My God Andrea!!!! What a nightmare experience for both you and Talli - just
glad you are safely back in the USA!!!

Karen

Andrea Portugal <andimariep@...> wrote:
Hello Everyone! Well, I am safely back in the USA with my Talisman and had such
an interesting experience that I just had to share it with all of you ...

First of all, I'll start by saying I took everyone's advice and didn't go for
the Ace sedatives, rather, I gave Talisman a few drops of the Rescue Remedy
instead ... I gave myself a few drops as well, and if you read on, you'll seee
why ...

First, as you know, I had made reservations at least a month in advance with
Northwest, confirming the crate size, etc with them. After MANY problems (the
good people at Northwest France continuously rejected the crate size, as they
kept misreading the flight as domestic rather than international) I was finally
even able to obtain a written confirmation of my reservation.

So I get to the airport 3 hours early - try to check in the dog, and they tell
me ... you guessed it ... that the crate was too large. I informed them that the
crate was already confirmed, that the measurements were on the confirmation,
that the wheels came off, etc ... they did not listen, and for some bizarre
reason were unable to translate the inches and pounds that the reservation was
confirmed in to centimeters and kilos. Yes, this was the international cargo
department, don't ask. They had to remeasure the crate themselves, with modern
technology ... A STRING and KNOTS!!! So I finally had a total fit, nearly to the
point of hysterics and one of the gentlemen informed me he was going to do me a
'favor' and try to 'pull strings'. I don't think I need to tell you my reaction
to this ... 6 month tired pregnant woman + temporarily leaving her husband in
france for two months + being harrassed about her CONFIRMED pet travel = DANGER,
WILL ROBINSON!!!

So like I said, the guy goes off to do me a 'favor' and returns to tell me that
the front cargo section of the plane which is usually heated is not heated, and
so they have no room for the dog. While my husband looks on fearing my
inevitable meltdown, I calmly asked the guy what items they have in the heated
second section (they have two sections to cargo) and he stares at me blankly and
says, 'cargo'. I waved the confirmation in his face and said 'move it'. He
dejectedly wandered off to do so.

SO ... after NW now screwing up my own reserved seat twice (not to mention the
fact that for some reason they didn't have MY ticket on file - even though they
somehow were able to pull up the confirmation for the dog ... so my husband had
to buy ANOTHER ticket for me - don't worry - he has since been reimbursed) they
tell me I am late and must run to my plane ... yeah, that took 3 hours.

But wait, it gets better ...

I run to the plane, sit in my seat, and the next thing I know, some guy comes to
get me, telling me that they have to x-ray Talisman's crate, and I need to come
down on the runway to take her out of the crate so they can put it through the
machine. The plane by this time was fully loaded! So I am rushed down to the
runway -- they have planes taxiing all around us - the noise is absolutely
deafening - and my poor Talisman is literally shaking and crammed into the far
corner of the crate. To this, they want me to take her out ON THE RUNWAY so they
can put the crate through the machine. I get her out (I'm amazed she didn't
break her leash and run) and they pick up her crate, spilling her water all over
the cushions which are now soaking wet. They pull the cushions out and throw
them on the ground, then stand there for 5 minutes arguing over the best way to
put the crate through the machine. Meanwhile, Talisman is nearly having seizures
and I'm trying to control and calm her as these
gigantic planes are driving all around us.

They finish their x-ray and I am about to put Tallie back in the crate when I
realize that not only are the cushions dirty and wet, but that the guys just
threw them back into the crate one on top of the other, with half the crate
floor bare. Barely controlling myself, I shouted 'No! Put it back the way you
found it!' and the 'favor' guy rearranges the cushions back to the way they
were, except they are still wet and dirty. I then told him how disgusted I was,
to which he replied that he was doing me another 'favor' by having Talisman
taken out of the crate, rather than having her go through the x-ray ... he
begins telling me how terrorists sometimes sew bombs into animals and ship them,
and although he was supposed to do that with me, he 'took the responsibility
upon himself' to say that Talisman did not have to go through the x-ray, because
he is assuming that I would not have wanted that. I said 'What? This is a favor?
Don't do me anymore favors. Why should I care if you put her
through the x-ray? Is it the same x-ray I go through? Yes? Then why would I want
her emotionally petrified by this experience before she goes on a 10 hour
ordeal???' He has no response, so I just get myself away from him before I start
saying things I have to go to church to repent.

And that was the story! Nice, eh?

Andrea


Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
dobermaneuropeclub-unsubscribe@...





---------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/dobermaneuropeclub/

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
dobermaneuropeclub-unsubscribe@...

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



Karen Turner
Artois Dobermanns



---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download
Messenger Now

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]