There was no question in my mind that if the dogs couldn’t come with to Canada, I wouldn’t go. Some people laughed at me but most understood, given how much a part of my life they are. A 7-month quarantine is one of the reasons why I would never consider going to live in Australia and I have no regard for anyone that puts their dogs down or gives them away when they leave. Owning a dog is a lifetime commitment; you don’t just give them away. I’m not talking about breakups and times when you just cant afford to keep them, or when you cant provide for them. I’m talking about having the conscious choice to emigrate, take furniture, children and money but leave your dogs behind because you don’t want the hassle, the costs or to have to pay more for a house with a yard. It’s horribly judgmental of me, but I make no apologies for how I feel. I honestly feel that we will be judged on how we treat animals (and our mothers, but that’s an entire blog on its own).
Anyway…I chose to bring all three of my fur children with me. The cost was not prohibitive, especially given the fact that there is no quarantine when coming into Canada. I booked them on the flight and then went through the agonizing process of reading up on the internet and calling the Pet Transport company constantly to ask questions about the containers, their food and water, the plane, the cabin pressure, the heat, the comfort, the delays, the layovers, the aeroplanes, the pilots and the staff. I even went so far as to email a friend, who is a pilot, to insist that they find the person flying the actual KLM planes and inform him exactly what kind of cargo he was about to carry and that if anything happened to them, I would FIND him (or her).
Petwings (who I think are absolutely fantastic) fetched the dogs last Monday afternoon from our soon to be ex-house in Parkhurst. Keith was hysterical. Dexter and Troy went quietly into their wooden crates, tail between the legs and lay down, dejected. Jessie was hysterical, screaming and throwing herself against the sides of the wooden crate. And off they went. Keith was about to fly himself, on a different airline and would be in the air when they landed. He wouldn’t know for about 10 hours if they were here safe or not.
I counted the hours, put a picture of them on my vision board, next to a picture of an aeroplane and tried not to think about it. I bought new collars, leads, food, bowls and treats (spending more on them than I did on the grocery shopping). At 4pm I made my way to the airport and went to KLM cargo. I walked in and announced that I was there to fetch my children just as Animal Services arrived to inspect them. I couldn’t see them, they didn’t know where the dogs were and all I had was a bunch of customs forms stating that 3 live animals needed to be inspected (damn straight they were 3 live animals). I was then told that I couldn’t see them until I went back to the main airport terminal and declared my import and paid my $42 customs duties. That took me an hour in the rush-hour traffic. By the time I got back to cargo the dogs had been inspected and deemed suitable for import and the three wooden crates were in eyes view. They were turned though so the dogs couldn’t see me but I could hear Dexter and Troy barking away, and Jessie chatting happily to anyone that walked past. Another South African family had arrived to fetch their two cats and they were just as anxious as me. Finally, after handing over my stamped forms, and paying another $60 I was allowed into the warehouse and boy did my babies go mad. I opened up the crates and they literally bounced right into the back of the car, lay down and went straight to sleep. We got home about an hour later and I took them for a nice long walk before introducing them to apartment life. All three are fast asleep at my feet. It’s like nothing happened and I would love to know exactly what they experienced on their journey. It’s pretty clear that they were treated exceptionally well, which is what I was promised. They flew for 11 hours from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, stayed at the animal hotel for 4 hours and then flew for 7 hours from Amsterdam to Toronto. They waited in customs for 3,5 hours before they got home. And they don’t seem to have been bothered at all. I have to pinch myself that they are actually here, in Canada. The squirrels fascinate Dexter, and they are all over the place. The other night I saw a raccoon and a skunk. I cant imagine what he would do if he saw that.
I am so privileged. I have International Dogs.
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