Job Discussion Forums

[2buckets]

I think I hear a "gasket blowing"

[scot47]

NB - the poster is talking about a PLURALITY of pets ! I wonder how many she has !

[Kitkat Biriyani]

Poor pets...!!!
Sounds like they've had to tolerate a lot more
Than just long distance journeys...

What are we talking about here
A mouse...???
In that case just stick it in your back pocket
And be careful when you sit

seriously let us know how you get on
Just got myself a Qatari camel
How to get Humphrey back to Scotland
May be an issue
Once he outgrows the sports bag
I've got him in

[Kitkat Biriyani]

So it IS a mouse...!!
A talking mouse...??

Mouse meeting

[Kitkat Biriyani]

Looks like that
Trampolining elephant
Is being tormented

[cmp45]

If the elephant didn't like the trampoline, I think it would have gotten off it by now

[Expat101]

[nomad soul]

[Kitkat Biriyani]

Elephant abuser.....and you've probably forced the elephant to take drugs to stunt its growth so much....

Yes you just pretend to love animals
I'm off to find a pet detective
About time someone reported you
Forcing such a big animal to bounce that high
Pet detective...????

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Several inappropriate postings have been deleted.

If the contentious bickering continues, some of you will not.

Members observing violations of the warning posted above are requested to advise the Mod Team by PM or Report Post as soon as possible.

[cmp45]

[cmp45]

I would like to believe many animals do arrive safely, but I for one would not be comfortable shipping a beloved pet by plane. I guess many pet owners can not part with their pets so they take the risk.

I chose not to have a pet for this very reason that I do move around a lot. I would never put an animal through the trauma of long distance plane travel.

I hardly trust airlines to look after my luggage;I certainly wouldn't trust them to look after an animal.

http://www.msu.edu/~silvar/airplane.htm Please note: that airlines technically classify animals in crates as luggage!

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/dangerous-pet-travel-luggage-compartment-airplane-9941.html

Just one last thing to consider carefully ...even if a person does manage to bring their pets to KSA, what will they do during the 2 month summer vacation? Will the pet owners stay in KSA to care for their pets or once again uproot them while on vacation? I think pet owners need to seriously consider the potential for problems bringing their pets to KSA.

[DLIguy]

Look, unless things have changed dramatically since my grateful escape from the sandbox, importing an animal into Saudi is (was?) dead simple. Sure, there are a lot of hoops to jump through...so what's new in Saudi?

I've read about how huge wasta is needed to import canines. Hogwash! All of the compounds that I lived one had a variety of yapping muts, both pedigree and not.

Now, we adopted a couple of beloved felines in Taif, and for the next few years, we travelled extensively over the summer with them. Everytime, we jumped through the paperwork hoops both coming and going. Heck, we even took the boy cat to Japan and, THEIR paperwork is MUCH more comprehensive than Saudis' ever was!

Two things that will help people cope with the pets once they get to Saudi:

1.) ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS use KLM to transport them to and from the Kingdom (taking care of pets is a Dutch passion AND all of their ME-bound planes have pressurized and climate-controlled cargo areas), and;

2. Live on a compound where friends who are trying to save as much as possible will come over and nourish and love them on a daily basis, or hire someone's maid who works on the same compound or lives in the same building to do so.

Disclaimer: For 9 of my 10 years in Saudi I lived on Westerners-only compound, so I guess that finding someone over the summer was easier, but the paperwork was still the same.

[Expat101]

DLIguy, my biggest concern is getting the import permit. How did you go about getting that? Did you have to get your sponsor to process that paperwork? It doesn't sound like my sponsor will want to do it as they feel it's my personal responsibility and not theirs. So either the pets go with me or I don't go. It's that simple. If I can't find someone else to help me get the import permits, we can all just assume that it's fairly impossible thing to do without a sponsor doing all the work. Most sponsors don't want to do it.

[Expat101]

cmp45, the risk is slim to none! I've done it before and the biggest problem was the import permits. I don't want to go through that again. The animals had no problem with the flight and they took good care of them! You can also put small animals in a soft carrier that goes under the seat. But this gives them less room to move around. BTW, every international airport in the world has pets coming and going from there. I think they have this program down by now. They generally take the pets very seriously and they DON'T treat them like ordinary luggage!

There are hundreds of Westerners living on the compound and many of them have pets there now. How do you think THEY manage when they go away? Right now, I have my vet come to my home and take care of them while I have to go away for a few days. He doesn't mind and I pay him. Sometimes pet owners find other pet owners to pal up and share some of these responsibilities. cmp45, having pets is a serious responsibility and responsible pet owners will find ways to take care of their pets when they can't, but they don't dump them LONG TERM on someone else for a job in another country. That's completely irresponsible and BAD for the pet. They LOVE their people and want to be with their human. They can tolerate a few hours on a flight. It isn't that bad. They could suffer much worse of a fate than that.