Well I have arrived in England. For those of you that do not know, I will be here for the next 3 months and for the following 3 months, I will be in Croatia Why you ask? Well why not?
Part of my heart has always been in Europe and for the last 10 years I have been moving towards getting out of working in an office, to working for myself, so that I could travel. And this is the year that it has finally happened. I have a friend here in the military for the next 3 years, so why not take advantage of living in a new country and hanging out with a friend as well.
We, I say we because I brought my cat, Noodle, arrived last week on May 2, 2012. Noodle has never travelled before and it was up to her mom to make sure her papers were in order… I failed. Now I am not going to take complete responsibility as the paper work is not clear.
England, Australian and Europe (I am sure there are other countries) all work on a pet passport, which means that all the animals information is contained in one booklet, and therefore you do not have to run around getting paperwork signed by a multitude of people. Canada and as far as I can tell, the USA, do not have pet passports. So we have to print out Annex II and have it filled in. Annex II is for the European Union but as England has stopped quarantining animals they now accept this paperwork.
Unfortunately there is no one in Canada to help you fill out these paper, not all vets are familiar with travelling pets, and Air Canada Cargo sees these papers everyday but only photocopy them and attach them to the crate. So you have to muddle through on your own. I want to mention, that I did call PET SCHEME in England and all they said was that she needed a rabies shot and a microchip. They were not even familiar with the paperwork that they were suppose to accept!
And so I filled out the paper work. Where did I go wrong? I did not get a Canadian Authorized Veterinarian stamp. Now to me, my Vet was a Canadian Authorized Vet…. apparently not. I talked to one woman from Halifax and she called Health and Welfare (I think thats who she called) and they told her there is a Vet at the airport that you have to meet to get this stamp. Do you not think that this is something the Cargo people might know? again apparently not.
Also the microchip # was not on the SAME page as the rabies vaccination. All my paperwork was referenced so they knew it was the same cat but it had to be on the same page.
ARC (Animal Reception Centre) at Heathrow Airport was wonderful, especially Ann. They assured me Noodle was ok. That she had water and had been offered food but I was not allowed to see her. I should mention that I arrived at 7am, and was at ARC by 8:30am. I was told I would have Noodle within the hour… not to be.
After the discovery of the stamp I was told that I would have to wait for the Vet to arrive, which would be at noon. Once the Rabies/Microchip issue was found I would still have to wait for the Vet and I would have to buy a Pet Passport. ARC would also have to fax my Vet in Ottawa, get them to sign a sheet and fax it back… my Vet opens at 7:30am which would be 12:30pm London time…. If this sheet was not signed by the time the British Vet was finished at ARC (he is only there twice a day for an hour), I would have to wait till 7pm for him to return.
Poor Noodle… She had been in that crate since May 1 at 3:30pm (8:30pm London time)…. if my vet did not get this paper back, Noodle would have to be in the crate for almost 24 hours. Then she would have to drive in a car for 3 hours to get to my friends house. This is when you start to question the logic of bringing your pet with you.
So we waited…. bad news, my Vet has an automatic response that says they will get back to you in 48 hours… We saw the British Vet arrive…. Ann came out and gave me the thumbs up….I was elated! They had reached my Vet!… Better said Ann, the Vet has agreed to sign the Pet Passport without the signed paper as he is comfortable with the referencing of all the paperwork. I would have Noodle in an hour… I almost burst into tears!
So, at 1:45pm, Noodle was released. She came out with eyes wide like saucers, terrified. I took her out of her crate and hugged her…. she was shaking. I let her walk around on the grass for a bit and then we headed to the Jeep. There is a 250 Pound fine here, if your animals are free in the vehicle… thankfully Roberta is a animal lover and saw how distressed the poor Noodle was, so she sat on my lap and off we went.
I am happy to say that she was quick to recover. She did not sleep but she did curl up on my lap and rested. We arrived at Roberta's home around 5pm and noodle scouted out her new home. Pretty soon she was claiming the back of the couch so she could look out the window.
So in the end, I think it was worth it. Noodle is not a lover of other people nor other animals and when she spent 5 months with my sister, her dog and her cat, 2 years ago, I was told it was not a happy experience for anyone. 24 hrs of hell but 6 months with me, I do believe Noodle is happier. Ultimately if someone else is looking after your pet for 6 months, then really, is she your pet?
I would love to hear other stories of travelling with a pet, so please feel free to share.
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