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We are looking to relocate from Washington DC Maryland Metropolitan area permanently to Oahu, HI over the next few months (Dec 2009-February 2010) as a military off-base relocation. We have several AKC purebred Chinese pugs and three cats that we intend to take with us and have the requisite veterinary certifications including all medical records since birth since we bred all the animals and all their innoculations are up to date. We believe we can satisfy the quarantine requirements to forego the 120 waiting time and obtain the release of our animals in the 5 day period because of our superior recordkeeping and the wellknown integrity of our veterinarian(s). Our problem is finding an air carrier domestic or international to transport our pets from either the Washington DC area to Honolulu or as we have already ascertained from Los Angeles because we have enough family members to carry each on at least two airlines domestically. Please help because this relocation also involves giving moral support to our son who serves aboard a Navy nuclear sub whose home port is in Pearl Harbor and my husband is a Navy engineer who after 25 years has obtained his transfer to move our family out to HI in order to be the support system our homesick long deployed son needs while he is in port. Any leads on air carriers who allow carry on or at least "safe" cargo ferrying of our precious four legged family members to Oahu for a family who have all served in uniform for the USN would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
but we are finding it difficult to find a viable way to do it. We would prefer to take them in the airplane cabin but it is hard to find an airline that will get them form the mainland to HI. Concerns regarding putting them in the cargo hold, is the pressure ok? Temperature? We also have the complication of taking our elderly mother with health issues that may preclude air travel altogether. Cross country trains do not allow pets in the sleeper cars. Also having difficulty finding any ships (cruise or otherwise) that will take pets. Does anyone have any ideas on how we can manage this move?
My husband and I are Navy and relocated last year (August 2008) to Hawaii with three dogs: two Golden Retrievers and a Chocolate Lab. Please read and follow the quarantine rules very carefully.
First off, your pets must have microchips implanted.
Secondly and most importantly, your pets must satisfy the strict rabies quarantine. They must have had two rabies shots spaced months apart with original documents completely filled out with microchip info and signed by a licensed veterinarian -- then blood must be drawn for a rabies titer test by your vet who will send it to one of two certified labs on the mainland. The titer numbers must register within a certain range to be deemed acceptable. The date on that paperwork from the lab, which will be mailed to you and your vet separately, marks when the 120 day quarantine clock begins to tick. Just having good records doesn't cut it.
I had packets organized for each animal with originals and copies of all paperwork, photographs of each animal, contact information for vets both on island and on the mainland, and when we did our house hunting search two months before our relocation date, we hand carried the packets to the Quarantine Office there on the Honolulu airport grounds and asked them to review what we had for any omissions, unacceptable signatures, or missing documents. They okay'd our packets and took copies at that time. They also reminded us that we would need to have a health certificate exam dated (and you'll need to check on this) I think ten days prior to entering the State of Hawaii.
On the first eligible date following the 120 day quarantine period we flew all three dogs via Continental Airlines. They did beautifully. I had to modify a kennel for our largest Golden because of his height when seated and the roof clearance, but that's a whole other story of Do It Yourself inventiveness. We followed the recommendations of the Continental Air Cargo staff and did a dry run the week prior to our travel date. Continental was truly excellent in their care of our animals and they were released to us within an hour of landing in Honolulu healthy and happy.
What I urge you to do is to not try to "forego" the 120 day waiting period because you are risking failure. Please play by Hawaii's rules. They are very strict. You have enough time to do it properly to achieve a successful outcome.
By the way, we use Haiku Vet Clinic at 45-773 Kamehameha Hwy in Kaneohe and their telephone number is 808-235-6405. One of the questions on the entrance paperwork is listing a local vet's office.
Good luck and God bless.
Last edited by Dannerdo; 11-07-2009 at 01:55 PM..
Reason: addition of two words
I can't speak on which airlines as I have not been done that road yet, however, and just in case you haven't already found out for yourself, the microchip must be US issued *AVID or Home Again* http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/AQS-39.pdf.
Most air carriers will only allow three pets in the cabin per flight and they must all fit under the seat (each animal must be in it's own carrier).
A flight from the west coast during Dec-Feb would not be uncomfortable in the hold (summer is a bad time) but I am not certain what the airlines regulations are for flights CONUS during the winter. I would suggest calling the carriers and inquiring (keep a record noting the cost & regs for each airline).
I would suggest carefully coordinating your entry with the Quarantine station- if you fax all of your packet before your flight date they can check everything over to be certain that an airport release is possible.
It will be difficult to rent a home with that many animals and even if you buy a home many HOAs have restrictions (most of the time it is two animals per household).
Good luck with your move.
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Relocation with pets
