So I was emailing with a friend of mine, who happens to be the humour columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, okay....it was Doug Speirs, and I mentioned that perhaps he would want to do an article on flying with dogs. As in dogs in the CARGO bay on airplanes. Doug sometimes writes articles regarding pets, pet shelters, pet adoption fund raisers....you get the idea.
I know, to all of you out there who will instantly say NO!, not all people think flying animals is a good idea, including Doug who stated he would be 'reluctant." But then his dogs are the size of cracker boxes so they wouldn't have to go into cargo.
My dog is 65 pounds, or maybe 70 if the vet isn't around to weigh him and tell me he should lose some weight. He has to go into cargo - no choice. Of course - the choice could be to drive for four days to get to our Arizona place and then drive four days back....into winter, ice, snow, fog. So this year we flew him with Westjet. Again, no choice because Wesjet is the only carrier that has direct flights to Phoenix and I sure wasn't going to take the chance of getting stuck in Calgary!
So, six weeks before our trip we bought a kennel. Danny could actually use the next size up kennel than the one we bought, but Westjet has RULES and one is the size of the largest kennel. I started by keeping it next to his bed and tossing treats into it once in a while. At first he wasn't going to go all the way in, but over time he went in, turned around and walked out without any panic on his little pointy face. Next step - close the door and lock him in. A puzzled expression, then a pawing at the metal door. I let him out and over the weeks kept him locked in for longer periods. At one point he just lay down and waited for me to come back and open the door. BINGO! We were ready to go.
Our airport is new - as in, you can still smell the paint - and the powers that be (or in some cases the powers who think they are the powers that be...more on this later) decided that they had better step up their game and really be efficient.
So, check in was fine. We had Danny on a leash and the kennel on a trolley. Westjet said we could just walk him to security because they would have to inspect the cage. I know - we all think this is just silly - but we HAVE to go along with it since 9/11. At security they say: "You can't take the trolley in."
What? Okay, stay calm. Danny on leash, each taking a small bag, husband dragging large kennel. We ALL go through the scanner...I was waiting for them to ask Danny to stand and put his paws over his head but this didn't happen.
Put shoes back on ( I traveled through eleven....yes, eleven airports last year and this it the only airport where I had to remove my shoes!!!), belt back on, keep hanging onto dog who wants to be a WalMart greeter to everyone....carry and drag kennel (which has now been checked for explosive devices) to our next stop.......U.S. customs.
"Why isn't that dog in the kennel?" asks the not so happy customs lady.
"Because we couldn't bring the trolley through and if he is in the kennel he would be too big to carry." This seems reasonable to us.
"He needs to be in a kennel. He could scratch a child." I look around....nope...NO CHILD in sight.
Husband finds a trolley. Dog into kennel (paw, paw at the door), trolley rolls to U.S. Customs. She smiles and let's us go through. Yes - she has the power to make people do her bidding!!!
OKAY - does this even make sense? We then have to trolley him all the way to the gate so the "Westjet representatives can see the dog." What is this - a dog show?
Off we ramble to the gate - yup - it's a dog....and now back to the elevator (which we passed several miles ago). A quick look at Danny ( paw, paw) as we merrily roll along. Arrive at elevator where we are greeted by a Westjet attendant. We wait, and wait and wait.
"The person coming to pick the dog up got caught in the elevator." she explains to us. We nod, and wait.......45 minutes!!! (paw, paw)
"You only have one elevator?" I ask. This is a brand spanking new, state of the art, very expensive airport.
"Well, we have to use this elevator because you are now officially in the U.S. "
Geez - that was a short trip!! But no - we weren't magically transported, we came through U.S. customs and now are stuck in nowhere land....I'm in, I'm out...look U.S.....Canada....nah, nah, nah!!!
EVENTUALLY I went back to the gate while my husband and Danny (paw, paw) waited by the elevator that wasn't working, with the guy stuck in it and told them no one had picked up the dog.
A look of shock and horror on the attendants faces - but we are boarding.....!!!.....A frantic phone call and assurances that the plane would not leave until Danny .....and the two of us I presume, were all aboard.
Trundle back to the elevator where two guys pick up the kennel (paw, paw) and CARRY him down the stairs to the plane. We race back to the gate, board the plane and within minutes receive a slip of paper telling us that Danny is safely tucked into the cargo hold. Which I have since learned is just for doggies and other sundry and just below the pilots.
Land safe and sound in Phoenix three hours later, where a very happy collie gets out and wiggles himself silly.
ONE TRIP DOWN and the return:
Put dog in kennel immediately upon arrival at the airport. He is seen by a WestJet attendant and we are taken to a private, quiet room where he is taken out and looked at...all is calm. The attendant then wheels him away and we are left standing like two new parents watching their child get swallowed up by the school system on the first day of kindergarten.
While waiting to board the plane I look out the window and I see the ramp just under the pilots, and then I see a man lift Danny's kennel onto the ramp....and take his hand and tickle Danny through the cage door and talk to him. My heart settles. We get onto the plane and there is our little slip of paper telling us Danny is aboard. Off we fly back home.
AH - Canada Customs. How long have you been there, what did you do, anything to declare??? We did fill out the customs form in front of you....
Get Danny at the cargo entrance, leave him in the kennel and wheel him away...to another customs/security person who takes one look at our declaration form and says: "You didn't declare the dog!!!!!"
Had I been thinking clearly (it was after midnight) I would have said in my best Southern accent: "Waahhh, Yes! Ah do declare....that IS a dog!"
However, taking a cue from my very silent husband (which is an indicator that he is really getting pissed at this) I remain silent.
We are quickly taken to another room with Danny on the trolley (paw, paw).
"Why didn't you declare the dog?" asks the extremely stern Customers/Security person.
I explained that we had never flown with him before and after showing her all of his papers and her pointing with her pen to WHERE I SHOULD HAVE declared the dog.....right after plants....it SAYS ANIMALS!!! she let us go, but not until she explains to us that THEY take this kind of thing very seriously.
Seriously?? a dog in a kennel and a declaration slip?
Okay...... husband mumbles a few things under his breath, I let the dog out of the kennel - just daring for someone to come and tell me I can't. It's late, we are tired, Danny is so happy to be free....and the same Customs/Security person walks by on her way home and stops.
Oh CRAP!
She bends over and says to Danny "There you are! I bet you are happy to be out of that kennel!!" and walks out the door.
Oh! Canada! WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE.....
Until next year....
Things I have learned this week:
Some people just don't live in the real world....one of Marc Anthony's ex wives is coming after him for more child support. He is a Latin singer of some note and was at one time married to Jennifer Lopez, in case you don't know who he is, but he isn't the problem.
His ex wife is demanding he increases his monthly payments from $13,000 to $113,000 for his sons Cristian, 13, and Ryan, 10.
WHY??? Dayanara, who divorced Marc in 2004, claims her children have a lavish lifestyle when they're with their father, but live in relative poverty when they're with her.
So, I imagined that she was a single gal just trying to make ends meet while he frolics around the globe with various young lovelies on his arm. Not so.
The 39-year-old actress (I've never heard of her) allegedly wants the extra cash to pay for house staff and the opportunity to take her boys on a vacation. Oh yeah - now that is poverty!
*****
Rail union chief in England, Bob Crow, passed away this week. Personally, I have never been one for unions. I believe the initial idea was needed, but lately, I have been turned off by the strong arm tactics and the big bosses keeping their big salaries while the little people walk the picket lines with strike pay.
Bob Crow was a kind of Rob Ford looking guy, with a little Mafia don flare thrown in for good measure. He looked like , as the British would say, a "tough."
He wasn't affiliated with any particular political party and had worked his way up from humble beginnings working on the railways at 16 years of age. In 2002, he ran for election and he won, so good on him.
HOWEVER, at the time of his death he was making about $200,000.00 per year while living in a COUNCIL house - as in, one that is subsidised by the government. He was 52 and his favorite dog was a pittbull.
No comments:
Post a Comment