Is it a poor reason

[Sweet72947]

To get rid of your dog if you're moving to another country? FOHA had an 11 yr old dog returned to the rescue shelter from 10 yrs ago because his family is moving to Switzerland. Which is more stressful for an old dog, being rehomed, or being flown across the ocean and stuck in quarentine for however long? We are putting him on our "get a foster home ASAP" list because we don't like keeping elderly dogs in runs, its just not good for them. Happy (that is his name) seems to be doing ok. He likes other dogs, and he was cat tested and couldn't have cared less about the cats! He walks well on leash too. But you can tell he's having hip problems from the way he sits down. I'm sure we'll find a foster/adoptive home without too much trouble since he's a real easy dog.

But what do you think? Is moving to another country a good reason or a bad reason to rehome your dog?

 

[CharlieDog]

I dont know, it really sounds like a personal call to me. I doubt Id leave my dog, no matter how old he was, but it depends on the dog really. Sometimes its worse on the dog to have to go through the flight, and the quarantine, than to just be re homed.

 

[noludoru]

I'm torn on this one..... I guess it depends on how long quarantine would be. if it was only a couple of weeks I'd say, NO, but if it was more than a month... he could have a new home 3x that fast.

 

[vanillasugar]

It really depends on the individual dog and situation I think.

We have a customer who was moving to somewhere in Europe for a year to work, their senior dog would not have handled the trip/quarrantine well at all, so they arranged to have a "foster" set up to take care of her for the year they are away.

 

[FoxyWench]

our 15 yr old cocker spaniel flew from the UK to the US when we initially moved here, was the flight stressfull? likely, however it would have been MORE stressfull to leave her in a shelter and HOPE she got adopted in time as to not have to spend her last few months in a shelter...
She was a little confused upon landing but happy to see us, handled the flight well and got to live her last year in our home with the people who had raised her from a puppy...

with the pet passport now in effect, (it takes 6 months to set up but is accepted by ALL quarrentein countries to my knowledge), and the advancments in the security of flying with pets i PERSONALLY think it would be less stressfull on the pet to spend a few hours on a plane than it would be to be DUMPED (because to the dog it doesnt matter the reason they were abandoned) at the shelter to spend the last few years, and as we all know elderly pets are some of the hardest to adopt out!

however if the dog has a medical problem that says the dog is NOT healthy enough to fly then there would be a foster/adoptive home found for the dog before i agree to move to a different country...

both vixie and dodger HAVE their pet passports (im a british citizen in the us, if i ever decide to go back there both covered and cam come back to the uk with me with NO quarrentein. Ruby is currently in the process of being set up with the pet passport system.

 

[JennSLK]

It would depend on the situation. However out of all the reasons people give thats one of the more aceptable ones to me.

 

[Paige]

I met a woman who was here with her husband for work. They were from Wales. She got a dog while over here. The dog is going back home to Wales with them. She explained it all to me. After hearing her story I never would leave a dog behind. Sure the flight is stressful (probably worse for me then the dog, I go into a state of panic on airplanes) but I wouldn't feel right leaving my dog behind.

I wouldn't look down on someone for doing it though. It's a personal choice.

 

[MysticRealm]

I don't know as I would hate to have a dog in the cargo area of a plane but if I ever was to give up my dog like that I would find it a home myself before leaving to ensure it got a proper home and didn't get put down in a shelter due to it being so old and no one wanting it.

If you get a dog it's your responsiblity to make sure it has a proper home for it's entire life I think

 

[Chikadee77]

I believe it's a personal choice, however I wouldn't do it. My dad was military for 25 years and we ALWAYS took our animals with us, no matter where we moved, even when we went to Germany for 2 years. (so the having to get rid of our animals cause we're military and moving doesn't fly with me either )

Rhea will be taking a 2 week trip to Singapore with my husband and I at the end of March (luckily she won't have to be in quarantine since she's a SD, but it sure was a pain working it out with the embassys, lol) because she would be completely depressed without me. I had to come home early from my trip to Australia last year because she was staying with my mom and wouldn't eat a thing. I couldn't imagine what would happen to her if we were to move and leave her behind.

 

[sparks19]

Well like Foxy said...it depends on if the dog was healthy enough to clear for flight.

AND some people I know from another forum were doing a pet transfer and this was within the US... didn't even have to go to a different country. they had to get the dog vet checked and get a certificate and THEN it took them weeks to get the dog on a flight. NOW this scenario may be a little different since this dog wasn't travelling with a person... it was only him so procedure was likely different but basically she had to take him to the airport and check everyday to see if he was able to get on a flight... if the flight was full it was a no go (and for some reason they couldn't tell her this over the phone she had to cart him into the airport everyday along with her baby since she can't leave her at home). AND the vet certificate specified temperatures that were acceptable for him to be exposed to. If the temp up in the air during flight was too cold he wasn't allowed to fly... if the temp where he was leaving from was too cold or too hot he couldnt' fly... if the temp where he was going to land was forcasted to be too cold or too hot he couldn't fly. I will have to check.. I can't remember what the temps were that he was cleared for.

SO... it's not always just a "bring your pet to the airport and put them in cargo". Sometimes there are A LOT of hoops to jump through and your pet is not always cleared to fly.

 

[mrose_s]

I couldn't do that, especially when the animal was sol old. Can't you hang around for a few more years for its sake? What an awful thing to do to it at the end of its life, our shelter had a 10 and a 12 year old dog in it for ages, we almost took them just because its so hard to see.

I can't believe the amount of people that are surprised we brough every single animal with us down from up north. Why wouldn't you?


Elliot we got form a shelter when he was 9 years old, dumped because his owners were moving. Now when he's home he is so cheerful and eats like a pig, we kennelled him for one day and he wouln't touch his food, by the time we got back he had that same sunken down, dead-to-the-world look he had in the shelter. I always wonder how they could leave him there, he is just so amazingly attached to his people. Must have broken his heart

 

[Miakoda]

It depends on the dog and on the location. My friend who moved to Australia after getting married (husband is from Sydney) was forced to leave her AmStaff behind as they classified the dog as a "pit bull" and tey are banned. Her other dog survived the plane ride and the 3 months it sat in quarantine.........but at what cost? She said her dog was traumatized for a long time.

I'm sure some might disagree with what I'm about to say and some more may even hate me for it, but...

If I had to travel to a new country and had an older dog that I'd be worried about, I would rather put him/her painlessly and humanely to sleep that worry about a) dumping the dog at a shelter of b) legal red-tape forcing the dog into quarantine for weeks or months. Sometimes the nicest thing to do is stand beside them and love them and say good-by than to force them into situations that would clearly upset them in so many ways all because of our "wants."

 

[RD]

Frankly, I would WORRY about an 11 year old dog flying overseas in cargo. I would worry about a 1 year old dog, but the fact that the dog is elderly makes a huge difference. If it was me, I'd have waited until the dog passed in order to leave the country, or found a suitable home (NOT a shelter, I'm sure FOHA is a wonderful place but I just couldn't pass off the responsibility of my dog to a shelter or rescue) myself.

 

[noludoru]

Doesn't FOHA have a contract that says the dog needs to be returned to them rather than rehomed? If that's the case, they were just doing the legal thing, RD, although certainly not the best. I'd prefer to rehome the dog myself, too.

 

[Sweet72947]

Yes, we do have a contract that the dog must be returned to FOHA if the adopters can no longer keep them. Quite a few people have just dumped them in the pound though. Good thing we require dogs to wear collars with a FOHA tag on them, we've recovered quite a few dogs that way. We're looking at microchipping the dogs too, because collars get taken off or are lost. But we need an affordable way to microchip 100 dogs...

Thanks guys for your opinions.

 

[sparks19]

But people don't always have the option of waiting a few years to move. Some people have to leave the country for their jobs, families, and other things that cannot just be put off for a few years.

 

[smkie]

U would have to put me in the cargo hold with mary..it is a lifetime commitment for me, loyal to the last breath.