Live Cargo shipping to move or travel with pets

A safer alternative: Live Cargo shipping
One experienced list member's advice on flying with rats

I have shipped rats a few times now and if I were you I would get a small proper carrying cage (airline approved) - even safer if people can see inside.

Animals are sent out Cargo every single day and I found them wonderful looking out for my rats on the day of the event every time I shipped them.

I nailed a little hard sided house about 1/4 the size of the required airline carrier securely in place. It had a blanket all fluffed up inside in layers in case it was too cold or they wanted to hide. I had a towel and a good quality small bottle in it well taped on, some lab blocks as well as some grapes that keep well and carrots soaked in ice water.

I made sure the carrier was well marked, "This way up small animals" and my name, address and phone number attached as well.

I also found the staff very nice, most helpful and more people saying "oh aren't they cute" or they simply did not bother to comment at all.

On one trip a while back some of my rats missed their connection and were looked after by a nice stewardess who checked their water bottle that was taped on. She assured me they would be watched and put right on the next plane.

I know one cargo guy who is a friend of our family at the Ottawa airport and he is in charge of Cargo and takes the animals and sees they are put on the plane too. I saw it happen myself and the animals were driven from inside right to the plane and carefully put on. They sent a special truck to get my rats for me too when they arrived.

The Cargo department's temperature is controlled as well and he says the airlines have to be careful and look after animals best they can, just like people. They don't want any more trouble than needed either.

I think if you see that your rat is put on and locked up carefully, and it has a warm bed inside with some grapes and soaked carrots, and the flight is not way over 13 hours like mine was, or a change of planes, you will be just fine.

I am not saying things never go wrong and others have not had some bad luck but many animals go in and out every day from our airport and do just fine. You will hear some bad experiences but hardly ever hear any good ones. I had three pretty good ones and a lot of people do care.

My good version is when travelling through customs and a 13 hour flight and 2 planes with a transfer my rats woke up and stretched and yawned and greeted me at the door saying, "Oh are we here now? Time to get up?"

Good luck to you!

Fostering pets, or surrendering them?

"It is not easy to manage young humans and animals, but when parents find solutions, rather than dispose of an animal for convenience sake, an important concept is communicated to the child. This is alive. This is valuable. You don't throw it away."
- Marinell Harriman


This page is about two sides of the same coin.

First, the good news: You - the student, the expatriate, the person here for only a short while - you are absolutely needed! Foster homes are for those animals who need a little extra help to get better (health, behaviour) prior to adoption, or find a home when their time at the shelter has run out. You may have the pet for a week or a month or a year, but you know the pet will be taken care of by you - and vice versa, after all, pets are friends! - until its forever home is found - and you get to enjoy the experience without any guilt over your inability to commit for life.

If you've never had rats, mice, gerbils, degus, hamsters, guinea pigs, or any other shelter pet before, this is a good way to see whether they are the pets for you - you will be well-supported by knowledgable people. With no other pets of the same species at home, you'll also provide a valuable service by acting as a quarantine - something much-needed to keep pets healthy. Please contact your local shelter today!

About surrendering - the right thing to do, if done right

And for you, the person in need of finding a new home for a pet: The bad news. Shelters get more calls about surrendering animals than they do for adopting animals. No-kill rescues get even fewer adoptions because people know the animals are safe there. So some new protégés are denied an opportunity for this standard of shelter, because the rescue doesn't have a high enough turnover. We only hope most pets get adopted directly from the shelter in these cases.

Even if a shelter had more adoptions than inquiries to surrender, they might still attempt to address any reasons why you want to give your animal up. This is educational, so avail yourself of it. The problem might not be the pet, but what you don't know.

Some volunteers - upon request - will send out an e-mail on your pet's behalf to networks they are familiar with, to try to find it a home. You need to do the same - research the pet forums and e-mail lists pertinent to your pet, and network with your friends and family to find a new home.

When a shelter is full, and you wish to find your pet (or a pet you found) a new home through them, you must to foster it yourself until it is adopted. For the extra help, a donation to the shelter is warranted.

If you find a home for your pet before they do, ask about sending the person to the shelter for screening. Otherwise you risk a less-than-ideal home for the pet, and they, for having advertised the pet, risk their reputation should the pet be handled in an unethical manner in the process.

In addition, while trying to rehome a pet, you are still responsible for any veterinary needs should your animal become sick. It is not a grey area - the pet is still in your care and you can't deny it what you wouldn't deny a human. Animals do not show sickness until they are truly sick, so do something!

When you take a pet to a pound or a kill shelter, put what is called a "Do Not Destroy" on its file, and leave a donation for its care! If the shelter refuses, do not leave your pet there. They simply need to improve their procedures.

If you get the call that they are ready to give you back your pet or else euthanize it, take the call and respond right away, or the pet will be euthanized shortly.

If you don't know what else to do, then take the animal to your own vet and euthanize it. Euthanasia is a heart-breaking job when the animal is healthy; but when it has no alternative but a life of cruelty or capriciousness in the hands of anyone but its own family, it is better off getting sent off to the long sleep by its family. Be with your pet, don't just say goodbye and leave it in the vet's hands. This is your job.

This is not heartless, guilt-inducing nonsense: This is the way it is. We have a moral obligation to care for our pets, and to take responsibility for them. And by "we," we mean everyone. No one is exempt. Some just want to escape responsibility.

About live feeding

Feeding live captive animals to another animal is "natural and healthy," but a serious act of cruelty. The “cycle of life” has already been broken in keeping a pet snake, and at liberty, their prey is both more varied and fortunate. We don’t require our pet dogs to scavenge and cats to hunt in order to feed them, we interact with them - just as we should with our snakes. There are many humane alternatives that veterinarians recommend. You can substitute humanely pre-killed, frozen (not frozen-to-death, as some pet stores do) prey - but I do not love this idea because it is still a waste of a life, when there are other meat by-products such as poultry necks or packaged diets. A supply of meal worms, eggs in the shell, and other supplemented alternatives is just as available as live mice and rats. You can use tongs to hold the “prey” to entice the snake with movement. Please avail people of this information!

Unfortunately, small animals are often considered convenience pets, not thoroughly researched, because they are so affordable. As it's a caged pet that can't come right up to you, they can be more easily ignored - which is unkind, and owners can become "busy," which often means disinterested. For some, a small animal's short life is actually a selling point because some people consider small animals to be of no great consequence.

An animal once rejected is lucky to arrive on the doorstep of compassionate and knowledgable people. We assess its health, rehabilitate behavioural problems, and look after it until it is adopted or until it dies of natural causes (in palliative care).

We take commitments to animals seriously, and to never have one subjected to a capricious existence is our goal.