shipping by air- advice??

[Katey]

(cross-posted from goat forum, since we have the same issues.)

Hi folks,

I am looking at shipping two medium-sized goats, one with horns, across the country. I've already talked with the state vets in both places and found out what is necessary in terms of health certificates, vaccinations, etc. Now what I need to know is how to deal with the airline: somehow I doubt that I just call up the 800 number and tell them that I want to ship some goats. Who should I be trying to reach, and how?

Questions I have, for you and them:

1. What kind of crate is acceptable? Ship them in one crate or two?
2. What kind of food and water is required/forbidden?
3. How can I make sure they are on an aircraft with a pressurized cargo compartment? The nearest airport to them is Bangor, Maine, which does not have a heck of a lot of traffic but does take some big planes. They will have to change planes no matter what airport they leave from.
4. Where do I take them at the airport? Somehow I doubt they will be "checked baggage."
5. What have I forgotten to ask about?

If you have any experience with this your advice and stories would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Katey

[kesoaps]

I don't know why you couldn't just call the 800 number... They'd be able to direct your call if unable to answer it themselves.

[thatcompchick]

Katey,

Call the carrier. You can look up the ones that leave your airline online to see their animal freight policy. Be aware that there may not be an animal frieght carrier going out of Bangor. Delta Dash, American air are the ones I have used. A dog crate is usually the requirement. Health certificates are usually required to be 10 days or less old -

And check the state you are shipping to in advance of this planning - a lot of states require valid tb test results, etc.

BTW - my brother in law is an air traffic controller at Bangor ;-)

Andrea

[Katey]

Thanks Andrea,

Someone on the goat board also suggested Delta, so I'll try them first. Delta flies some big planes out of Bangor, so hopefully this will work. I could get them on a non-stop if I drove them to Boston, but that doesn't sound like much fun for either me or them.

I like the Bangor airport! No fuss, no muss, in and out in no time at all! I was once stuck there during one of those Eastern-seaboard-wide ice storms and the last thing that landed before everything shut down was an absolutely ENORMOUS Russian cargo plane. I counted twenty-some wheels on the landing gear. Some of the ground crew came through the terminal later, shaking their heads... seems the complete contents of that plane had been one cooler of (very expensive) caviar. Guess it's easy to clear Customs at Bangor, too.

Katey