Our other 'family member"

[Michael & Yi 1]

Hello everybody! I thought I'd start a little discussion about our "other" family member... our pet dog. I know it may be considered a bit off topic, but it is also a real immigration pain! And we want to know if anyone else has gone through it too.

Anyhow, my wife was approved in April, and her entry will be in a couple of weeks... We've gone through so many changes to our plans lately! We are currently in China. Our Dog is a German Shepherd. And those two things are like oil and water here. In the small town we were previously in, walking him was like walking a tiger or Grizzly. He is a well tempered, well mannered sweet dog - but, the towns people ALWAYS overreacted to seeing him. It is unbelievable, until you saw it. I will admit big dogs can be intimidating, but their reaction was to the point of foolishness. We you see a grown man scream like a little girl and run when he sees a leashed dog sitting 50 feet away... you get the idea.

Now as we prepare to leave we a temporarily in a big city, but the big cities have regulations and bans on big dogs... no dogs over something like 72 cm. nothing about being breed specific, just size wise. But, as we have found out, there are exceptions and ways around it.

Planning our flight has been a headache too! Shortly after my wife became approved, she looked into the requirements about our dog. And she bombarded me with "We have to leave by..." all of a sudden. She had been looking around, and only found one airline willing to take our dog as a checked bag... Sounds weird, but Delta would accept him the same as most dogs for the checked bag rate of only $200! But, they would have an embargo on animals after May! So, we had to hurry and finalize our plans. Ten we got bad news... after buying our ticket - Delta canceled our flight due to the Nuclear situation in Japan. They bought us tickets on Korean Airlines for around the same day, but KAL wouldn't take our dog as a checked bag. Instead they said they'd take him as Cargo... at a cost of around $2000! So, we started to plan around that... and then they told us his carrier was wrong, and that the cost would be more than $3000! ARGH! So we looked around, and found that he could just barely make it as a checked bag for China Southern... and, reluctantly we changed our plans again. We are reluctant both for having to change again, and also our experiences in China. But, we also felt no one here would take good care of our pet, and that the other airlines were being ridiculous. Unfortunately, we couldn't out-wait the embargo either... Delta only starts to accept dogs after her Visa expires! So, he's going to cost us a little over $1000 to get him to the US.

But now we are trying to get his paperwork together. Vaccination certificate... check. Now we need to get his medical check and get an import/export certificate for China. But, were caught in a pinch. The US wants a screwworm inspection within 5 days of him leaving, and it may not be enough time between that and our flight! Grrr. We can only ge tthe import/export certificate after having a health inspection. And it may take a couple of days to get the certificates... if they like us.

[Operator 1,927]

I have no experience but we are dog lovers also and I've often wondered about bringing my dog to China as we will likely move back there in a few years. I can only wish you the best of luck and hope he has a smooth journey.

[Harsh_77 718]

I can believe you, poor thing I would hate to put my dog thru all that stress.

I know most airlines are pain when it comes to dog and they would want to charge you as much as they can, if you own a big dog.

I dont know how you fulfill the requirement of dog getting checked for screw worm after 5 days of leaving while he is in transit.

[milimelo 4,502]

Sent you a pm with contact name.

[Moomin 292]

Ohh i feel ya!

My beloved dog is also a german shepherd. I'm planning on POE late June and even though I checked months ago I forgot about embargo. So I've been researching. Not only is her crate too big for checked baggage, there's also the heat. There's only one airport in Denmark I can go to and have her onboard as cargo which is 400 miles away from here. Gathering all the documents aren't that bad, I had most of them anyways as required by law in Denmark but the pain of finding an approved crate(and a bit oversized so she is comfy) and the ticket is overwhelming on top of gathering my own paperwork. But hey.. K1s and K9s stick together : )

Good luck on bringing your dog.