How many are leaving?

We were going anyway as we miss our kids in the states....would have stayed another year if not for Hovensa...

So many awesome people are leaving the island. Some not related to Havensa.

Funny this hasn't been mentioned, but, the spouses of those individuals from Havensa, that are leaving, will have to vacate their jobs as well. Therefor opening the door for some that won't be leaving.

Also, the animal shelters will probably have more drop offs in the months to come. I have heard several people state they will not be taking the pet with them. It is costly and with an unknown future, many will be staying with family or friends until a job is found. This angers me, as the animal will have no idea why the owner left him.

Would love to see the folks that are leaving join the Pets from Paradise and help get some of these puppies off island and in a good home stateside.

Also, the animal shelters will probably have more drop offs in the months to come. I have heard several people state they will not be taking the pet with them. It is costly and with an unknown future, many will be staying with family or friends until a job is found. This angers me, as the animal will have no idea why the owner left him.

Would love to see the folks that are leaving join the Pets from Paradise and help get some of these puppies off island and in a good home stateside.

No doubt the same thing happened on St Croix after Hugo's devastation but in the aftermath of Marilyn on St Thomas there were horrible scenes at the airport as hundreds of people left and many, unbelievably, dropped their animals off right on the airport grounds. The poor things didn't know what was going on. Many more people just left their "pets" to fend for themselves around their vacant apartments and houses. It was heartbreaking and I hope never to see anything like it again. There are alternatives. Thanks for bringing it up.

It always blows me away to hear of people leaving their pets behind when they move. I've lived and traveled all over the country, and my dog goes with me. She's a lot easier to travel with than a toddler, and yet you don't hear of anyone giving their kids away when they move. Please, if you're leaving the islands, find a way to take your furry friends with you. (And for that matter, if you're moving TO the VI, your pets should be part of the move!)

It is unbelievable that people would do that to their animals. At least if you are going to leave them, which they still won't understand, find them a good home. Abandoned animals have no idea why they are suddenly alone, they are terrified! At best, someone finds them and takes them to the shelter, at worst, they die, afraid and alone, or get killed by other wild strays.

For the record, I just left with my cat, and my partner is coming in early March with our dog. I was in a panic up to the day of the flight, but it is actually not that hard. You just have to make sure to communicate with the airline before and after you book your tickets. Also, make sure that whoever you deal with before you buy your ticket knows that there is a limit ot the number of carry on animals in first class and coach separately. The first guy I talked to didn't know and I couldn't book us on the original flight I bought! 🙂

All told, it was pretty easy to get the animals off island. Duke does a great (and quick and inexpensive) job of getting the health certificate, my cat, who is a B*tch was so scared in the airport, that when I took her out at security, she just clung to me. The security people took the crate and put it through, then brought it to me and held it open while I put her back in. And I was worried she would meow the whole time, but once the engines started, you couldn't hear it.

We brought our cat back with us. I was really worried because she was an indoor/outdoor cat who had never been in the cold. And she hated her carrier. But she was so freaked by the whole ordeal she was quiet for the 9 hours it took to get from the house on STX to our new apartment in Louisville. She found a "quiet" space behind the dryer and retired there when she needed to for the first week or so. After a month she seems acclimated to her new digs. It helps that either Ric or I are usually home.

She seems to remember the folks who visited on STX and will come out and "talk" to my son, daughter, daughter-in-law and grandkids. But she disappears when anyone else comes into the house.

I know I owe a leaving-the-island-report. I'll try and get that done next week.

After five years, our family will have to move back to the states, we have to stay to assist in finalizing the shut-down which means we won't be able to leave island until August. The problem is the airlines won't fly our two large dogs in the summer, the only option we've found so far is chartering a private plane to Miami. If anyone has any knowledge of traveling with aboard a cargo ship and whether dogs are alowed please send me a PM.

AllMashUp, we used Mike Foster. His Airline is Coastal Air. He can fly your dogs to San Juan and then from San Juan you can get them on a Continental Flight. Continental has an animal program and brought our three rotties to San Juan when we moved here. They have climate controlled holds for animals. They also can accommodate large animals. Our rotties were all over 100 lbs and had 700 series crates. My only concern would be the time of the year. I think you can only fly animals in a cargo hold during the cooler months even if they have a climate controlled place for animals. Call Continental for more information.

Hope this helps.

The major problem is indeed the time of year as all the airlines now prohibit transportation of animals during the summer months. The only thing might be to ship them back before you and your family leave in August if that could possibly work out where stateside family/friends are concerned. If any of the Hovensa people are returning stateside earlier and to your area you could have one of them check in the dogs and then have someone meet them at the other end. Good luck!

I recently moved our 100 lb dog to Florida.

AA would not allow him on their plane in STX (underneath) because he and his crate were over 100 lbs, --and AA does not have an air cargo facility on STX to handle 100+ lb cargo. Rules.

So I had to book a flight on Seaborne for the dog ($100) and me ($160 roundtrip) to take him to San Juan. (They had to disassemble the Large Dog crate and reassemble it inside the Seaborne plane cargo hold).

Once in San Juan, we took a taxi to the AA Air Cargo facility near the airport and put him on a flight to Miami ($600) as air cargo, --where family drove down to pick him up at the AA air cargo facility there. (Not all airports have AA air cargo facilities.)

all the airlines now prohibit transportation of animals during the summer months.

I think that's wrong, and one should check with the airlines. For example, the Delta Pet First program http://www.delta.com/business_programs_services/delta_cargo/products_rates_shipping/products/specialty_shipments/live_animals/pet_first/index.jsp says "Temperature restrictions [of 85F, for example] are based on the actual or forecasted temperature upon departure, transfer (if applicable) and arrival for each station on the itinerary." If you fly early or late in the day, or overnight, you could avoid the heat.

Also, the animal shelters will probably have more drop offs in the months to come. I have heard several people state they will not be taking the pet with them. It is costly and with an unknown future, many will be staying with family or friends until a job is found. This angers me, as the animal will have no idea why the owner left him.

Would love to see the folks that are leaving join the Pets from Paradise and help get some of these puppies off island and in a good home stateside.

No doubt the same thing happened on St Croix after Hugo's devastation but in the aftermath of Marilyn on St Thomas there were horrible scenes at the airport as hundreds of people left and many, unbelievably, dropped their animals off right on the airport grounds. The poor things didn't know what was going on. Many more people just left their "pets" to fend for themselves around their vacant apartments and houses. It was heartbreaking and I hope never to see anything like it again. There are alternatives. Thanks for bringing it up.

to me abandoning animals because it isn't conveniate for you is the lowest of the low. we all know or should know the quote from gandi the measurement of a society is how they treat their animals !!!

all the airlines now prohibit transportation of animals during the summer months.

I think that's wrong, and one should check with the airlines. For example, the Delta Pet First program http://www.delta.com/business_programs_services/delta_cargo/products_rates_shipping/products/specialty_shipments/live_animals/pet_first/index.jsp says "Temperature restrictions [of 85F, for example] are based on the actual or forecasted temperature upon departure, transfer (if applicable) and arrival for each station on the itinerary." If you fly early or late in the day, or overnight, you could avoid the heat.

It was probably incorrect to word it as a blanket prohibition but I believe one will find that any attempt to book in advance for a flight in the summer months when the average daily temperature is in the 80s will be met with a general negative. It seems from AllMashUp's post that he's already looked into it.

Continental is the only airline I know of that allows checked -in animals to fly when it's 85 degrees +. This is because they have climate controlled storage areas where the animals wait before getting on the plane. All planes are climate controlled in the cargo area (otherwise it would be -50 and everything would freeze). The temperature issue is because allthe other airlines have the animals (and baggage) out on the tarmac before being loaded. That is where it gets hot/cold and the temperature issue comes in (airlines also have cold restrictions). Also, since temp restrictions are based on forecasted weather at time of departure and arrival, late-night flights are also a possibility in the summer.
http://www.continental.com/web/en-us/content/travel/animals/default.aspx?SID=987A0F26586140EA8574FD8AC5D5B1AB

However even Continental has restrictions about snub nosed breeds. The other airlines prohibit them flying at all.

Another flight option in the summer is if you can get to a major hub, the animals could fly the rest of the way on Pet Airways.