When Cats Fly

I found this article I'd written 5 years ago when we flew our cats to Korea. It was a very traumatic time for all of us. Thought I would share it.

When Puff & Godiva go traveling
Or
How to fly to Korea without Mom

We had flown the cats out to our daughter the day before we left for Korea. Continental airlines is quite good with animals, taking care that they are never overheated. We were booked on United and since we were leaving from Houston in the middle of August, United couldn't guarantee that they would let the cats get on the same flight as we were on if the weather was too hot. We had tried really hard to find a service to do it for us but most of them were uncooperative, uncommunicative, and willing to charge $2500 and up for the two cats but basically not providing anything except putting them on the plane after we dropped them off. So we determined to do it ourselves and decided to fly the cats to CA to our daughter for the weekend then on to Seoul. Because you have to have a USDA stamp on the paperwork within 10 days, we were under a time line to get it done quickly but also worried about incoming customs and afraid they’d have to go into quarantine if we got there on a Saturday, late, and found no quarantine officials at the airport to release them. .

Animal Port Houston, which another Chevron person had used for his dog, wanted to send the cats through Amsterdam! He proudly explained to me that they only use KLM because they provide a break in Amsterdam for 4 hours at a nice pet hotel and get the animals out of the cage and walk the dogs. Also, he told me, KLM does good work with taking care of the animals in flight. He patiently explained to me that NO ONE likes to fly animals over the Pacific because it is such a long flight. I listened incredulously and then asked him if he knew geography at all and explained to him that it was just as long going from Amsterdam to Seoul as it was from San Francisco to Seoul. He assured me it wasn't and gave me times of the flight and arrival times. Obviously this guy had never seen a globe and didn't know about time changes. He finally agreed to check with United to see about sending the cats with them. He called me back the next day to tell me he couldn’t provide the service because going with United would mean someone in his office would have to have the cats at the airport around 4 a.m. HELLOOO, isn’t that was “SERVICE” means? I had already checked the KLM flights and saw that they didn’t even go directly from Amsterdam to Seoul but had a plane change in Shanghai. I’ve been in the Shanghai airport and really didn’t want my cats there! I figured out to take the cats from Houston to Seoul via SFO was 16 hours in the air – 2 flights. To go from Houston to Seoul via Amsterdam was 22 hours in the air plus the nice 4 hours in a pet hotel and 3 flights. So might have been ok for dogs but not cats. I soooo wanted to ask him if he would sent animals via KLM through Amsterdam if they were only going to CA.

Anyway, cats are at our daughter's house for the weekend while we get into Seoul and make arrangements with our driver to pick us up at the airport the day the cats arrive, Monday. I have to say I did NOT like United service for the cats as they required the cats to be there 4 hours before the flight. So they were dropped them off at 8 a.m. on Sunday for a 12 noon flight.

We had our apartment people call and ask where we were to go to pick up the cats and got a really complicated answer so our driver from Sat said he'd take us to the cargo area. Thank goodness he did because it would have been a hell without him. We arrive at the cargo area, about 1 1/2 miles from the people terminal. We're driving around the area trying to find United Cargo. Our driver stops and goes into buildings to ask where it is and gets redirected 3 times when our cell phone rings (our first call!) and it's United Cargo saying they have our two cats and are we going to pick up the documents. Wow, I got all excited thinking I would see my kitties soon. I then give the phone to the driver and she tells him were to go. Turns out this was Paper Document Stop #1. As we are finally in the correct building and climbing up to the third floor, I think - there's no way someone carried two cat cages up to this office. Unfortunately, I was correct. This was United's office. While they had all the documentation off the cat cages - which assured me that the cats were definitely in country - all I did was sign them out of United's control, United airlines took their copies of paper work and directed us to Paper Document Stop #2 or otherwise known as quarantine.

Going to quarantine meant leaving the cargo area C and going to cargo area B, checking which building was correct again, climbing back to another third story office and paying our first fee of 10,000 Won (about $10) for a "request for quarantine". I must admit I did not like the sound of that document. The quarantine officer tells us to wait for 15 minutes and sends our driver off to pay our fee and get a receipt. These receipts are all important because without one receipt you cannot move on to the next paper document stop. When our driver returns, we get a stamp on our receipt and a stamp on our request for quarantine and are directed to the first floor and the customs officials and Paper Document Stop #3.

By now, we have been messing with paperwork and locating buildings for about 45 minutes. Now we hand our stamped papers and receipts to the "master" customs official who tells us to wait for about 1 hour. My heart sank and I'm getting all jittery because I am worried about my kitties and they are sitting somewhere without me and without knowing what is happening. "Master" customs official calls over a wizened, ole retired man who provides a service of running your paperwork around the customs office. He told us, in barely understandable English, that our paperwork must be entered into one computer and then it comes up on another computer and we get stamps here and stamps there and finally it comes up on the end computer and we get an end stamp and then we are done but it takes a long time. He sends us to the second floor lounge to wait.

I'm only good for about 15 minutes before I start fidgeting and another 15 minutes and I'm pacing. Customs closes at 6 p.m. and by now it's 5:15. I move to stand by the balcony watching for our wizened ole retired guy. I see him put papers on a desk and wander off. Our driver tries to get him to speed it up but doesn't happen. Finally at around 5:40, someone sits at the desk where our papers are and starts working on the computer. Wizened ole retired guy goes over and gets our papers, stamps them himself, takes them to the computer man at the desk next to him, stamps them again and disappears somewhere else. Our driver goes to find him and I head down the stairs because I can't stand there anymore. At 5:55, wizened guy gives our driver a bill and we pay a customs fee of about $33 and then pay ole wizened guy a fee of about $33 for his services of running around our paperwork and we leave with the precious Paper Documents, Stamped and Receipts.

Now we must return to the first cargo area to pick up the cats but NO, not quite that simple. We still need Paper Document Stop #4. We park the van and wander from one bay to another looking for the proper place to get the cats. Our driver has all our properly stamped documents in hand to show to the cargo supervisors and we keep being directed down the line. It was quite interesting to see everything because it looked a lot like Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Arc when they took the arc into the rows and stacks of boxes. There were towering stacks of boxes there and fork lifts running all over moving cargo from one bin to another or to a truck. But by now, I am a basket case waiting for my babies and can’t appreciate the science and wonder of a cargo hanger.

Finally we are directed to an office were we take a number and must pay what I called a retrieval fee - meaning someone brings the cats from wherever they are to the front of the cargo bay so we can get them and finally get the precious last Paper Document stamped and receipt. Then we must sit and wait for our name to be called. Luckily it was only a few minutes and we went into the cargo area and there were two very unhappy and tired and bewildered cats who started crying the minute they saw us. Our driver went for the van and we loaded cats and me into the back seat. I was able to open Godiva's cage enough to put my arm in to pet her and calm her. Puff was complaining so I was able to open his cage too and he pushed his way over into Godiva's cage and they sat together almost all the way to the apartment. Incheon international airport is further out of town than the old Kimpo airport so it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get back. So from the time we left the apartment until we returned, it took us about 6 1/2 hours. I am just so thankful that we got them because I had horrid visions of customs closing on us and saying come back tomorrow. About the time while I was thinking this and all the waiting was happening, our daughter was at home asleep in her bed and having nightmares that the cats had arrived but I couldn't get to them. How prophetic was that?

Anyway, it did not take the kitties long to accept that this was a good place and they calmed down immediately once we let them out of the cages. They seem happy here with Puff getting into the window a lot and Godiva finding sunbeams. Both are a little rattled and follow me all over but they did that a lot in Houston too.