haven't already.

Sheikh N Bake · Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Posts: 1307 Location: Dis ting of ours

I agree. I lived in the Netherlands once, moreover, and it seems to me that the Dutch are especially empathetic and kind toward pets. Maybe that extends to their (former) national airline.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:07 pm Post subject:

Yeah, helenl and I have advised and concurred on this option before. KLM take animal carriage seriously and, except for the citty-hopper fleet have temperature and pressure controlled cargo decks on all their aircraft. During the layover at Schipol, if the layover is a minimum 2-3 hours, the animals are walked or allowed out of their carriers. They all get a lookover by a vet.

Now, as to the fees levied on getting yer animal cleared from the U.A.E. for flight...that's another story. I assumed when I first read your post that that wuz what you were talkin' about...

NCTBA

homeless vet · Joined: 01 Apr 2009 Posts: 80

Going as an extra bag, a dog doesn't get let out on the layover and you can't see them or care for them - plus - add in the risk of delays, etc. Very dangerous, especially in the Winter. It's better to ship them as cargo. Because of security issues (such as Al Qaeda plots to use live dogs as bombs on planes recently reported) you can't book like cargo with the airlines directly, you have to use a vet or another authorized shipping agent. The air waybill isn't the problem - the costs are pretty much the same for that - it's all the fees. The German Vet in Abu Dhabi came in with a price of $2600. I took the mutt in to start the process today. The vet is quite good. Far better service than we got from the American Vet in Abu Dhabi when we imported the dog.

Going home from this place will be just like arriving - somebody with a stamp and a hand out for cash every stop along the way.

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

I'm sorry to hear KLM has changed their dog as extra bag policy for the layover in Schipol - last time I did it they were allowed out for a walk and water.

Good luck, sometimes I think it would have been easier to have kids but that thought quickly leaves Wink

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:18 pm Post subject:

I always found it humourous that the American Veterinary Clinic in AD was decidedly South African!

I, too, am saddened that KLM has has changed it's pet policy. Scratch it up as another victory for American neocons. Along with fingerprinting our children for their "safety" from predators...we're jes' another step towards being completely under the government's thumb...

Sad, really...especially when it's happened to a nation that was founded upon principles of freedom as a backlash to the tyranny that we are surely back firmly on the road to...

NCTBA

GypsyKat · Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Posts: 7

Any advise for someone transferring pets from Qatar to Abu Dhabi? I've got 4 cats to come over. Is it cheaper to have my husband drive them through Saudi or to fly them Qatar Airways?

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

I would suggest you contact a pet relocator in either Qatar or UAE - I suspect you would be addig another layer to the documentation/inspection process if you take them overland via Saudi - I have no idea what their requirements are for pets in transit but I can't imagine they'd expedite any process for an "animal".