Shindogs Air

31/07/2024

Final CDC process for Korea to USA.

22/07/2024

CDC: Dogs from Korea now only need to fill out the “dog import form”.
No records required, no additional vet documents required.

Thank you to everyone that screamed at the CDC to develop a rudimentary set of brain cells to understand the way rabies could potentially travel.

Let’s hope they don’t change back.

No word on the AWB thing though…

There are four requirements for dogs that have ONLY been in countries that are dog-rabies free or lo

18/07/2024

The CDC website is being modified day by day. Here's something of great joy for US military (and government employess who have access to the US Army VTF clinics in Korea!

(almost) All DoD veterinarians can access VEHCS (a USDA website to record federal information), thus they are able to issue US rabies vaccinations and their certificates!

I want to make something very clear, that may not be understood even by staff at the USFK VTFs:

ONLY VETERINARIANS THAT ARE ARMY OFFICERS OR ARE GS SCHEDULE EMPLOYEES CAN REPRESENT USDA. This means that local hire veterinarians CANNOT log vaccines to be uploaded on VEHCS.

17/07/2024

Ok folks, it seems CDC is not backing down, so here's the first step to enter the USA after August 1:

Dog Import Form:
https://cdc-786687.workflowcloud.com/forms/fb112553-dd9a-4c3e-a75f-12d6b7e2f2a4

Instructions how to fill it out:
https://www.cdc.gov/importation/media/pdfs/cdc-dog-import-form-instructions.pdf

If the process seems complicated for you to tackle alone, our expert team is ready to provide consultation asistance so you can get it all done right. We have been following this catastrophic CDC process since day one, reporting on it as it happens, and ensuring we tell as many people about it as we can.

Find our consultation services at:
https://shindogsair.com/

14/07/2024

HUGE NEWS!!

Korean Air has decided to allow passengers to SELF-ISSUE their own Airway Bill for dogs traveling with passengers!!

This means we in Korea can now complete all the requirements and dogs can travel!

We are still recommending everyone to get your dog RABIES ANTIBODIES TITER TEST from the APQA laboratory.

For a personalized consultation guiding you on how to prepare your travel correctly, come to shindogsair.com

More details will be discussed on our facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/flyingpetskorea/

Shindogs Air is working for you round the clock. We are the experts in Korea pet travel because we put in the time to stay up to date! (Now Sunday night past 11 PM)

14/07/2024

Two more global airlines have officially announced no more dogs as passenger bookings to USA.

Is the CDC about to become the most hated federal agency this century?

12/07/2024

THE CDC Statement regarding offering any type of exception to U.S. Military stationed abroad for simplifying their return home with their pets basically boils down to:

Some U.S. military members falsify documents, therefore ALL of them are not to be trusted or given any special consideration, despite who their employer is.

Also, adopted stray dogs are all disease ridden filthy animals, and because some U.S. military have been “reported” to adopt animals abroad, all military are denied any exemption, regardless of when and under what conditions, and where the dog was adopted.

Furthermore, the government will pay military’s costs so shut up and do what we say.

It doesn’t matter that multiple other government agencies (in USA and abroad) issue many exemptions to policy for military servicing USA abroad. CDC doesn’t care.

Here are excepts of the ruling:
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HHS/CDC disagrees that USG employees and members of the U.S. military should be exempt from any or all importation requirements.

CDC has no data to support the proposition that dogs owned by USG employees or members of the U.S. military are better cared for than other dogs or that individuals in these groups are less likely to attempt to import dogs with falsified documents or fraudulent or insufficient titers.

CDC has documented multiple instances of falsified documents, including intentionally altered import permits, forged titer results, and falsified rabies vaccination records, submitted by U.S. government employees and military service members.

Additionally, CDC has documented numerous reports of U.S. government employees, including military service members, adopting stray dogs while stationed overseas… however, the employment status of the importer does not affect the dog's potential risk of carrying DMRVV.

Adopted stray dogs often have unknown rabies exposure history, have received little or no veterinary care or vaccines, and can present a risk of DMRVV just like any other dog that has been in a high-risk country with an unconfirmed vaccination status.

Vaccination, titer, and quarantine requirements are essential to protect USG employees, service members, and their families as well as the U.S. communities these dogs are being introduced into when they arrive in the United States.

Furthermore, HHS/CDC strongly disagrees that this final rule specifically targets USG employees. This rule bases its importation requirements on the risk profile of the dog's country of origin and the dog's vaccination status (U.S.-versus foreign-vaccinated), and not the type of importer. It imposes no additional requirements on USG employees or members of the U.S. military compared to any other importers.

Finally, the State Department has made relocation funds available to U.S. government staff for quarantine fees or titer services. Additionally, there are CDC-approved laboratories providing discounted services for USG employees.

In sum, the risk of DMRVV importation is best determined based on a dog's vaccination status and its recent presence in a DMRVV high-risk country rather than the employer of the importer.

Thus HHS/CDC declines to create a specific exemption for USG employees and military members.

10/07/2024

WHY ARE AIRLINES BANNING PASSENGERS TAKING THEIR DOGS INTO THE UNITED STATES?

The CDC has created new draconian, aggressive, and arrogant rules and impositions on pet owners, veterinarians, foreign government agencies, and airlines, both domestic and foreign, which are leading airlines to ban the travel of dogs with passengers. CDC claims it is for prevention of rabies spreading, and the new rules from August 1 were hastily created with little public awareness during the process of creation.

Of great concern is the fact that CDC is imposing the following LEGAL requirements on airlines:

1- Airline staff at foreign airports have been mandated to check the CDC documentation, and determine the accuracy of the paperwork before accepting pets for boarding. This requires millions of dollars of cost in training staff, creating reference papers, programming computers for tracking data, and designating locations for such lengthy inspections to happen before boarding.

2- Airlines are now required to issue a very technical travel document called "Airway Bill" to passenger's pets, something that has never been done before anywhere in the world, and requires complex and expensive computer programming to enact and train. Implementing such computer changes costs millions for international systems.

3- Upon dogs landing in USA, if the animal is denied entry for any of the above, the airline bears the financial responsibility of disposing of the denied animals. (Yes, that means what you think it means). This can cost futher millions, as airlines now must create a framework at every US airport of arrival to manage rejected pets. This goes from hiring handling staff, to obtaining proper transport ground vehicles, to tracking and managing computer systems.

4- Failure to comply with any of the above results in airlines being banned from transporting ALL animals. (even cargo animals, cats, etc...)

Can anyone blame airline lawyers from immediately stopping all dog movements into the United States?

There's no way airlines can accept the liabilities involved in this!

Speak to your congressman or senator to STOP this madness!

source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/13/2024-09676/control-of-communicable-diseases-foreign-quarantine-importation-of-dogs-and-cats?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2Wwvl4_o-R2IKvkX_Fo5kxwAB86AUuZ7_iNLTTRBskmKYClUP7OG5TAFQ_aem_aFiBuWLMpVSQlGrkNz528g

10/07/2024

MY NEW URGENT ADVICE TO ANYONE WITH PLANS TO TAKE DOGS TO USA THIS AUGUST AS CHECKED BAGGAGE OR CARRY ON...

GO NOW! BEFORE AUGUST 1.

Lufthansa Airlines posted this on their German language website (screenshot is translated). They are BANNING DOGS from August 1 due to the moronic CDC new policies.

The airline obviously decided they weren't going to accept the US governments imposition of forcing airlines to police and enforce these new rules, and to do unprecedented additional labor such as issuing Airway Bills to passengers' pets, so they basically decided to say "the few hundred dollars we get per pet isn't worth the dumpster fire of problems they'll have dealing with the new policies.

Lufthansa is a leader in airline policy, and I now expect many other airlines around the world to enact the same pet bans.
LEAVE NOW! Get into USA before August 1.

note: apparently manifest cargo is not affected, since we always get an Airway Bill, and have the document enforcement screening procedure set up already)

IF you are departing past August, CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN OR SENATOR and ask them to fix this joke!!

10/07/2024

Dear United States CDC: Please delay and revise the new pet travel rule for at least 18 months to consider a more balanced and logical approach!

Please allow me to highlight a KEY problem on the rule that I have been trying to get public attention to, with no success. Regarding dogs coming from Korea and Japan (low-risk countries) There is a mandate for pet owners wishing to take their dogs to the USA who do not have a serology test (costing hundreds of dollars) to provide:

"veterinary records (including microchip number) for the dog from the exporting dog rabies-free or low-risk country for the previous six months."

The problem is that veterinarians in these countries DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH and do not provide medical records in English!! The documentation will be in KOREAN or JAPANESE script writing!!

How are border control agents in USA supposed to read and verify these records?

Do the records need to be translated to English? If so, by whom? Do these translations need to be apostilled?

Furthermore, what if the dog didn't visit the vet in the past six months, but at minus seven months or more? How is that going to represent 6 month residency? Does the CDC think dogs visit the vet once a month? Weekly? Daily?

the lack of clarity in this is catastrophic, and introduces undue stress on dog owners, who want to comply but have no clear guidelines for it!

Even US Congressman Nick Langworthy is petitioning the president to stop this madness!

24/06/2024

THE NEW DOD DOG IMPORT REGULATIONS FROM 1 AUGUST

-The fool-proof way to comply for pets coming from South Korea to USA

As we previously report, the CDC has implemented new regulations for preventing rabies from entering the United States, and while the concept is definitely required and important, CDC hastily drew out the policy with horredous gaps when it comes to clear instructions, and the wording has been left up for interpretation that will surely cause tragic situations for people who end up at the mercy of whoever is the individual inspecting their documents at pet entry.

Pets entering from Korea need documentation to prove that the animal has lived in Korea for the past 6 months.

Unfortunately, the wording says

"veterinary records (including microchip number) for the previous six months"

Without clarification. This totally leaves it up for interpretation:

________________

- Does this mean a rabies vaccination in Korea given 8 months ago is NOT going to count, because it isn't the past 6 months?

- Does this mean you have to prove the animal as CONTINUOUSLY been in Korea for the past six months? What records "PROVE" that? monthly heartworm treatment? Nail clippings?

- What if people don't have a regular vet in Korea?

- What if the Korean vet provide records... in KOREAN LANGUAGE? Can the airport inspectors in USA read Korean? Does it need to be translated? Notarized? Who can notarize it? Apostille?
__________________

Therefore, we are advising everyone departing Korea to the USA to use what is called "OPTION TWO" (for dogs coming from a rabies-controlled country) in order to ensure 100% that their pet won't be denied entry into USA and returned to Korea or euthanized. Do this:

*
*

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀 𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐊𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐀 (𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐔𝐒 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲) 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 (𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐍) 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒.

*
*

You will also need to fill out the mysterious "CDC Dog Import Form" (that may be free, or may not, we don't know because stupidly, the CDC seems to only be able to publish it TWO WEEKS before enactment !?!?!)

Your vet needs to fill out the "Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip Form", which along with the Korean Health certificate needs to be taken to APQA for endorsement.

Following Option 2 will guarantee your dog is eligible for US entry.

NOTE: It IS possible for you to try to go under Options 1 or 3, but that's going to be a case-by-case situation for approval.

If you’d like personalized advice for your case, our consultation services are available to give you peace of mind that your dog WILL get home!

Learn more at:

shindogsair.com

21/06/2024

Who am I?

A local expat online media page did an article about Shindogs Air. Good profile on how I got here:

Learn about Leo Mendoza's safe and reliable pet transport to and from Korea. Why did he start Shindogs Air? What is it like to run a business in Korea?

05/05/2024

What's the deal with the temperature in airplane cargo holds? (and how that impacts the crazy high cost of pet shipping)

We get asked all the time about the temperature "under the plane"... pet owners stressed about how their air traveling animals are going to be kept in a safe environment. Well, here's the selector k***s on a commercial plane, where as you can see, the Captain has 3 options for the different cargo holds WHEN the hold has installed the optional temperature control modules (not all airplane have them, and not on every cargo hold). They can select it to off, low, or high.

The lower picture shows the temperature reading in different sections of the plane. In Celcius, purple numbers indicate actual temp. 21-24C is the comfy temp at which the passenger cabin is at. This image comes from a plane before departure during winter, so you can see the lower holds register colder temps.

As the captain gets the report of what temperature-sensitive items are loaded, they select the appropriate temperature to maintain during the airplane's operation. Low, to maintain the cargo hold at a temperature suitable to frozen/refrigerated foodstuff and pharma, and high, to maintain the temperature at ranges suitable for live animals.

And THAT brings us to price wars... you see, there's one big "problem" for airlines when they carry pets. STACKABILITY. Pet crates cannot be stacked in the cargo hold. Thus, a pet crate takes up a LOT of space, no matter how small (or big) it is. It is taking its own footprint-- like a cat in a 71 long by 52 wide crate-- but it is also taking 170 centimeters vertically! even though the actual crate is only 53 centimeters high.

Cargo gets billed by the volume formula of a cost rate times Length, Width, and Height of the package being shipped (weight generally doesn't matter)

The airline would make more money selling the cargo space to clients shipping stackable crates of fresh food than selling that footprint space to a small pet crate... and the difference is not small. by THOUSANDS of dollars. So, every time airlines ship pets as cargo, they are potentially losing a lot of cash IF that same day a commercial shipping client wants to send their stackable cargo... so, that's one of the major reasons why cargo rates for pet shipping are so high.

We hope that gives you some insight into the process; this has been greatly simplified, as there are additional complexities involved in both the temp control systems, and the cost rates, but we wanted to give you a peek behind the curtain!

23/03/2024

We are celebrating a milestone on our Facebook group FLYING PETS KOREA - Free Advice From Shindogs Air.

We've just reached the "indicated" 10,000th member! That means that for the first time, there are TEN THOUSAND members at one time.

Of course, the number of people that have ever been part of the group is a lot higher, as many people join the group to facilitate their travel, and then leave the group once the journey is complete.

It has taken 5 years and 10 months to get here, and in this time, literally thousands of people have been given the FREE information required to successfully transit their pet from/to Korea!

We have literally answered tens of thousands of questions from people that have never paid us a penny for the service --and yes, we also have provided paid services for those that want personalized assistance-- but the number of paid clients is a tiny percentage of the total users of the group.

FPK has always been a community service to give pet owners answers to the "fog of war" questions in pet travel, but not just answers... CORRECT answers, verified by pet travel professionals. We allow zero misinformation, zero speculation, and moderate the group so that every post, comment, and photo provides accurate information.

If you're not in the group yet and have pets flying to/from Korea, come join us!

And if you are already here, thank you for being part of this community; your pet trip will go right!

Cheers to all,

Jin and Leo (and all our dogs)

14/03/2024

Did you know we offer consultation services for DOCUMENT CHECKING? Did you know why?

Because, veterinary offices make mistakes.

Over the 15+ years we've been involved with pet travel, we have encountered countless examples of well-intended veterinary offices producing faulty health documents that result in pets being denied boarding, sent to quarantine, sent back to country of origin, and even at risk of euthanasia due to non-compliance.

And it isn't every once in a while. Bad documents happen A LOT. Vets are overworked, clinics are understaffed, and it is difficult to take the meticulous care needed to ensure every line, letter, and number are 100% perfect. This happens at the local vet clinics, and shockingly, we even find errors from GOVERNMENT VETERINARIANS!

Here's two samples from the past few days. These are REAL documents from our REAL clients, where we discovered errors by government vets. In both cases, one in USA and one in Korea, they completely forgot to add a key certificate number. Thanks to our alert, both clients were able to get the documents corrected in time to fly!

You need us to be the overwatch for your pet travel mission. We are trained to see what everyone else misses, and we ensure your pets make it with zero errors.

Find our services on our website:

shindogsair.com

08/03/2024

Sometimes, plans fall apart… that’s when your choice of Pet Shipper matters.

This is Murray. He was supposed to fly yesterday from Korea to London. But his airline had a worker’s strike declared when he was already in Shindogs’ care, literally about to load on the plane. Flight postponed for at least a week!

His family had already left Korea, and there was no trusted friend he could go stay with. So we immediately invited Murray to come stay in our house for as long as he needs. At no cost to his family, of course.

You see, once pets come into our care, they are family. We will treat them as one of our own!

Today Murray was integrated to our home pack, and he’ll sleep on the dogs’ sofa, instead of some cage in a kennel somewhere. This is what we do.

Oh, and see the comments for a picture of Jin getting bowled over in kisses from Murray on first meeting!

23/02/2024

CARGO PRICING EXPLAINED (And why British Airways has no soul)

Over the past several days, I’ve been contacted by people in different parts of the world, asking my thoughts on the shocking actions taken by British Airway and their IAG cargo division when they decided to raise their pet transport costs by 400%, suddenly and without warning. Here's the REAL reason:

In the photo, you see two pallets prepared for loading on a plane, full with the maximum cargo allowed to load by air regulations. Do you see a difference?

The pet crate for this particular dog is 56 cm (23 inches) tall. There’s a regular sized pug in there. If the dog were a German Shepherd, the crate would be 89cm (35 in).

The airline shipping the pet, like all airlines, sets the rate based on the volume contained in the equation of height X width X length. Each customer sending a package pays the airline based on the total volume of the cargo hold occupied by their package.

In the stack of boxes, there are a couple dozen separate boxes, wrapped by one single shipper, for which their owners have paid a volume rate. The entire package of multiple boxes is around 167 cms (5.5 ft) tall. I know because I stood next to it (Yes, I’m that short). So the math equation is forming in your head, right?

FYI, the volume rate is set DIFFERENT according to the contents of the cargo. There’s also regulations on if cargo is stackable or not. Pet crates are required to be placed on the aircraft floor, and nothing can be stacked on top of them.

You see the issue now, right? The pet crate is paying volume rate for its actual length, width, and….. well, the cargo hold ceiling is WAY above the height of the crate… so, a pet crate is using its entire footprint PLUS the height to the ceiling… while only paying for the much smaller actual height!

This means that the potential earnings of the volume used by every pet crate is A LOT more than the actual earnings, assuming that the crate would not have been given the space, and instead they load much more lucrative STACKABLE cargo… Things requiring temperature control like produce, boxed insects or live fish, day-old chicks, fresh food, etc.

So, this week, British Airways decided enough is enough, and raised their Live Animal costs by an obscene 400%, for ONE OBJECTIVE: To discourage people from shipping pets in order to replace that lost height volume by stuff that gives them MORE PROFIT.

That’s it. Greed. Nothing more than pure capitalism.

No one at British Airways/ IAG Cargo cares that families might be broken up. They don’t care that pets that last week cost $3,000 to ship now can cost 10 to 12 Thousand dollars. They don’t care that the majority of their pet customers are US military families, students, or immigrants.

They care about making more money.

So, what’s my opinion? Well, that’s their mandate as a for-profit company. To make money. Thus, I have just one simple recommendation for people suffering: Use a different airline. Lufthansa Cargo and KLM Cargo are excellent options. So are Emirates Cargo, Qatar Cargo, Etihad Cargo, Turkish Cargo, JAL and ANA.. the list goes on. I’ll leave it up you to decide if you want to use British Airways for anything ever again…

But that’s it. That’s reality. It is all about money. Now you know why.

PS We don’t use BA to/from Korea, but… this industry moves in trends. BA was first, but I have a feeling they won’t be the last.