Taking Your Dog Abroad, or Finding Him the Right Home
Picture a woman named Colleen, sixty-two, who is moving abroad in the autumn and has a nine-year-old retriever named Murphy. For three weeks she reads about moving dogs, and every page adds a step.
Murphy needs a microchip and a rabies vaccination. Some countries also want a blood test that shows the vaccine worked, and a waiting period after it. A vet has to sign a health certificate within a few days of travel, and an official office often has to stamp it. The airline has rules about the crate, the weight, the length of the flight and the temperature on the ground. In summer, some airlines will not carry dogs in the cargo hold at all.
Colleen writes it all in a notebook. Then she writes the harder questions. How does Murphy do in a crate? Is the flight long? Will his hips cope with the stairs in her new building? What will the first July be like for a retriever in a hot city?
She decides to take him, in October, on a direct flight, after a vet checks his joints. The paperwork and the flight cost about $2,800. On the first evening in the new apartment, Murphy walks the rooms twice and falls asleep against her feet.
Picture another woman, Rita, sixty-six, with a fourteen-year-old dog who has arthritis and a heart that tires easily. Rita goes through the same list and reaches another answer. A long flight and a hot summer would be hard on him. Her niece has a yard and two children who adore the dog, and she says yes.
Rita visits twice a year. The dog has a good old age with the people he knows. When she tells friends, she does not say she gave him up. She says she found him the right home.
Both women chose out of love, and neither answer is wrong. What differs is the dog, the flight, the climate and who is available. The list of questions is the same for both.
You could write your own list. How old is the dog? How does he do in a crate and on a plane? What is the weather where you are going, and when? What does the airline require, and what does the country require? If he did not come, who would give him a good home?
Pets are a cost that monthly spending figures do not show. If you have one, you could add the paperwork and the flight to the money you plan to bring.
What did you decide about a pet when you moved, or what are you thinking of deciding? Tell us in the comments. Someone reading may be at the same crossroads.
Tell us in the comments