Cross Country Dog Travel

The original plan was to fly Anna, our 70lb pointer, to CA with us.  Buy her a kennel, put her on the plane as checked luggage and pick her up from the cargo area when we arrived.  It sounded simple.  But after looking into it a bit, that plan hit a few snags.   First, the small commuter plane to Dallas doesn't allow kennels in Anna's size.  Second, American Airlines won't fly animals in cargo when the forecasted temperature is above 85 degrees, which probably wouldn't work in southern CA at the end of April.  Third, besides being incredibly stressful to a pet, about one animal dies while flying every week across all the airlines.

So what to do with the dog?  We couldn't leave her here until June to drive back with my husband because of his work schedule and because he'll be using the space in the car to move other things.  So I searched online and found companies that drive animals cross country, which sounded really expensive even before I got a quote for $2,600.  Yikes!  I also put shipping her up for auction on the Ebay site Uship, where companies bid to ship a variety of things for you.

Before the day was out, I had a reasonable bid from a guy at Purrfect Pet Delivery Service, who would pick Anna up in two weeks and drop her off at my Mom's house about 3 days later.  All his reviews are good and after talking to him, he seems like a guy who really loves animals and his job.   He'll take her in his personal car (along with 1-2 other dogs he'll pick up along the way), walk her at rest stops, and sleep in the car with her too.  If all goes well, it should be a pleasant trip for her: safer, with more personal service and ultimately cheaper than flying her would have been.