tomcruise

I think keeping pets at home is akin to keeping slaves at home. I know it brings a lot of pleasure but for a moment think if you would like to be in the pet's shoe..imprisoned and always under a master. Animals need to be free. This is the conclusion I came to when I was 14 and had to go through the pain of losing the family pet due to an illness. I promised myself never again. Similarly, I hope you will not try to get a new pet once in Australia. As for your present predicament, I would get a second opinion and try to bring the dog to Australia. Cheers

Sally Redux

I do feel sorry for pets.

Elizabeth I

That sounds a little odd... Why can't you take your dog just because it has a skin condition?

I'd get a second opinion, unless there are live cargo rules which don't allow you to take her because of her condition, or there's a likelihood she will die in transit, I'd take her if I were you. I feel the same as you, my dog is my baby and there's no-way I'm leaving my beloved dog behind, not for anything if I can help it...unless I'm told point blank by authorities that he's definitely not allowed in, he's coming (to Canada) with me, no matter what condition he's in.

The_Wookie

Your 'conclusion' is far too simplistic.

Where would you like to see domesticated dogs be free? These are animals that have become domesticated over thousands of years, and simply could not cope in the 'wild'.

West Vic

I'd get a second opinon about your dog travelling. The skin condition doesn't seem reason enough to not have him travel. His age maybe. I couldn't bear to leave my westie x behind anywhere, even dropping him off at the Kennel this thurs for a long weekend upsets me! I'm a softie...

Try really hard to see if you can bring him as you know you won't settle here so well and you will be constantly worrying about him. He's your baby!

tomcruise

Yes, indeed it was supposed to be simplistic. I would like to see less and less of domesticated animals. If we break the habitat (aka "domesticated home") , we would one day see domesticated animals die out like the the other non-demestic animals that have become extinct (or in the process of becoming extinct) due to loss of habitat. I doubt we could ever destroy this habitat because humans are basically selfish and we need instant gratification. However, If we all play a part, we can see this exploitation reduced. Afterall, we made the smokers a threatened species in some countries due to public education! I never thought that could be achieved either.

jothefw

Wow! I suspect that's given OP a lot of support, guidance and tips for the future!

jothefw

To OP ... when we started application process we had three dogs.

The eldest (cocker spaniel) wasn't very well at the time, going off his back legs just one of the concerns. He had never been in kennels (so the thought of flight and quarantine filled me with dread) and my husbands family immediately wanted to re-home him with them .... we may have their grandchildren 12,000 miles away but they were infinitely consoled by having our dog! (Grandpa thinks he's no 1 grand child I think!)

Dog #2 (springer spaniel) was only 2 yrs old at the time but professionally trained as a working gun dog. We made the hard decision to re-home him in an environment where he could continue to do the things he loved most. I interviewed prospective owners at length and he's with a lovely couple and we share yearly updates on his progress and happiness.

Dog #3 was only 6 mths old and a hilarious mutley mix of mainly Jack Russell come ratter! We re-homed him with friends of friends and he's fab with them.

Now all the detail is building up to the fact that we left them all behind. I miss all of them but Dog #1 every day. He's got over whatever was causing the dodgy legs, sickness, lack of eating etc (maybe it was the packing!) but I wish he was here! At the age that he is I doubt he'd have enjoyed the heat and the grass seeds where we live is a life threatening issue to spaniels so I maintain it was the right choice to leave him for his sake - just not mine.

We went back to UK for visit 9 months after leaving (I add at this point that we chat to Dog #1 on webcam!!) and he mooched up to us when we arrived and hopped straight into the passenger footwell of the car as if to say right you've had a long holiday, lets go home! That broke my heart all over again! We are planning to go back to UK again next July which will be 3 years since we last saw him and I'm just hanging out for him to still be around! (He will be ancient by then!) It makes me blub far more than missing my mum or mates!

Consider everything, twice if not more! xxx

kar-kier

I've only had my dog for 2 and a half months, and I wouldn't dream of leaving her! If we fail to get PR (we are on a temp visa just now) she will come back with us. Should something happen to my husband and I, she will go back to live with my mum, with our 2 boys.

I would take both dogs with you, the absolute worst that can happen is that the eldest dies, but if you leave her, she could quite possibly die of a broken heart!

Elizabeth I

I don't think it's even the same thing to compare smoking to pets. Dogs are naturally a companion to humans, it's not just that they're domesticated, we go together in a special pet/human relationship. Some animals are never going to be domesticated no matter what, they're always wild but dogs are a mans best friend. Even cats (although more independant) have loving companion relationships with human beings.

You are proposing a life without pets and that is a sad life for a human being (and I would wager for a dog too, they couldn't survive on their own and would just revert to being scavengers)...As humans, we love animals and we were meant to be friends with dogs and other domesticated pets, it's like a family feeling...

My response has probably been more simplistic than yours but I dunno how complicated it has to be to understand how special these pet/human relationships are...

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Sorry folks but I find all this bizarre. I have a dog and two cats and if it came to making a decision about the family as momentous as migrating then the cats and dog would be the least of my worries. Still, each to their own.

kporte

Agreed. It is a dog.

Bermudashorts

Some of us consider that when we take in a cat or a dog that we take them for the rest of their natural life, not just for our convenience.

I did not move to Bermuda because I thought it would be nice for my cats to live somewhere sunny, the decision to go was not about them. However they were a factor and if they had not been able to go then that would have been the end of that conversation.

As somebody else has said, most people (not suggesting the OP) don't bother taking their pets because of the expense and some minor inconvenience.

kporte

Fair enough. Some people make their choices based on a dog/cat. I wouldn't.
You should bear in mind that the animal doesn't care less, as long as they are fed and watered.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Don't get me wrong... If I were to be going back to the UK then I would certainly look at taking my cats and dog back as well... but if, for some reason, we couldn't go because of the animals, then I'm sorry, the animals would be staying in Australia....

As Kporte has already said the animals don't care as much as we like to think they do. I adopted my dog as a four year old, because his owners couldn't handle him anymore as they had two small children.
Did he fret about the move?? Well not that I noticed.. a couple of meals of chicken and lamb necks, a run round the park, and you would have thought he lived with us since being a puppy.