Indy Goes to Doggie Jail − 2 May, 2000
Today we sent Indy on ahead of us to Australia. It has been a long, rough road over the last several months to get to this point.
Soon after we received confirmation of my wife's assignment to Australia, we started wondering what we were going to do with our pets, Sancho and Indy. We wanted to take them both -- they're part of the family, and my wife and I are both of the mindset "leave no man behind." After a few weeks of research, we found out that we couldn't take Sancho, our cockatiel -- it was damn-near impossible to import birds of any kind into Australia, and bringing in a native species was all but forbidden. Sancho would be staying in Colorado with family.
Indy, on the other hand, was coming with us. At first, we didn't think so. It seemed that he would have to sit in quarantine in Sydney for six months before we could pick him up. Shit. Six months in quarantine would not be good for Indy (or any dog, for that matter). We just about decided then and there to leave him behind with Sancho, but after digging a bit further we found out that if all the appropriate vaccinations and blood tests were done according to a very precise schedule, then the stay in quarantine could be reduced to as little as thirty days.
We opted for the thirty days. However, we were already at the point where we needed to get things moving with his vaccinations and tests. Fortunately, our vet was incredible. The entire staff at the clinic went above and beyond to get everything done and ready for Indy. They coordinated with both the US Department of Agriculture and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
For part of this preparation period, my wife and I attempted to get everything done and organized for Indy's travel and quarantine by ourselves. Then we started freaking out that we might miss something; forget some small but critical point, and the end result would be that AQIS would "destroy" Indy upon arrival into Australia.
That bit had us seriously concerned.
We happened across some information about businesses that specialize in shipping animals to various countries. We contacted one in California and were immediately comfortable with them. Our contact, Diana, put us at ease and took over the handling of the details from us. Her company ships animals to and from Australia daily, so she knew the process and the people. Diana saved us from a lot of headaches and grief.
That brings us to today -- shipping day for Indy. We are sending him ahead of us by a month so when we arrive in Australia we can go straight to the quarantine station and pick him up. All seemed to be in order until we got to the United cargo building this morning. The guy at the desk said we, as Joe Ordinary people, couldn't just show up there and try to have our dog shipped. Only licensed professionals could do that.
What the fuck?! No one told us that! The clock was ticking for the flight Indy was supposed to be on, and we really started to freak the fuck out. We went back out to the car and called Diana to explain what was going on and to see if she could help.
She said that what they were telling us was bullshit, and called the United cargo office to "straighten them out." Well, they gave her the same bullshit. She wasn't fazed, though. She called someone she knew in Denver that was in the animal shipping business. It just so happened that this local woman was on her way to the airport to drop off some animals at another cargo building. She stopped by the United building and signed off the forms for Indy and got everything square with the asshole behind the United desk.
It is an extreme relief to know that Indy is safely on his way to Los Angeles and from there to Australia. Still, it wasn't an easy thing to send him off to doggie jail for a month in a different country.
The thorn in my ass about all this (besides the dickhead at United) is the expense. Vaccinations, tests, vet fees, shipping fees, airline fees, quarantine fees, etc. It just smacks of some sort of government-sanctioned scam to bilk pet owners out of their money. I wonder how I can get in on that action...
Soon after we received confirmation of my wife's assignment to Australia, we started wondering what we were going to do with our pets, Sancho and Indy. We wanted to take them both -- they're part of the family, and my wife and I are both of the mindset "leave no man behind." After a few weeks of research, we found out that we couldn't take Sancho, our cockatiel -- it was damn-near impossible to import birds of any kind into Australia, and bringing in a native species was all but forbidden. Sancho would be staying in Colorado with family.
Indy, on the other hand, was coming with us. At first, we didn't think so. It seemed that he would have to sit in quarantine in Sydney for six months before we could pick him up. Shit. Six months in quarantine would not be good for Indy (or any dog, for that matter). We just about decided then and there to leave him behind with Sancho, but after digging a bit further we found out that if all the appropriate vaccinations and blood tests were done according to a very precise schedule, then the stay in quarantine could be reduced to as little as thirty days.
We opted for the thirty days. However, we were already at the point where we needed to get things moving with his vaccinations and tests. Fortunately, our vet was incredible. The entire staff at the clinic went above and beyond to get everything done and ready for Indy. They coordinated with both the US Department of Agriculture and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
For part of this preparation period, my wife and I attempted to get everything done and organized for Indy's travel and quarantine by ourselves. Then we started freaking out that we might miss something; forget some small but critical point, and the end result would be that AQIS would "destroy" Indy upon arrival into Australia.
That bit had us seriously concerned.
We happened across some information about businesses that specialize in shipping animals to various countries. We contacted one in California and were immediately comfortable with them. Our contact, Diana, put us at ease and took over the handling of the details from us. Her company ships animals to and from Australia daily, so she knew the process and the people. Diana saved us from a lot of headaches and grief.
That brings us to today -- shipping day for Indy. We are sending him ahead of us by a month so when we arrive in Australia we can go straight to the quarantine station and pick him up. All seemed to be in order until we got to the United cargo building this morning. The guy at the desk said we, as Joe Ordinary people, couldn't just show up there and try to have our dog shipped. Only licensed professionals could do that.
What the fuck?! No one told us that! The clock was ticking for the flight Indy was supposed to be on, and we really started to freak the fuck out. We went back out to the car and called Diana to explain what was going on and to see if she could help.
She said that what they were telling us was bullshit, and called the United cargo office to "straighten them out." Well, they gave her the same bullshit. She wasn't fazed, though. She called someone she knew in Denver that was in the animal shipping business. It just so happened that this local woman was on her way to the airport to drop off some animals at another cargo building. She stopped by the United building and signed off the forms for Indy and got everything square with the asshole behind the United desk.
It is an extreme relief to know that Indy is safely on his way to Los Angeles and from there to Australia. Still, it wasn't an easy thing to send him off to doggie jail for a month in a different country.
The thorn in my ass about all this (besides the dickhead at United) is the expense. Vaccinations, tests, vet fees, shipping fees, airline fees, quarantine fees, etc. It just smacks of some sort of government-sanctioned scam to bilk pet owners out of their money. I wonder how I can get in on that action...
