By Jayvee Vallejera
You'd think that going from Point A to Point B is as straightforward as what mapmakers would have you believe, but as any traveler can tell you, the actual act of traveling is so much more complex. Transporting pets adds more layers of intricacy to the task. It can be overwhelming and super expensive.
Bringing my three cats from Saipan straight to the good old Leyte Island in the Philippines in 2023 took several months of planning and coordination that required several permits, lots of medical requirements and finding a company that would handle all that for you. The entire process included asking help from the Saipan Humane Society, an 18-day holding period, two trips to the CNMI, obtaining live animal shipping permits in both the CNMI and Guam and several months of back-and-forth with pet shippers in Guam. For those who want Miss Catty and Pete are now home in Leyte and hanging along with the seven Leyte-based cats. But the tale of how all of it happened is so much more head-splitting than anticipated. The biggest hurdle was flying Amber, Miss Catty and Pete from Saipan to Manila via Guam. After reading many horror stories about pets being mistreated by cargo handlers, I first planned to hire a person to shepherd the cats through the process. No other airline offered that service. However, Korean Air offered this personalized service, but would only allow in-cabin transport and each cat stays and meals (on Saipan, in Guam and Manila) must be accompanied by one person. One person selves. So, no. That ruled out my initial plan. Plan C became the most viable option: find a pet transport service, which was not available on Saipan. I discovered Pete's own. I have three cats. But the tale of how part of flying to Manila with my pets would have to travel on their own.
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