Job Discussion Forums

[gelin]

If she got the cat here, then the cat deserves to go back with her if at all possible. If it's not, of course she should find a good home for it. But to pooh-pooh the dilemma she's in by saying it's merely a cat shows complete insensitivity. She's trying to do what she can do insure the cat will have what it deserves and I didn't feel that some of you understood that. I admire her for her perserverence in doing the right thing. I think we all agree she needs to do that -- hopefully that being to take it back home. Are we sure that she brought it from the States or did she get it in Turkey?

[Bogazicibaby]

I had some of these same conversations with my family when I told them that I was bringing my cat with me to Turkey. My sister said that I was being cruel to the cat(she also said that people who travel in planes with babies are being cruel- not to other passengers but to the baby). I was horrified when my father, the vet, told me that I could find the cat a new home and then get a new one in Turkey instead of paying extra money for a ticket for the cat. When I brought up the responsibility issue, he changed his mind and agreed with me.

Responsibility means something! When you bring home a cat, dog, horse, whatever, you take responsiblity for its health and welfare. Sure when your done with it, you could just find a new home and feel bad for a while and then get a new one. I don't find that solution to be a very responsible one. Why even get a pet if you are going to dispose of it? Finding another home, even if its a good one is still disposal.

There are some people who do care more for their pets than for their family members. Some people feel that their pet is part of their family. Pets tend to give uncondition love and surely that is worth the hassle of moving.

Of course, it does all depend on how much an animal means to you. If there is low value- ok, no problem and you don't even look into how to take it out of Turkey. Reality is that this is the answer for many people and while I don't like it, in some cases, it is the answer.

The issue here is that the cat does have value and we should try to help find answers besides finding a good home for it.

Come on y'all! Teachers are supposed to be critical thinkers! Have y'all been in Turkey lurkey land so long that you've started to think like the students here?

If people can take toddlers for little or no extra cost, surely there must be a way to pay for extra weight for a cat.

I remember something about the weight of my cat determining how much I paid for the ticket. 5 kilos counting the weight of the carrier really isn't alot. I think my cat and carrier weighed in at about 6 kilos.

I'll have my husband call my colleagues wife, who works for Turkish Air, and have him ask about possible solutions and post what I find.

An alternative might be to contact other airlines and see what their pet policies are. I don't remember which airline I flew with my cat. Might have been KLM since I went through Amsterdam. Turkish Air isn't the only company flying out of Turkey to the US.

Maria

[MarcusK]

In some places, like the SF Bay area where I live, people have an unusual perspective on the value of life.

A couple of years ago two incidents occurred:

A 7-year old girl was kidnapped. The reward for information about her whereabouts reached $75,000 through donations from the state and concerned citizens. Ultimately it was discovered that she had been murdered.

The second incident involved a case of road-rage. A motorist involved in a minor traffic accident reached into the car of the other motorist, plucked a small dog from the back seat, and flung the dog into traffic, where it was killed. The reward for information leading to the arrest of the dog-killer reached $110,000--all from donations.

$75,000 vs. $110,000.

Here are sources, in case anyone doesn't believe this actually happened.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/012601_nw_xiana_timeline.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/04/02/national/main179105.shtml

There is nothing wrong with trying to find ways to keep cherished pets. The problem occurs when people don't think rationally about pets. Prior to transporting a pet in the cargo hold of an airplane, investigate the procedures and policies of your chosen air carrier. Here's a page with some pretty scary warnings.

http://www.msu.edu/~silvar/airplane.htm

Are you risking your pet's life and health because of your emotional attachment? Perhaps the responsible thing to do rather than subjecting it to the horrors of travel, is to leave it behind. When you reach your new destination visit the animal shelter. Maybe the pet you adopt there will be one that someone else has left behind hoping the animal would find a new responsible owner.

[sweetpea]

I would suggest a read of Simon Bond's 101 Uses for a Dead Cat. It's nothing personal about your cat issue... I don't like them, it's true, and I can understand both sides of the debate. Yes, on the one hand responsilibity, commitment, blah blah blah and, conversely, IT'S A FREAKIN' CAT... GET OVER IT....

Anyway, I thought this forum needed a good laugh... maybe I didn't achieve it, but maybe, just maybe someone out there remembers that oh-so-brilliant work of Mr. Bond!!!

[istanbullheaded]

Wow, I didn't expect my post to spur such a debate. Look, I love my cat a lot. I know it doesn't slobber all over me like a dog, and I love dogs, too, but this cat means a lot to me. That doesn't mean I value animals over people, either, but I don't know any person who could make me feel as relaxed and needed on a regular basis. Why shouldn't this be a valid need of mine, and one that should be fulfilled, and could be fulfilled by a cat? And why isn't it my right to bring a living thing that fulfills this need for me wherever I go? (By the way, I'm a he.)

And what's so much better about having an extended family over pets? I suppose it's a more efficient use of resources and has psychological and practical benefits. But as far as Turks go, I reckon half the ones I've talked to say the only reason they stay with their extended family is because of economic reasons, and that they would prefer to be living on their own. I'll bet I appreciate individualism and solitude more than a lot of people in the world being more used to it being from a nuclear family setup, but a lot of times, from speaking to Turkish friends who live with extended families, I haven't been so sure solitude and independence is so culturally relative. Also, I would love to harness the energy spent in the avoidance of relatives and the inevitable fuss caused by the lack of individual freedom and solitude from living with an extended family. Maybe we wouldn't need the sun anymore Of course, I may have missed everyone's point on this one.

Another thing -- though I'm not referring to any of the posters here, because I think everyone has brought up sensible points, and I appreciate trying to find a home for the animal as a good idea -- but it's amazing the great level of insensitivity normally decent people around me have shown me when I've mentioned how much I care for my cat and how difficult it has been to get it out of the country. Their remarks, such as why don't I just kill the cat, have to be as shocking as seeing a dog at the dinner table, which I agree is morally repellant.

And I do indeed think I've done something good by taking a cat off the street (and having it spayed in case it runs off) though I am now going to my home in another country. While I love seeing cats running around my home in Taksim, I don't love seeing the ones who are limping or ones like the one today I saw today with the red muscle of its shoulder exposed, probably after a cat fight or lord knows what else.

I don't know much about what airlines have to deal with, but it surprises me that at this point in history, and considering the great importance a lot of people place on their pets (I suppose in Western cultures, anyway) that airlines don't have better policies to deal with pets. My current plan is to take Turkish Airlines, which seems reasonable (the TA rep I talked to said I could take my cat on board if under 6 kilos, for an extra 170 dollars), then when I get to the US, get a rental car and head home. I would take a rental car because I don't want to put my cat in a bag or put it in the cargo hold, or make it hang on to one of the wings, or whatever is required by an airline I would take at my connection in the US.

Has anyone tried taking a pet in a rental car?

[Bogazicibaby]

[istanbullheaded]

Whoops! I didn't see all of the responses because I thought they were all on one page ... Good point about the trauma travel causes pets. This is a concern of mine, but at least I'm going to try to minimize it.

I'm not going to travel with my cat unless it is a move for several years or more, I'm going to get the shortest flight possible, and I'm not going to let the cat be placed in cargo, because of the horror stories. MarcusK, thanks for the website info, which I will certainly check out.

One point though: Yes, sometimes animals are valued over humans, which isn't right. But why shouldn't BOTH be valued greatly? I knows I'm living in a fantasy world with this, but pets shouldn't be undervalued any more than they should be overvalued.

Bogazicibaby, Gelin, et al. thanks for your help again. I think I've got it figured out.

Kendine iyi bak

[vre]

Nuff said about this topic I reckon

Good Luck to you and your p.ussy

[Bogazicibaby]

ok, just saw this and thought I would post it just in case anyone is interested.
Maria

mymerhaba has a current article on airline travel with cats
the link is http://www.mymerhaba.com/en/main/content.asp_Q_id_E_1823

[stillnosheep]

Hello sweetpea, hello vre!