Impossible to Repatriate my dogs to UK

[Puspawarna]

just go back to UK,and find another dog right there,,you bring a dog from this poor country??believe me that is bad idea,, #hateindonesia

WTF?

Shame on you for making such an unhelpful post when phiss is dealing with a legitimately upsetting situation. Empathy must not be your strong suit.

[Banana72]

WTF?

Shame on you for making such an unhelpful post when phiss is dealing with a legitimately upsetting situation. Empathy must not be your strong suit.

and not to mention done on the first post!!

[Anglian]

just go back to UK,and find another dog right there,,you bring a dog from this poor country??believe me that is bad idea,, #hateindonesia

i think I can say this is one of the unkindest posts I've seen on the forum, obviously by someone who has never had a pet, definitely not a very caring person

[Davita]

and not to mention done on the first post!!

I was about to welcome the poster to the forum till I read the post. I guess language can be taught.......but ethics and empathy are more genetic.

[phiss]

Thanks for the support everyone... Let's forget 'him' now. Not worth wasting our time.

I have another general question. I have been looking at the quotation again, and it seems that they have quoted IDR60 million alone for the aircargo (two dogs one in an XL crate and one in a L crate), Jakarta to London. I am not sure why they chose this route anyway, as I told them I actually want to travel Jakarta to Manchester UK. Can this price be right? It would mean it is '10 times' more expensive than my own ticket to fly the same route!!!... And I am probably heavier than the dogs' combined weight! I have tried to get a quote myself from both Emirates and KLM but I just keep going round in circles with no results. I have sent off emails as well but nobody is answering.

Are there any pet owners out there who have actually imported or exported dogs to or from whatever country who can remember what they actually paid for the cargo costs? That information will help me decide if I am actually getting ripped off! The other incidental costs on the quotation seem quite reasonable to me, although the cost of the crates themselves seems a bit high.

I really appreciate your input and support. It is keeping me just this side of insanity!

[phiss]

Hi all you dog lovers. Just thought I would update a little. My own questions in the previous post have been answered a little:

It seems that with KLM and Emirates airlines pets can travel to EU countries as 'excess baggage', which is probably 10 times cheaper than cargo freight charges (although the pets may well be travelling on the same flights and in the same hold). Explain that one to me!

BUT, the only exception to this is the UK GOVERNMENT, who insist that all pets MUST TRAVEL AS CARGO FREIGHT if they are coming from 'third world countries', (how I hate that expression - what about 'developing countries' instead?!!!). As the UK government also insist that pets must have all the relevant shots and documents proving they are rabies free, I am not sure what the addition requirements achieve?

Anyway, I have subsequently found out that I can still take my dogs by KLM as 'excess baggage' from Jakarta to Amsterdam. A hell of a lot cheaper! Then I need to find a way to get them from one EU country to another: Netherlands to UK. On the surface this sounds easy, and if I had family members who could help out, it would be. In reality, the cost of animal couriers from Schipol Airport to UK is almost as expensive as sending dogs by air cargo!!!

So in the end it all comes down to the same thing... it doesn't matter how well prepared I am as far as government regulations are concerned (microchip, rabies shot, blood titer test, etc.), everyone from the UK government down is trying to make the maximum amount of money from someone's needs!!

[Puspawarna]

I had a somewhat similar problem bringing two cats to Indonesia from Egypt in 2007. It's probably a long shot, but it might give you some ideas:

At that time, Egypt was not considered a rabies-free country and therefore there was a ban on bringing Egyptian cats into Indonesia.

However, the question then becomes: can they be imported from a different country? Singapore is rabies free, so it would be allowed to import cats from Singapore to Indonesia. So, what's the definition of being "from Singapore"? (Or, "from Amsterdam" in your case). It turned out that if they spent 6 months in Singapore they would no longer be "from Egypt."

I wasn't happy but could not see any other solution, so I arranged for a 6 month stay at Mitchville Kennels in Singapore (they are amazing - I can't praise them highly enough). My plan was to visit the cats whenever I could (crazy, I know). As it happened, I got very lucky. After the cats had been in Singapore for about 3 weeks, the law in Indonesia changed and cats from Egypt were allowed in. Thus, I was able to cut short their stay. In fact, since I sent the cats on ahead of me, we were hardly without them at all after our arrival in Jakarta. (Again, Mitchville was fantastic - they were very cooperative and cheerfully handed me back all the money I had paid in advance for kennel services that were no longer required.)

Anyway, if your dogs would have to spend 6 months in quarantine in Amsterdam that obviously doesn't help you at all - it is probably insanely expensive to board them there, plus you would hate to have them boarded for 6 months all by themselves. But if they could live with a family in Amsterdam, so you would avoid kennel costs and loneliness, that could work.

I know it's such a long shot but maybe an avenue to explore. Any forum readers here with pet-loving friends in Amsterdam? Speak up now!

[Steveandpenny]

OK I didn't say this but have hheard wink wink you can ship dog to Ireland and than its easy to hire someone to drive them into england. Now I'm not saying to do this because it's illegal . Also have you checked with grovey pets in jarkata ? I know they did a service for some freinds that allowed them to bring there dogs home .

[phiss]

Yep, SteveandPenny, I am working with Groovy Pets. However, they can only help me with transport Jakarta to UK (or Amsterdam). I still have to find a way of getting the dogs from Medan to Jakarta to catch the connecting flights, and then Amsterdam to UK. Also, the idea of driving into Ireland from Uk is the same as Holland to UK. It is legal. However, I have found, to my cost, that the animal couriers doing this are extremely expensive.

So now it is coming down to this: getting my dogs from Indonesia to Uk can be done, but because of UK government restrictions IT IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE!

I have already decided to sell every single thing I have to help raise the money. But the truth is, I am not sure, even doing that, I am going to be able to come up with the money required.

... and before any 'wise-ass' comes on here claiming that I am just trying to 'indirectly' ask people for money.... If I wanted to ask anyone for money, I would do it DIRECTLY! All I am doing on here is letting off steam... because if I don't, I would just 'auto-combust'!

Thanks for listening folks. If I finally come up with a solution, I will let you all know, just in case there are other people in the same situation in the future.

[phiss]

I had a somewhat similar problem bringing two cats to Indonesia from Egypt in 2007. It's probably a long shot, but it might give you some ideas:

At that time, Egypt was not considered a rabies-free country and therefore there was a ban on bringing Egyptian cats into Indonesia.

However, the question then becomes: can they be imported from a different country? Singapore is rabies free, so it would be allowed to import cats from Singapore to Indonesia. So, what's the definition of being "from Singapore"? (Or, "from Amsterdam" in your case). It turned out that if they spent 6 months in Singapore they would no longer be "from Egypt."

I wasn't happy but could not see any other solution, so I arranged for a 6 month stay at Mitchville Kennels in Singapore (they are amazing - I can't praise them highly enough). My plan was to visit the cats whenever I could (crazy, I know). As it happened, I got very lucky. After the cats had been in Singapore for about 3 weeks, the law in Indonesia changed and cats from Egypt were allowed in. Thus, I was able to cut short their stay. In fact, since I sent the cats on ahead of me, we were hardly without them at all after our arrival in Jakarta. (Again, Mitchville was fantastic - they were very cooperative and cheerfully handed me back all the money I had paid in advance for kennel services that were no longer required.)

Anyway, if your dogs would have to spend 6 months in quarantine in Amsterdam that obviously doesn't help you at all - it is probably insanely expensive to board them there, plus you would hate to have them boarded for 6 months all by themselves. But if they could live with a family in Amsterdam, so you would avoid kennel costs and loneliness, that could work.

I know it's such a long shot but maybe an avenue to explore. Any forum readers here with pet-loving friends in Amsterdam? Speak up now!

Hi Puspa. I haven't ignored your post. You always give very good information. Just wanted to deal with Steveand Penny's post first. I think I am probably back to trying to get the dogs adopted.... but nobody here in Medan seems to be interested in adopting adult dogs!! It doesn't matter how adorable and well trained they are!

[bad_azz]

I've been following this and have shared, but not yet commented as I can't do anything to help... I would offer to take them on myself- but we already have 3 dogs and limited funds for food etc.

The UK is very very strict about importing dogs- because it is a declared rabies free zone. They want to keep it that way.
Europe isn't.

[Puspawarna]

Hi Puspa. I haven't ignored your post. You always give very good information. Just wanted to deal with Steveand Penny's post first. I think I am probably back to trying to get the dogs adopted.... but nobody here in Medan seems to be interested in adopting adult dogs!! It doesn't matter how adorable and well trained they are!

No worries - to be honest I don't think it's likely to be realistic to get the dogs as far as Amsterdam and then leave them there until they can enter the UK - seems like a pretty far-out possibility. But I know you want to look into every possible avenue, no matter how remote, in the hopes that something will work out.

[BAJakarta]

seems your main issue is money to get your beloved dogs back home.....you mention before you are not asking for money - but why not? Why not put your story into a heartwarming narrative, and start one of those crowdfunding campaigns and take to social media to promote it. There are plenty of dog lovers out there who just might feel for you and give something....however small....but lots of small donations could get you to where you need to be.....what would you have to lose?

[Davita]

Hey Phiss
Across from my house in Kerobokan is a walled-in villa which has been converted to a Sit and Stay dogs compound....complete with smimmig pool and large exercise yard for play.
It looks like they take care of dogs that cannot leave the island and returned when owners come back from holiday etc.
They do seem to care for animals and our view shows how well the dogs relate and, if behaving badly, they do get professional help.
I've no idea if the Cos. plan entails taking strangers dogs under some consignment plan and if the pets owner defaults then the sit/stay owner has right to sell or arrange something.
Of course this is not related to the OPs problem as cannot import dogs to Bali but may help those in Bali looking for somewhere to keep, or release, their dogs when leaving the country

[phiss]

seems your main issue is money to get your beloved dogs back home.....you mention before you are not asking for money - but why not? Why not put your story into a heartwarming narrative, and start one of those crowdfunding campaigns and take to social media to promote it. There are plenty of dog lovers out there who just might feel for you and give something....however small....but lots of small donations could get you to where you need to be.....what would you have to lose?

Hi BAJ. You don't know how close I came to this. There is a seemingly reputable crowd funding site called 'gofundme'. Fearing it was some sort of scam, I read all the information very carefully including the FAQs. I also note that it has been featured several times in the UK media without any negative comments. In a moment of desperation, I decided to start the process and pressed the 'button' just to see how it went. I immediately got this message: "Hi. We notice that you are based in Indonesia. Unfortunately, we do not operate in Indonesia at the moment.....". I found this a little strange as on their website there were at least two pages from people in Indonesia trying to raise funds. No idea how they managed to get set up. There was also a button that said "Would you like us to start operating in Indonesia?" But when I pressed this nothing happened.

Oh dear, another brick wall encountered!!! Never mind, I am going to keep hitting my head against that brick wall until something gives, or I have run out of possibilities.

I just want to say thanks to everyone being so kind on this thread and in personal messages. It helps a lot being able to talk through things here. If I didn't have this outlet, I think I would go slowly mad!!