relocating with Pets

People here don't usually ask for pet deposits or pet rent like they do stateside. It will be harder to find a place and most likely you will have to pay a little more rent then you would for a place that doesn't accept pets. As a landlord I'd rather have pets any day then kids, but most feel the opposite. Part of the problem is many houses are not fenced. We had to put a fence in at every house we rented. Even if you dog is good and stays near your home, you need the fence to protect your babies, the island has wild feral dogs and owners who are stupid and don't take care of their large dogs (or do the opposite and put them on a short chain 24/7). In general the local population doesn't view pets the way we do stateside. Its an adjustment.

Are you single? I only ask because the airlines will only let you take two pets the plane per person. And plan when you come around the heat embargos or if you live up north you have to worry about the cold too. Its never easy getting your pet here. Every person you talk to at the airlines will give you a different answer, but of coarse its worth it in the end.

Thanks for the info. I am not set on anything yet... a lot to consider! Thanks!

plan for some serious BS when trying to get the animals down here. when we moved down, I came a week early so i could find an apartment and start to get settled and everything so we wouldn't have to worry about what to do with our 2 cats for the time being. The airline only allowed one of the cats to come on board the plane, and she had to be carried on. after much research, we decided to just go the easy route and had a pet transporting company take care of getting the other cat down. even after paying $1500.00, the cat still got stuck in puerto rico for THREE WEEKS!!!! we finally got her, but man what a pain in the a$$. the airlines won't let animals fly alone from PR to STX, so they have to send them on cargo flights. cargo flights aparently have NO schedule, and only fly when there's enough cargo to go. on top of that, there's a bunch of other rules about when animals can fly. so, for 3 weeks, i was taking half days off of work, and borrowing friends cars for the afternoon.....and still no CAT!!! it was a horrible experience, and we are still in negotiations with the transport company for a partial refund.

so, that being said...do as much planning as possible before transporting the animals

We live on STX and here's how we got our dog here .... we went through Delta's Pet First Program. They were really helpful and even helped us arrange for a kennel overnight in Atlanta so that our dog could take flights when it was the coolest. Only problem is that Delta only will go as far as STT. My husband had to fly over to STT on Cape Air, pick up the dog from Delta and get the dog back on the Cape Air flight back. Make sure you make a reservation with Cape Air as there is only room for one animal per flight and don't plan on taking the last flight of the day as you can be bumped to the next flight if anyone freaks out about your animal being on the flight.

kieren,
What in the world? I have read and re-read your post, in case I missed something. Are your cats really hugh, or something? You made reference to "we", so I assume there was more than one of you traveling. Couldn't you just carry on one cat per person? For about $100. That's what I paid recently to travel with one small dog. Was it because you came early to look for an apartment, so there was only one person flying? You did say "after much research". For $1500, couldn't you have flown home to escort the cat? During the 3 weeks in PR, couldn't you have just flown over to get the cat? Sorry if I am missing something, but I guess I am.

I wondered the same thing. I would have thought the airline would have told you one pet per person when you booked the pet originally or did they just show up at the airport with 2 cats & no pet reservation?