This one goes out to all the dog lovers.
Hey Guys.
So I was on the internet looking for an answer to my problem when someone told me this great story about a woman who paid off her 20k credit card debt with the help of random strangers. My insightful internet buddy called it “cyber-panhandling” and I figured what the hell. In my current situation, I’m not too ashamed to beg!
Thing is… I know a total of maybe… 5 people read this blog, (0ne of whom is my Mum), but I’m really hoping to up that number a lot after this post.
My Dog. The coolest.
This is my dog. Soren “Mr. Kierkegaard” Bollati-Mercadante. A helluva name right!?
Soren came into the lives of me and my often mentioned and quite handsome boyfriend, Rocco, when a Korean student who I worked with back at the start of the year told me she had adopted a dog… despite only being in America for 3 months. She had to go back home to Korea and she didn’t know what the hell to do with the dog. I called a few Manhattan shelters and kept hitting the same response, they were flooded, at full capacity, couldn’t guarantee this cutie a good home.
I came home one day and said to Roc, “Babe, you want a dog?” to which he replied very enthusiastically, “DO I EVER!”
Back then… in late February-early March Rocco and I thought we’d be living in our old but quaint apartment in Bergen County, NJ for the next bazillion years. We had no idea that I’d loose my job and my prospects for a permanent US working visa, or that he and his friend Joe would suddenly be smitten with the idea of moving to my sunny country, Australia. Getting a dog just seemed like the logical progression in our ‘happy family’ life plan.
But things change. I tend to have a horrible habit of not being an American Citizen, a fact which in this current economic crisis cost me a permanent position at my old job. And Rocco and Joe got tired of hearing me tell them about how great (and warm) Australia was and decided to test my claims themselves.
So here we are, planning to move all the way to the sunny southern hemisphere. And we’re plodding along with our preparations because I read somewhere that you can take puppies as checked baggage with you on a flight. Then last night, when I’m weighing up which airline we should book with I discover that airlines don’t like to take pets as checked baggage on flights over 12 hours. And by don’t like, I mean they won’t do it.
We’re a few hours over that limit.
So now, we’re 8 weeks from flying out and suddenly, on top of everything else we need to get together $3350 to ship our puppy to his new home.
Now I’m going to work extra shifts to try and get this money. And so is Roc. We’re gonna sell all those non-essential things we have hanging around that we like but don’t really need. But even then, we’re probably not going to make the cost.
And this is where everyone else comes in. If anyone can offer us even $1 to help us bring our dog with us, it would mean the world to us!
Soren has already been shifted from at least 2 homes. He has trouble learning to trust new people. We don’t want to bump him on to another family, we made the choice to make him part of ours. Please help us keep him in our family!
Our paypal information is rocco [at] student.fdu.edu (obviously replace the [at] with an @) Please donate, even if it’s just a dollar. If by some miracle 3000 people see this and all donate just one dollar then by January all three of us will be safely sat on planes on the way to our new home!
Please, if you’re a dog lover, then help me out by reposting this blog entry in as many places as you can! The more people who see this post, the more likely it is that Soren will be able to come home with us!
It is a beggar’s pride that he is not a thief – Japanese Proverb
Thank you from myself, Roc and of course Soren!
sage said,
November 9, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Wait, so you adopted a dog because somebody was leaving the country to go home and now you are leaving the country to go home? Hum.
Eliana said,
November 9, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Dear Sage,
Thanks so much for reading the entire post. I think you might have noticed that I mentioned when I made this post I was living in America and intending to continue living here permanently. Unlike my little Korean student from school who was here to learn English for 3 months.
(There is a bit of a difference between knowing you’re leaving the country in 90 days and living and working in the country with no plans to leave it.)
Our decision to move back to Australia is based purely on the fact that I was laid off from my job and this means my work visa expired without an option to renew. (Already mentioned in the post, but hey. Some people learn through repetition!)
If you notice, the fact that I adopted the dog actually isn’t what the problem is. It’s the sudden shipping costs. I’ve already paid the vet fees for his blood work, microchip and the permit papers to move him to Australia. Until last night we were perfectly confidant that Soren was coming along with us on our flight. Airlines unfortunately won’t let a dog come along as checked baggage for a 14 hour flight. Only a 12 hour flight. (See above comment in brackets.)
Thank you very much for your comment though. Even when people aren’t great at reading and comprehension, I still appreciate the traffic!
V said,
November 9, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Why don’t you take multiple flights that are less than 12hrs each & stop off in Europe or Africa somewhere for a few days in between? That’s gotta be more fun & possible cheaper than shipping your doggy.
Eliana said,
November 9, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Hey V,
Thanks so much for the comment!
I have actually contacted my travel agent to see if there is an option for doing something like this.
Unfortunately, the USA has no quarantine agreements with other countries regarding the transport of warm blooded animals. What this means is that we’d need to obtain permits for whatever other countries we stop off in. Depending on which country we choose the process could be very expensive, very complicated or both.
For example, my initial thoughts were to fly Cathay Pacific and stop off in Hong Kong! I emailed the department of agriculture and fisheries in China for more information about this being a possibility and quarantine laws. However my reply was a lengthy email in Mandarin which even when translated is still confusing! >.<;;
I'm not ruling this idea out just yet though, and you can be sure whatever solution I come up with it'll be updated here on my blog! Thanks again for stopping by!
Becca said,
November 9, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Here’s a list of some international requirements I found… The one for Hong Kong doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either! What “category” is the US? Looks like you might not need quarantine time at all, depending on what category they think the US is.
http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/intl_travel
Eliana said,
November 9, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Thanks for the info Becca!
I’ll definitely check out that link and see what I can learn from it!
The USA is a Quarantine 4 category due to the prevalence of rabies.
Meshell said,
November 9, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Eli I tried to donate but PayPal said you are currently unable to receive money? Am I stuffing up or do you need to change a setting?
That pic is adorable!!
Eliana said,
November 9, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Thanks so much for helping Chelle, it’s super sweet of you! <3
Update: My paypal is linked to my old Australian bank account which is closed, so until I can find out how to add a new primary account I can’t accept donations. (Apparently paypal Australia don’t like me making a US bank account my primary one :c) Rocco can accept donations to his however and I’ll update my post with his address.
Kyle said,
November 9, 2010 at 9:07 pm
The dog will be in quarantine for at least a couple of weeks in Australia, so you should definitely take a break somewhere even if its Sydney/Melbourne.
Eliana said,
November 9, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Hey Kyle,
Unfortunately the dog has to be quarantined at the first port of call into Australia. Which means stopping in Sydney or Melbourne is out of the question. We’re looking in to taking a break in Kuala Lumpar, Auckland or Hong Kong.
Thanks for the comment too! <3
Bobby said,
November 10, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I’ll be making a donation! i just have to get my money together
ll be spreadin’ em double time! you know how it is being a hooker
Eliana said,
November 10, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Hahaha. OMG Bobby you make me laugh so much! <3
Tim said,
November 29, 2010 at 11:11 am
Monika asked me if I could spread the word too, so I put it up on my FB page. Got a lot of dog-loving friends. Of course, many of them are also graduate students, so we’ll see if you get any love from that side of things apart from moral support. I’ll try to toss in a couple bucks on Friday if I can – payday FTW, but rent day boooo.
Eliana said,
November 29, 2010 at 11:16 am
Hey Tim!
Thanks so much! <3