Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gajackson1]

Hello, Korean side of the board! How y'all doing?

Brunei is great, and my cats come out of quarantine in 1-2 more weeks.

If anyone is either trying to get their pets to SoKo, or out of SoKo back to your own country/your next destination, Christina & II can highly rec going through Gina at petairline if you start having any problems you can't handle.

Info is as follows -


Miss Gina Nam ([email protected])

AVI Operation Manager



Your Pet,My Kids.

ExpolinePetAirline

Member of IPATA & AATA

www.petairline.co.kr

Tel +82-2-2667-0112

Fax +82-2-2667-0168

Room 201, Gonghang-dong, Kangseo-gu, Seoul, Korea

Cheers!

Glen

ps - we did try other agents, but we got stupidly expensive quotes. Gina handled it well, and the cost was managable, too.

[KAMAKAZI]

what do services do they provide?

isn't it cheaper to just fly with your pet/cage on your own?

never did before so i have no idea

[gajackson1]

well, as Gina freely admits on her site (it is in the FAQ, which looks like a cut&paste job from somewhere else), yes - it SHOULD be cheaper to do it on your own. For domestic flights, that is the way you should go. But international flights are very different.

But Christina's & my practical experience was that it was almost impossible to do on our own. For her, taking the dog back to the USA was no major problem - just expensive. But for me, bringing 3 cats to Brunei? it was a logistic nightmare.

I've been flying with Cathay for around 15 years now. I know it SHOULD be possible to do it. But Cathay/Korea was not my problem - it was DoAgriculture in HongKong - who has their own set of rules, even for transits. And it is essentially impossible to get the permits for even a plane-to-plane transfer if you don't know the forms & the right people.

In short, I wanted to take 3 domestic shorthair housecats to Brunei. They had all shots already.

*I needed forms from Brunei stating that it would be ok to bring them.
*These required forms proving their vaccination statuses.
*The cats also had to be microchipped, and the mc had to meet a set standard acceptable for Brunei.
*The cats also had to be individually blood serum tested for rabies, and these results certified and returned to Brunei.
*THEN the initial permit for permission was issued.
*Next, we had to locate a carrier who could/would take them, as well as proper kennels that met the IATA requirements.
*The paperwork (over 10 pages) had to be processed for Singapore air (their first carrier).
*Paperwork for HK transit.
*Paperwork for Dragon Air (2nd carrier)
*Pre-paperwork for arrival in Brunei.
*Transit to the airport quarantine for last check before leaving Korea.
*Paperwork for their actual arrival in Brunei.

Not to mention the agents along the way who took care of checking their cages, water bottles, etc. If you have multiple stopovers/plane changes, you can NOT check on your own animals!

If you look at websites, they give regulations for taking pets. But the reality is it is MUCH harder than what you see on the airline websites.

Regards,

Glen

the web link itself will tell you what they can & can't do, & Gina was great about answering questions trying to help me, BEFORE I ever turned it over to her to handle. Regardless, giving enough time is the biggest obstacle, it seems. Generally only a couple of animals are allowed on any flight in any case; they need 'reservations' as well.

[potin14p]

another thumbs up for Gina from me. My cat and I and heading back to NZ early next year, and NZ has pretty strict regulations. Dr Jung at Songpa vet in Seoul(PM me if you need his number) , and Gina work together to sort all the stuff out for you. Yes, it works out to be expensive, but I think that's a given when you're moving pets overseas. The service includes pickup here in South Korea right through to dropping off your pet at quarantine facilities in your destination country.
also, remember that if you are taking your pet to either NZ/UK, you need to starting getting ready at least six months before you fly out.

[gajackson1]

Oh - good call. Let me drop the info for anyone in the Sanbon/Anyang~ish area who needs a GREAT vet -

Dr Yeon-sook Jho was our vet for 5 years - she helped with Gaegogee, our cats, even our rabbits, birds, and the occasional hurt animal we came across. She studied in the UK, and is VERY caring & professional. She let friends of ours put up kittens/puppies in the display windows when they needed to be found homes. (NO, that does NOT mean you can just go abandon animals with her!!!) And she has pretty good English, as well.

Besides the animal hospital/clinic, she also works with the zoos & Korean govt. on other special cases - we have gone in and found a hawk, large iguanas, hedgehogs, and other animals under her care.

They deal with just about anything, and provide fairly inexpensive boarding & grooming services, as well.

Snoopy Veterinary Medical Center

1132 San-bon Dong, Chang-sun Bldg #101
Gun-po Shi, Gyung-gi Do

The clinic is easy to find - it is directly behind the San-bon E-mart, right on the corner, across from the E-mart parking garage entrance/exit. Just look for the animals in the windows.

E-mail: Mampig (at) paran.com
Ph# 031.397.0071/0072

If I am not mistaken, she still has Bobby & Jill, my 2 chipmunks, on display in the front of the store.

Regards,

Glen

[Taya]

Does anyone have any information about bringing over pet rats? I know they have a pretty negative reputation in North America but I don't know how the general Korean population feels about them. Couple of questions:

1. Will it be any more difficult to find housing that allows rats than other pets?

2. Will the airline take them? The petairline website never specifies what pets are allowed.

3. What would be the best way to send over their huge ass cage? It's pretty big; as big as a ferret cage.

Thanks for any info you might have. I'd really really like to take my rats with me instead of finding them new homes.

[tranamah]

i don't recommend their price. it cost us $600 to get our dog to Korea. it would have cost us $3000 - $5000 to bring him here through the agency. depending on the country that you're leaving / entering, i think you should try to do it yourself first...unless you're the guy on the cover of new york times who took his dog to 34 countries and is obviously dripping in money.

[Kimchieluver]