First, this is only a first hand account of my personal experience. This is not advice, but a story.
Second, this is not a slam against any government. This is just a biographical story. If you are a government and I say something wrong by accident, just send me a comment. It is easy to make corrections.
Ready? Let's begin.
I am American. Surprise! But, you probably already figured that out. I lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for almost 6 years. I used to love taking my beloved Jeep Wrangler up into the mountains between the UAE and Oman. Some of the best times in the great outdoors were up in the Musandam region of Oman. Amazing place. Great snorkeling, too. Being an ex-pat totally rocked, but it is seriously good to be home.
So....onto the saga of how we got the pets out. We have a dog, Jesse, and a cat, Max. Jesse is a standard Sulki mix looking UAE mutt dog. Max was born with a birth defect in his right front paw and is sorta a three legged kitty who used to roam Jumeirah/Umm Suquiem occasionally hanging out in the garden of the Romanian Consulate. Jesse was found starving and pregnant with seven puppies roaming the streets of Ras al Khaimah. Both our pets had a rough start.
We suspected back around the end of September (I think) that we might be headed home. I immediately began to look into how to import our pets into the States.
The websites (government, airlines etc) I did not find helpful, but I read them anyway. After much digging, I realized that we would need the following (may not be the correct terminology, but you'll get the idea). Remember, this is for going in the States which is pretty pet friendly.
1. microchip that must be implanted before most recent rabies vaccination
2. pet passport showing rabies vaccinations and deworming tablets (pills) given
3. Stamped and signed rabies vaccination certificate from a UAE vet with pet's microchip number
4. UAE issued Health Certificate (I think some folks call this an export certificate)
5. Screw worm free certificate for the dog but we got the cat one as well just to be safe.
6. If going into an area with heart worms, get animal started on heart worm preventative before leaving. Not a government requirement, but is a good idea for the animal.
Both our pets traveled as 'accompanied baggage'. Max went with the husband through Frankfurt via Lufthansa, and Jesse went with me through Amsterdam via KLM/Delta.
I had to have numbers 1-3 in order to finish booking the pets to fly - just in case the airlines asked. I booked the KLM/Delta people plane tickets using my VPN (If you don't know what that is don't worry. Just Google it.) so I could speak with an American to make sure nothing was lost in translation. When booking the plane tickets for the animals, I had to know the animals exact weight in lbs and kilos, the exact dimensions of their travel crates in in. and cm. and the exact weight of the travel crates. Finding airline approved travel crates in Dubai is very hard. Give yourself time to either bring one in when returning from a holiday at home, or plan on air freighting one in. Seriously. As soon as you adopt a pet in the UAE, get an airline approved travel crate. Don't wait until you are in the middle of a move (ok that was advice. Sorry.).
Once I made the people and animal reservations, I wanted to pay for the excess baggage fees for the animals to guarantee we didn't lose their spots on the plane. Airlines will only take around 3 animals per flight in the cargo hold. And, fyi the airlines have rules about animals traveling in really cold weather and really hot weather. We flew at pretty much a perfect time. The airlines would not allow me to pay this online or over the phone. Rats. So off to the ticket offices!
I did KLM/Delta first. I went with pet documents 1-3, a print out of my people reservations and my passport. I took the Metro. Super easy. I got off at the station across from Burjuman Mall. It was less than a block walk to the KLM office. It took me KNOWING and giving a reservationist's name from Delta to let the KLM people know that Jesse was booked but not paid for with Delta. The reservation guys at KLM double checked with Delta. I paid two fees - one to Delta, and one to KLM. It was about $700 total, I think. Amsterdam is pricey to fly through, but they are THE BEST I feel at dealing with pets. Once Jesse was all paid for, I got a print out that said I was traveling with a pet as accompanied baggage and that the pet was paid for in full.
Next was Lufthansa for Max. Again, I took the Metro and got off at the Trade Center. Lufthansa's ticket office was in the big white building that used to be the home of the US Consulate. Went up to Lufthansa's office. The man at the computer in the tiny foyer helped me. Since it was Lufthansa all the way home, it was easy. Made the payment, got the printout and I was done. Time to hop back on the Metro to go find a Starbucks.
The next step was I contacted Dubai Kennels and Cattery. I did not want to mess with getting the UAE Health Certificate on my own. Once the certificate was issued, it was good for travel within 30 days. I took the paperwork down to DKC's office in the industrial area across from Festival City. The maps on the DKC's website were great. But....typical of the region, I had to drive out via a totally different route from the one I drove in using. I dropped off the pet passports and the rabies certs along with the fee DKC charges and the fee the UAE charges. I think it was around $150 total.
I drove back to DKC about a week later to pick up the documents. All seemed well. Got all the way home (I lived out near Jebel Ali) and noticed that Jesse was listed on her UAE cert as a feline rather than as a canine. DKC came to my home, picked up the docs, got it corrected, and delivered it back to my home at no extra charge. Took about 3 days. Excellent.
I booked the animals final health checks WEEKS ahead with Al Barsha Vet clinic. I used that clinic as soon as we adopted pets because I heard they were good with the travel documents. That way, we already were established patients. The cat needed to be seen within 10 days of travel and the dog five days of travel. We got everybody vaccinated for everything months before per our usual vaccination schedule. This appointment was for final worm checks and to get the Screw Worm Free papers along with a standard kind of 'hey this critter is healthy paper'.
With all this in hand....I made color photo copies of all of it including the pet passports (which are kinda useless here in the States, I feel).
The husband and I traveled into different US cities since our car was being stored in one state but our new home was in another thus we flew different airlines. We arranged things so the husband could take me, kids and Jesse to the airport and a very close friend of mine could take the husband and Max to the airport for their flight.
The animal travel crates had to have a soft absorbant something in the bottom. We used the big cheap fleece blankets from Carrefour/Geant that are around 20AED. Worked great. The airlines don't like the animal to have had food prior to travel so the food/water dish only had water in it. We filled the dish with water the night before and froze it in the hopes that some of it would not spill out. We used zip ties/cable ties to help secure the dish to the crate since ours were not the screw on type. We marked the crate with our name, the animal's name and all our details just like a piece of luggage using a Sharpee Marker. The leash went in the checked luggage to avoid potential problems at security.
We got to the airport just over 3 hours early. I was freaking out about trying to take a dog into terminal 1 at DXB. We loaded Jesse into the travel crate in the parking lot while the crate was on a luggage cart from the airport. This was an 'all hands on deck' family affair. With 6 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 2 kids and the dog we proceeded into terminal 1. The husband went through with us into the check-in desk area. Before we could proceed to the check-in desk I had to remain calm and explain in simple English that the dog had a booking. It took 3 security people looking at her to get through. But, I guess she looked ok to them so on we went.
Because we were traveling with a dog, we got to check in using the first class counter. They asked for all our documents. I gave them the originals of everything. They gave my originals back after checking them and asked for my photocopies. The photocopies I had in a clear plastic folder along with a special paper I had printed off the airlines website that I filled in the night before with all our travel details. This all was taped to the top of the travel crate. KLM put 'live animal' and 'this side up' stickers on the crate. Lufthansa did not. The husband had to use a Sharpee marker at the airport to write this stuff on the crate for Max when they traveled. The rest of our luggage was marked 'priority' just like business or first class and we were 'in'. We walked with a special airline employee with Jesse in her crate until we had to part ways. The look she gave us as we headed away from her was heart wrenching.
If you don't have an e-gate card if you are a UAE resident, get one. It was totally worth it for us. (Sorry, more advice). It was so nice to quickly get through passport control when I was so stressed out about my poor dog. It felt so nice to sit at the Costa and enjoy a latte and an almond croissant.
We had just over 4 hours on the ground in Amsterdam. After snarfing 4 orders of poffertjes, fresh juice and loads of coffee, we headed for our gate. At the gate, I asked about Jesse. They radioed the 'dog hotel' for me and told me that she had been fed and walked and was doing well. I LOVE flying through Amsterdam, Schipol! Great food, lovely people, just wonderful wonderful wonderful.
When we landed in the States, I had no idea how we were going to claim Jesse at customs. I told the customs officer at passport control and on my blue form that I was bringing in my dog. We cleared passport, and there on a luggage cart at baggage was Jesse. We got all our bags, and a special porter to helped us. The customs guys asked to see our documents, they looked at Jesse and we were through! Done! Yippeeeee!!!!! And, I think the folks in Amsterdam gave Jesse a bath. The normal UAE dust in her fur was gone, and she smelled wonderful. The special porter got Jesse and all our stuff (we helped) out to where my father could meet us. My dad had dog food and blankets ready in the car along with water for Jesse. I cried when I saw my dad. We were home.
It was a long slog of work to get the animals home, but it wasn't hard. But, the whole process took weeks. I will answer comments/questions as best I can on my experience. Just click 'comments' or 'no comments' just below the post to leave a comment. If you know me, please don't use my name or your full name etc since this is a wide open blog.
Peace.
Second, this is not a slam against any government. This is just a biographical story. If you are a government and I say something wrong by accident, just send me a comment. It is easy to make corrections.
Ready? Let's begin.
I am American. Surprise! But, you probably already figured that out. I lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for almost 6 years. I used to love taking my beloved Jeep Wrangler up into the mountains between the UAE and Oman. Some of the best times in the great outdoors were up in the Musandam region of Oman. Amazing place. Great snorkeling, too. Being an ex-pat totally rocked, but it is seriously good to be home.
So....onto the saga of how we got the pets out. We have a dog, Jesse, and a cat, Max. Jesse is a standard Sulki mix looking UAE mutt dog. Max was born with a birth defect in his right front paw and is sorta a three legged kitty who used to roam Jumeirah/Umm Suquiem occasionally hanging out in the garden of the Romanian Consulate. Jesse was found starving and pregnant with seven puppies roaming the streets of Ras al Khaimah. Both our pets had a rough start.
We suspected back around the end of September (I think) that we might be headed home. I immediately began to look into how to import our pets into the States.
The websites (government, airlines etc) I did not find helpful, but I read them anyway. After much digging, I realized that we would need the following (may not be the correct terminology, but you'll get the idea). Remember, this is for going in the States which is pretty pet friendly.
1. microchip that must be implanted before most recent rabies vaccination
2. pet passport showing rabies vaccinations and deworming tablets (pills) given
3. Stamped and signed rabies vaccination certificate from a UAE vet with pet's microchip number
4. UAE issued Health Certificate (I think some folks call this an export certificate)
5. Screw worm free certificate for the dog but we got the cat one as well just to be safe.
6. If going into an area with heart worms, get animal started on heart worm preventative before leaving. Not a government requirement, but is a good idea for the animal.
Both our pets traveled as 'accompanied baggage'. Max went with the husband through Frankfurt via Lufthansa, and Jesse went with me through Amsterdam via KLM/Delta.
I had to have numbers 1-3 in order to finish booking the pets to fly - just in case the airlines asked. I booked the KLM/Delta people plane tickets using my VPN (If you don't know what that is don't worry. Just Google it.) so I could speak with an American to make sure nothing was lost in translation. When booking the plane tickets for the animals, I had to know the animals exact weight in lbs and kilos, the exact dimensions of their travel crates in in. and cm. and the exact weight of the travel crates. Finding airline approved travel crates in Dubai is very hard. Give yourself time to either bring one in when returning from a holiday at home, or plan on air freighting one in. Seriously. As soon as you adopt a pet in the UAE, get an airline approved travel crate. Don't wait until you are in the middle of a move (ok that was advice. Sorry.).
Once I made the people and animal reservations, I wanted to pay for the excess baggage fees for the animals to guarantee we didn't lose their spots on the plane. Airlines will only take around 3 animals per flight in the cargo hold. And, fyi the airlines have rules about animals traveling in really cold weather and really hot weather. We flew at pretty much a perfect time. The airlines would not allow me to pay this online or over the phone. Rats. So off to the ticket offices!
I did KLM/Delta first. I went with pet documents 1-3, a print out of my people reservations and my passport. I took the Metro. Super easy. I got off at the station across from Burjuman Mall. It was less than a block walk to the KLM office. It took me KNOWING and giving a reservationist's name from Delta to let the KLM people know that Jesse was booked but not paid for with Delta. The reservation guys at KLM double checked with Delta. I paid two fees - one to Delta, and one to KLM. It was about $700 total, I think. Amsterdam is pricey to fly through, but they are THE BEST I feel at dealing with pets. Once Jesse was all paid for, I got a print out that said I was traveling with a pet as accompanied baggage and that the pet was paid for in full.
Next was Lufthansa for Max. Again, I took the Metro and got off at the Trade Center. Lufthansa's ticket office was in the big white building that used to be the home of the US Consulate. Went up to Lufthansa's office. The man at the computer in the tiny foyer helped me. Since it was Lufthansa all the way home, it was easy. Made the payment, got the printout and I was done. Time to hop back on the Metro to go find a Starbucks.
The next step was I contacted Dubai Kennels and Cattery. I did not want to mess with getting the UAE Health Certificate on my own. Once the certificate was issued, it was good for travel within 30 days. I took the paperwork down to DKC's office in the industrial area across from Festival City. The maps on the DKC's website were great. But....typical of the region, I had to drive out via a totally different route from the one I drove in using. I dropped off the pet passports and the rabies certs along with the fee DKC charges and the fee the UAE charges. I think it was around $150 total.
I drove back to DKC about a week later to pick up the documents. All seemed well. Got all the way home (I lived out near Jebel Ali) and noticed that Jesse was listed on her UAE cert as a feline rather than as a canine. DKC came to my home, picked up the docs, got it corrected, and delivered it back to my home at no extra charge. Took about 3 days. Excellent.
I booked the animals final health checks WEEKS ahead with Al Barsha Vet clinic. I used that clinic as soon as we adopted pets because I heard they were good with the travel documents. That way, we already were established patients. The cat needed to be seen within 10 days of travel and the dog five days of travel. We got everybody vaccinated for everything months before per our usual vaccination schedule. This appointment was for final worm checks and to get the Screw Worm Free papers along with a standard kind of 'hey this critter is healthy paper'.
With all this in hand....I made color photo copies of all of it including the pet passports (which are kinda useless here in the States, I feel).
The husband and I traveled into different US cities since our car was being stored in one state but our new home was in another thus we flew different airlines. We arranged things so the husband could take me, kids and Jesse to the airport and a very close friend of mine could take the husband and Max to the airport for their flight.
The animal travel crates had to have a soft absorbant something in the bottom. We used the big cheap fleece blankets from Carrefour/Geant that are around 20AED. Worked great. The airlines don't like the animal to have had food prior to travel so the food/water dish only had water in it. We filled the dish with water the night before and froze it in the hopes that some of it would not spill out. We used zip ties/cable ties to help secure the dish to the crate since ours were not the screw on type. We marked the crate with our name, the animal's name and all our details just like a piece of luggage using a Sharpee Marker. The leash went in the checked luggage to avoid potential problems at security.
We got to the airport just over 3 hours early. I was freaking out about trying to take a dog into terminal 1 at DXB. We loaded Jesse into the travel crate in the parking lot while the crate was on a luggage cart from the airport. This was an 'all hands on deck' family affair. With 6 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 2 kids and the dog we proceeded into terminal 1. The husband went through with us into the check-in desk area. Before we could proceed to the check-in desk I had to remain calm and explain in simple English that the dog had a booking. It took 3 security people looking at her to get through. But, I guess she looked ok to them so on we went.
Because we were traveling with a dog, we got to check in using the first class counter. They asked for all our documents. I gave them the originals of everything. They gave my originals back after checking them and asked for my photocopies. The photocopies I had in a clear plastic folder along with a special paper I had printed off the airlines website that I filled in the night before with all our travel details. This all was taped to the top of the travel crate. KLM put 'live animal' and 'this side up' stickers on the crate. Lufthansa did not. The husband had to use a Sharpee marker at the airport to write this stuff on the crate for Max when they traveled. The rest of our luggage was marked 'priority' just like business or first class and we were 'in'. We walked with a special airline employee with Jesse in her crate until we had to part ways. The look she gave us as we headed away from her was heart wrenching.
If you don't have an e-gate card if you are a UAE resident, get one. It was totally worth it for us. (Sorry, more advice). It was so nice to quickly get through passport control when I was so stressed out about my poor dog. It felt so nice to sit at the Costa and enjoy a latte and an almond croissant.
We had just over 4 hours on the ground in Amsterdam. After snarfing 4 orders of poffertjes, fresh juice and loads of coffee, we headed for our gate. At the gate, I asked about Jesse. They radioed the 'dog hotel' for me and told me that she had been fed and walked and was doing well. I LOVE flying through Amsterdam, Schipol! Great food, lovely people, just wonderful wonderful wonderful.
When we landed in the States, I had no idea how we were going to claim Jesse at customs. I told the customs officer at passport control and on my blue form that I was bringing in my dog. We cleared passport, and there on a luggage cart at baggage was Jesse. We got all our bags, and a special porter to helped us. The customs guys asked to see our documents, they looked at Jesse and we were through! Done! Yippeeeee!!!!! And, I think the folks in Amsterdam gave Jesse a bath. The normal UAE dust in her fur was gone, and she smelled wonderful. The special porter got Jesse and all our stuff (we helped) out to where my father could meet us. My dad had dog food and blankets ready in the car along with water for Jesse. I cried when I saw my dad. We were home.
It was a long slog of work to get the animals home, but it wasn't hard. But, the whole process took weeks. I will answer comments/questions as best I can on my experience. Just click 'comments' or 'no comments' just below the post to leave a comment. If you know me, please don't use my name or your full name etc since this is a wide open blog.
Peace.
That was informative about relocating your dog and cat. I'll be moving 6 cats to the US from Abu Dhabi in a couple of months, can you tell me how it all went with Lufthansa? I brought 3 in from Thailand and had to go cargo, I don't want to do that again, too expensive. I'd like all 6 to go as accompanied baggage. 3 with me and then the next day 3 with my husband.
ReplyDeleteThanks
My husband flew with the cat via Lufthansa. He seemed to think it went well. I don't know how/what kind of care Max Kitty received while on lay-over in Frankfurt. I can tell you that the first thing Max did when he reached his new home was head straight for the litter box. But, he seemed in good health. I had both critters checked out by our vet here in the States after we had been home a couple of weeks just to be sure and to establish a relationship with a vet. If you haven't already, definately take the time to read through whatever Lufthansa has up on their website about transporting pets. Hope all goes well with your move!
DeleteI should also add....I am not a 'pet relocation expert'. I just hope that someone finds my experience somehow helpful!
DeleteThis blog has been an invaluable guide to planning my dog's getaway back to the USA, which occurs in two weeks. I have followed this advice religiously, and it has served me well. However, nothing ever stays the same in UAE, so I thought I might add my experiences, where they differ slightly from the author's.
ReplyDelete1) When I called Delta in the US, the agent was clearly not versed in international flights, so I called KLM in Dubai to make Muffin's reservation. The agent's English was excellent and she was very helpful. So don't worry about not speaking to an American.
2) Now, KLM takes your money by credit card on the phone, so I didn't have to go to the office, and thus did not have to present any rabies or other documentation.
3) My vet, Blue Oasis in The Green Community, DIP, advised me to get the export certificate myself. Petzone Chalet, where we usually board our miniature schnauzer, would get it for 450 dirhams. Following the Blue Oasis vet's directions, we went to the Ministry of Environment and Water on the first floor near the Sky Cargo Building in Cargo Village next to Terminal One at DBX. The process was insanely easy, and the cost was 100 dirhams. I was supposed to bring my passport, which I forgot, but the vet said my Emirates ID would be enough. I also needed the rabies vaccine shown on the pet passport and the micro chip, which the vet scanned for. Of course, Muffin isn't on the plane yet, as this is being written, so who really knows if I have all the documentation correct.
3) Our travel had to be booked and paid for by my husband's company's travel agency, which made booking the dog's reservation directly with KLM awkward, but doable. There is a 24 hour delay in confirming the flight availability if you are connecting to a US airlines in Amsterdam, so there was a delay in getting the necessary confirmation back to the US travel agent so she could book the actual 'people' tickets.
If I were you, I'd take my comments with a grain of salt until I post again, in two weeks, when we are successfully back in the States. The proof is in the pudding. Right now, I have my fingers crossed.
So glad the blog has been helpful. Peace to you and Muffin and safe travels
ReplyDeleteAs promised, I can report that Muffin is safe back in the US. Although we had a few unexpected events, I will confine my comments to events different or complementary to the comments above, to give readers a newer perspective on exiting Dubai with a pet.
ReplyDelete1) Remember that, if you are spending your last week in an executive furnished apartment rather than your own villa or apartment, you will probably need to house your dog at a kennel.
2) Furthermore, when you make your last trip to the airport, with family, luggage, airport crate and dog, you will probably not be able to take a cab or hotel limo service, because technically dogs are not allowed in them. (This a Muslim country, after all) Therefore, to be safe, you will need to plan on having a friend transport you or using a rental car that you have arranged to leave at the airport. We did the latter, which worked out fine. We also had a cab riding in caravan with us, because all the luggage, crate and creatures didn't fit in the rental car.
3) The government veterinarian said we might need a "European Clearance Certificate" from our vet and that we would need to return to the gov't vet to get acknowledgement of that certificate on the Export certificate. Her reasoning was that the dog would be at KLM for 5 hours, even though it would not go through Dutch customs. Our own vet assured us that was not necessary, and she was correct.
4) I was quite paranoid that the dog might be rejected by KLM at the check-in counter, even though we had followed every instruction to the letter. In the UAE, because everything is always changing, you never know if you have done everything right until it is actually done. However, our check-in was a breeze. The only paperwork the counter clerk looked at was the Export certificate, and only to see if it indicated Muffin was vaccinated. No one EVER bothered to look in the crate; Muffin could have had two heads and no one would have noticed. A special KLM porter escorted the crate to the cargo area after we said our goodbyes When I got to the gate and asked if Muffin was aboard, there, at the other end of the gate counter, was Muffin's escort! So all went smoothly in Dubai.
5) I'm not so sure how well Muffin was treated at KLM's famed 'pet hotel' in Amsterdam. The KLM porter closed Muffin's kennel door with four black non-removable plastic ratchet ties in Dubai. When we got him 24 hours later in Boston, exactly the same four ties were still on the door. Either they use the EXACT same ties and put them in the EXACT same location at Amsterdam, or poor Muffin never got let out of the crate for a bathroom break in Amsterdam.
6) A week later, we finished our repatriation trip with a 6 hour flight from Boston to Las Vegas on Jet Blue, selected because it offers the only direct flight to LV. Check-in there was a breeze also. However, we were lucky that Muffin plus his on-board soft kennel weigh less than Jet Blue's 20 lb maximum, because Jet Blue doesn't allow pets in the cargo hold. (By the way, they didn't weigh him, so we probably could have finessed that limitation.) Like KLM, they never even looked at the kennel, let alone at the dog inside. That was fortunate, because Muffin cannot stand up in a kennel that fits under an airport seat; he has to lie down for the whole flight.
So, all's well that ends well. The message is that you don't need to stress as much as I did, because everything worked out fine in the end.
Thanks so much for the info, and so glad to hear that Muffin and family are safe and happy. Also, thanks for the bit about taxis/hotel transportation. My husband took myself, kids and Jesse Dog to the airport, then a good friend took husband and Max Kitty to the airport a few days later.
Delete