On July 31st, 2007, we left Vancouver for our new home in Manila, Philippines. We took Philippine Airlines which is a straight 12 hour flight. Our travel companions consisted of Aimee's brother, his wife, and their 3 month old baby. An additional travel companion which unfortunately was only allowed to travel in the plane's cargo hold was our cat Daphne. I'm sure most of you have been on airplanes before so this blog is more about Daphne's experiences than ours. Our flight was essentially like any other flight: uncomfortable seats, badly prepared food... but I'm sure Daphne's flight was quite different. Aimee and I hired a company called World Wide Animal Travel. They specialize in shipping animals around the world. They helped us with the import requirements, the medical requirements and basically anything needed to transport Daphne from Vancouver to Manila. The day we left the country our flight wasn't until 11:30 at night. We dropped Daphne off at World Wide Animal Travel (conveniently located by the Vancouver International Airport) at 3pm for some last minute medical check ups required for transport. World Wide Animal Travel (WWAT) placed her into a travel crate, slapped on some 'Live Animal' and 'This Way Up' stickers on the crate, taped on some identification paperwork and she was all set to travel. Aimee and I left WWAT and headed home to do some last minute packing and preparing for our flight. Evening came and we headed for the airport. It was odd feeling stepping on the plane this time. Every plane ride for me in the past was filled with excitement at the prospect of having an awesome holiday filled with new exciting experiences. Although my thoughts were filled with the excitement our new life in the Philippines will bring I couldn't help thinking about the family and friends I was leaving behind. Not to mention I know exactly what to expect from my Vancouver life on a daily basis. The Philippines is a different country, a different world with different ways of dealing with the day to day life. I was about to be a stranger in a strange land and no amount of excitement for my new life could overshadow the fact that deep down, I was terrified. But this is where my Father-like instincts click in: although I had my own fears, I decided to put them on hold and think about my poor kitty in the cargo hold.
Let's go forward in time by 12 hours ... the plane lands in Manila.
When we left WWAT they told us the process of picking up Daphne from cargo would be an easy one. We were told, "once you arrive go to quarantine, show them her cargo claim number and they will give her to you”. Sounds easy right? Well, it wasn’t that easy … not even close. We walked over to the quarantine booth and were told the paperwork we were given to collect Daphne wasn’t original and only the original paperwork was accepted. The silly thing is the original paperwork was taped to Daphne’s crate so how were we suppose to get the original paperwork from Daphne when were weren’t allowed to pick her up? We were told she was probably still being held in Philippine Airlines cargo building which was actually … get this … outside the airport. So we hopped in the car and drove there. On arrival to cargo we were told only one person could enter the building at a time. We figured it was best that Aimee be the one since she understood the language. She entered the building and I sat and waited. The person at cargo said we didn't have all the required paperwork yet (different paperwork than first requested by quarantine) so Aimee had to walk back to Terminal 2 which is the Arrivals section and had to buy a gate pass, fill it up, take it to quarantine (remember we were told to leave the airport and go to cargo … now they were telling Aimee to go back. You can’t enter the airport unless you have a valid plane ticket. Since Aimee didn’t have a valid ticket seeing as our flight was in the PAST she was force to buy a gate pass), pay taxes on Daphne (the paperwork counter and payment counters are side by side so just picture Aimee side stepping between the two of them several times do get all the required paperwork and fees paid), then head back to cargo where they further asked her to pay handling charges before they release Daphne to us. They said it would have been easier for us if we just checked Daphne in as luggage. Easy enough to say but luggage isn't temperature or oxygen controlled. So clearing her out was actually a terrible experience. Obviously all this stress was effecting Aimee more than me. I was sitting in a car with aircon waiting for her. The worse part Aimee said is she could see Daphne's cage in the distance and wasn't allowed to see her until all this political nonsense was dealt with. From what Aimee tells me the airline placed Daphne's cage with all the other cargo things - therefore boxes - while a forklift drove by crashing and smashing into things. Daphne was certainly freaked out and when Aimee asked if someone could place Daphne in a quieter area they refused to. Finally Aimee had Daphne and brought her to the car. She was freaked out obviously but within a few days she was eating, drinking and purring like normal.
Luggage: check
Cat: check
New life officially starts … wait for it … NOW!
Next stop, getting my immigrant residency card…
Let's go forward in time by 12 hours ... the plane lands in Manila.
When we left WWAT they told us the process of picking up Daphne from cargo would be an easy one. We were told, "once you arrive go to quarantine, show them her cargo claim number and they will give her to you”. Sounds easy right? Well, it wasn’t that easy … not even close. We walked over to the quarantine booth and were told the paperwork we were given to collect Daphne wasn’t original and only the original paperwork was accepted. The silly thing is the original paperwork was taped to Daphne’s crate so how were we suppose to get the original paperwork from Daphne when were weren’t allowed to pick her up? We were told she was probably still being held in Philippine Airlines cargo building which was actually … get this … outside the airport. So we hopped in the car and drove there. On arrival to cargo we were told only one person could enter the building at a time. We figured it was best that Aimee be the one since she understood the language. She entered the building and I sat and waited. The person at cargo said we didn't have all the required paperwork yet (different paperwork than first requested by quarantine) so Aimee had to walk back to Terminal 2 which is the Arrivals section and had to buy a gate pass, fill it up, take it to quarantine (remember we were told to leave the airport and go to cargo … now they were telling Aimee to go back. You can’t enter the airport unless you have a valid plane ticket. Since Aimee didn’t have a valid ticket seeing as our flight was in the PAST she was force to buy a gate pass), pay taxes on Daphne (the paperwork counter and payment counters are side by side so just picture Aimee side stepping between the two of them several times do get all the required paperwork and fees paid), then head back to cargo where they further asked her to pay handling charges before they release Daphne to us. They said it would have been easier for us if we just checked Daphne in as luggage. Easy enough to say but luggage isn't temperature or oxygen controlled. So clearing her out was actually a terrible experience. Obviously all this stress was effecting Aimee more than me. I was sitting in a car with aircon waiting for her. The worse part Aimee said is she could see Daphne's cage in the distance and wasn't allowed to see her until all this political nonsense was dealt with. From what Aimee tells me the airline placed Daphne's cage with all the other cargo things - therefore boxes - while a forklift drove by crashing and smashing into things. Daphne was certainly freaked out and when Aimee asked if someone could place Daphne in a quieter area they refused to. Finally Aimee had Daphne and brought her to the car. She was freaked out obviously but within a few days she was eating, drinking and purring like normal.
Luggage: check
Cat: check
New life officially starts … wait for it … NOW!
Next stop, getting my immigrant residency card…
4 comments:
Awwww! Your poor cat. I'm sure she was glad to withstand all that so that she could be with you guys. Kudos to you for enduring the rigamarole! :D
So was there a lot of fur tufts in the bottom of her crate? Cats shed some when they're under a lot of stress.
Not much fur actually. Some pee smells though. Not surprising since she was stuck in that cage for over 16 hours!
I say we put ole hotcock in dat cage!
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