moving a beloved dog

We are driving our truck to Miami next month to ship. We have a German shepherd and a lab both under 100 lbs but we were'nt going to bring them because of the heat restrictions. Do you think morning temps in miami would be cool enough around the 23rd of July to bring them now? I was gonna wait till Sept and send them out after the ban.

I tried sending my lab on AA last month with my husband. The counter refused her due to temp. I have read the feeds and called Delta Cargo. I am going to try and ship her from Jax-Atlanta-STT next week. She leaves Jax at 10am. Do you think there will be any problems getting out of Atlanta? Last time, the high was 86 but would have been lower at arrival. The ticket counter only looked at the high and not the hourly temps. So now I am worried she may get held up in ATL because the high there is in 90s next week. Of course, the am temps will be lower. Does anyone know if dealing with Delta Cargo is easier than the regular ticket counter help? Any advice is helpful.

Continental is the only airline I would use especially in the summer months. They have temp. controlled cargo holds for the animals. The restrictions are in place for a reason. My daughter was a vet tech here on STX and the stories she could tell about dogs overheating and heat stroke were horrible. Continental does a great job transporting animals. You can only get them to San Juan and then get a smaller airline such as Seaborne to transport them to St. Croix. We used Mike Foster, coastal air, to transport our 3 rotties from San Juan to STX. He was great.

Try Uship.com you can ship anything and people bid on it. You can set a high/low price and see what the average cost is for others who have shipped the same cargo/pets/cehicles etc...Its a great resource.

BCF

Try Delta Pets First. They ship pets as cargo, and have a separate reservation, payment, and check-in system from the people passenger system, so you deal with them directly and don’t get any wrong info from the people side. Delta Pets First has no presence in STX. I don't know about STT. They have a presence in SJU (San Juan PR), so you can at least get that far, then try a local carrier for the last leg. Ground temperature does not seem to be an issue with them. We shipped a dog last week in the middle of a hot day.

I did the nightmare trip of moving 2 dogs on American during Summer back in '08. Turns out the trick is to use red-eyes. I did a red-eye from the West Coast to Miami. Then we were on the first flight out that morning to STX (direct) before the heat was too high in the morning (didn't matter what the STX temperature was since you get the dogs on arrival - no storage for pets here.) I think the reality was that AA couldn't refuse the pets if they wanted in Miami since I was a through-passenger and would have no where to go with them anyway.

I stumbled into this solution as my original plan was to fly from Miami to San Juan and transfer to Seaborne but I got thrown off the plane at LAX (long story but let's just say in involves checking in ammo on my original airline out of Seattle and a lack of continuity between the airlines when I switched to AA at LAX) and had to rebook everything and ended up with the direct out of Miami to STX.

Is Delta Pets First the same as Delta Cargo? When I call Delta Cargo I get different agents with different responses. But Delta Cargo does fly to STT.

For those who have a large very well behaved dog a friend used this solution....though I'll reserve my own opinion on the ethics involved.

They trained their dog to sit, stay, lay down, and come on command without a leash and without being distracted.

Registered dog as a service dog at http://www.usservicedogregistry.org/

Had personal doctor write on letterhead that service dog is required for "emotional distress"

Purchased a service dog vest and went through the airline channels to allow the dog to board the flight in the main cabin.

During the security check-in in she had to remove the collar, leash and vest, pass through the metal detector with the dog lying still on the other side she then had to call the dog through the metal detector and lay back down at which time the TSA had to pat down the dog.

For those who have a large very well behaved dog a friend used this solution....though I'll reserve my own opinion on the ethics involved.

They trained their dog to sit, stay, lay down, and come on command without a leash and without being distracted.

Registered dog as a service dog at http://www.usservicedogregistry.org/

Had personal doctor write on letterhead that service dog is required for "emotional distress"

Purchased a service dog vest and went through the airline channels to allow the dog to board the flight in the main cabin.

During the security check-in in she had to remove the collar, leash and vest, pass through the metal detector with the dog lying still on the other side she then had to call the dog through the metal detector and lay back down at which time the TSA had to pat down the dog.

Reserve your opinion if you want. I'm not reserving mine. That is absolutely wrong. I hope karma comes back to bite that person (and his/her doctor) in the a$$ so that he/she really DOES need a service dog. There are plenty of honest, humane ways to transport one's furry friends.

Is Delta Pets First the same as Delta Cargo? When I call Delta Cargo I get different agents with different responses. But Delta Cargo does fly to STT.

I think they're different, but located together in the Cargo area.
You can call Delta Pet First at 888-736-3738.

When you shipped Delta last week how did you transfer to STX? Did you use a certain airline? Our lab is in a large kennel. I contacted Seaborne and they refused. I just need to get her to STX. If she can fly from jax-sju-stx that would be perfect. I just can't find a plane to take her from SJU to StX. that's why i was considering stt. i am desperate at this point.I need all the advice you can offer.

Does the dog clear customs in miami or sju or stx? That's one problem the airline can't answer.

Oddly, I just realized I have no clue. I was required to have a health certificate from the vet (had to be issued within either 7 or 10 days of travel as I recall) which I presented at check-in. I have no idea when/if customs was involved as I simply checked the dogs in at LAX and picked them up at baggage claim in STX.

Does the dog clear customs in miami or sju or stx? That's one problem the airline can't answer.

If you can get the dog to St. Thomas, you can take the ferry to St. Croix. Not always a pleasant ride, not always reliable, but an option.

You only clear customs leaving the VI, not entering (from the US).

Try Cape Air from San Juan to St. Croix.
www.flycapeair.com

The great thing about Cape Air is that a dog in the cabin is only $10. (tu) Other airlines typically charge $100 or so.

Although I didn't end up using them in the end I can tell you Seaborne is VERY accommodating. If they can break down the largest of cages and squeeze it in and there's an empty seat your dog flies in the cabin and the fee for the cage is modest as I recall (less than $100.) A friend did this and had nothing but great things to say about how their dogs were treated (can't recall if they connected from STT or SJU into STX.)

Thanks for all the advice. I have my lab booked on Delta Cargo for Mon. A local cargo pilot in STT has offered to take her to STX. Due to the confusion on customs' hours and where she clears, he has even agreed to take her in for the night if necessary. This eliminates the worry about temps because she has 3 flight options that day. I will keep everyone posted so I can help anyone else traveling to the islands this summer.

Sandy,
Are you coming from the US? Why does your dog have to clear customs? I've never heard of that, but then I don't travel much with animals. Has anyone else had to clear into the USVI from the US? Is that normal?

When you shipped Delta last week how did you transfer to STX?

We used Cape Air between STX and SJU. The biggest problem was the large kennel (2x2x3) would only fit in the cabin, not the luggage compartment, so they could only take the kennel if the flight wasn't full, because it would displace passenger seats. Our flight was supposed to be full, but there were some no-shows, so the dog got in. The reservation people were not familiar with that limitation even though we told them the kennel size, and they knew that the flight was already full. They took our reservation, and we had to deal with it at the counter. It was $10 for the dog, and about $170 for the human. I don't think they would ship the dog as cargo. In any case, we had to be there in SJU to get the dog to Delta Cargo ourselves.

If Cape Air doesn't work for you, then call everybody else. There are a few companies flying between SJU and STX. Worst case, do a charter flight with Bohlke or Coastal Air.

Our lab made it to STX with Delta Cargo out of Atlanta. I drove to Atlanta. The people were great. No problems. She flew a straight flight to STT. Then Zac Hachem with SeaFreight picked her up and took her through customs. THen he flew her for $1/lb. to STX. It was awesome. Thanks for all the advice.

Our lab made it to STX with Delta Cargo out of Atlanta. I drove to Atlanta. The people were great. No problems. She flew a straight flight to STT. Then Zac Hachem with SeaFreight picked her up and took her through customs. THen he flew her for $1/lb. to STX. It was awesome. Thanks for all the advice.

What is SeaFreight? Do you mean SeaFlight?

Never flown a pet, but I can definitely vouch for Mike Foster. Good guy and good pilot. He flew some friends and I over to Jimmy Buffet in Anguilla from STX a few years back. Once there, he proceeded to join in the fun for the night. 'Twas one hell of a time.

I brought my 100 pound dog to the V.I. several years ago.

The dog flew from the mainland to San Juan on Continental. Continental had the best reputation for care of animals and the best price. The Continental staff was great and raised hell for me to find the vet paperwork that an inspector lost in N.J.

Four Star Air Cargo — they have the U.S. mail contract — flew her rest of the way from San Juan to St. Thomas. They are very much on island time.

The flight was supposed to be at 10 a.m. and arrived on St. Thomas after 1:30 p.m. They were also about $700 cheaper than any other option I found, and didn't have any qualms about shipping my dog. The San Juan staff was helpful and confident. The St. Thomas staff is almost unreachable.

Unfortunately, I've got to lay a major caveat about Four Star on the table. They have had two serious accidents. In 1991 a Four Star flight crashed in Puerto Rico and last year a plane caught fire at the San Juan airport. FedEx has had plane crashes too, so I'm not sure if this knowledge is just for needless worry or a needed worry.

You have to call the San Juan office to arrange the flight:

Luis Munoz Marin Airport
Post Office Box 37750
San Juan, PR 00937
(787) 791-3980
FAX: (787) 791-8240