I have moved some large creatures in my time. Indeed I have filled whole aircraft with farm animals, but this week I flew my largest single dog so far. CODA is a 65kg (143 pounds) Newfoundland male (5 years old) belonging to a lovely family relocating to Manila, Philippines. CODA was accompanied by his two family canine fellows HEATHER and BRACKEN, who are litter mates born 11 years ago. These two Golden Retrievers were each able to travel in Giant Sky Kennels. But the Newfoundland required his own EXTRA-LARGE specialized container to satisfy the IATA space regulations.
CODA’s special travel container was built in our Manoir Kanisha workshop. When timber is used to make any international containers, it must be sterilized against parasites and diseases either by heat treatment after manufacture (50 C. for 30 minutes) in a licenced establishment, or must be built entirely from processed timber such as plywood. The plywood manufacturing process itself is considered to be the ‘heat treatment’. IATA Live Animal Regulations (LAR) specifies a minimum ½ inch thick plywood and a minimum of 16{9d9670e68ae325e7f2ee28b19b626ec83e56a1fb0eb745df8d3e803c0db082c3} ventilation on all 4 sides. This special kennel must measure more in height and length than the dog, hence this huge kennel (62″ x 30″ x 44″) for CODA’s comfort.
You will observe from all this that pets travel in far greater comfort, with much more legroom relative to their body size, than any human passenger during flight! It is also one of the reasons why transport costs for pets are so much higher than for people.
The total volume of these three kennels could not be flown from Montreal to Toronto for the Philippines Airline flight, so they were transported six hours by road to Toronto. Every three hours they were taken for a walk and lodged overnight with Lorna, a friend IPATA member from “Lyon Petmobile Services” near Toronto. Lorna, thank you so much for your competent assistance in Toronto and at Pearson Airport.
CODA, a Newfoundland rescue dog, is the gentlest giant and everyone fell in love with him, from the Manoir Kanisha employees, the veterinary technicians to the airport staff. The family are lucky if nobody dognapped him en route. All three dogs are now on a flight from Toronto to Manila.
The owners promised to send photographs upon their arrival. We will share the information as soon as we receive it.
Tim Harris, Manager
Pet Relocation Services, Manoir Kanisha
