Cairo’s Trip Around the World

As some of you may know, one of my best friends is my German Shepherd, Cairo. (Here we are this summer…aww how cute). But, when we moved to Germany, we were only able to bring Luna (our Belgian Tervuren) and Cairo ended up staying with my family in Wisconsin. Let me start by saying that this was not the original plan. While every country is different, the only requirement for a pet entering Germany from the United States is an International Health Certificate from the USDA within 10 days of getting to Germany. Sounds simple enough, right? Not quite.

There are a few things to have in place before getting one: rabies shots at least 21 days before entering Germany, a 15-digit microchip, and an appointment with a USDA-certified vet who can do the health certificate exam. The last step is where I ran into trouble. Since Devin had to pay an overnight shipping fee when he got Luna’s health certificate, I figured we could get Cairo’s appointment one day and have the health certificate the next. Not so. At least, not in the very busy D.C. and Baltimore areas over a weekend. I had started driving from Tampa to Boston on a Friday night and arrived Saturday night. Our flight was scheduled to leave early, early Wednesday morning. Long story short, I was not able to get even a vet appointment in time for Cairo and had to ship him to my mom in Wisconsin. To say it was an emotional weekend would be an understatement.

Once we arrived in Germany, I wanted to get him here as soon as possible. I didn’t really know where to start, so naturally, I just started googling “pet shipping companies.” I was quoted between $3,000 and $5,000 to ship Cairo with a company. While I was willing to pay that, I wanted to look for less expensive options. This was also when I thought he weighed closer to 75 pounds…turns out he weighs around 90, so I think that would have increased these quotes. From what I’ve heard about these companies, they take care of pretty much everything from pickup at the starting point to delivery at your door. That is definitely a convenience I may have been willing to pay for in hindsight, but my checking account is thankful that I didn't. Instead of using a shipping company, I decided to go through Delta Cargo. Due to COVID, Delta Cargo is only shipping military family pets, so that worked out well for us.

Booking

So the most important thing is the Delta cargo number: +1 (800) 352-2746. I tried booking online and via email, but the only way to book dog flights, especially large ones, is by calling.

I booked with Delta Cargo twice. Both times, his flight went from Minneapolis to Atlanta to Frankfurt. The first time, he would have had a short layover in Atlanta and would have arrived the day after he left Minneapolis. I was. quoted about $600 for this flight. But, we didn’t have a power of attorney for my mom and I wouldn’t have been able to get her one in time, so we had to cancel this flight. (Oddly, when she went to drop him off the second time, they didn’t even look at it. Oh well.) The second time, his flight left Minneapolis in the afternoon and he arrived in Atlanta in the evening, spent the night there, and then left the next morning. Delta has a specific boarding company in Atlanta who picked him up so he could run around and have a nice place to sleep. This cost an extra $125 and the ticket itself was significantly more expensive the second time around. I’m not sure exactly what caused the change but the total for his ticket was about $1,600. The health certificate and appointment were under $500 and the fees at the airport when I picked him up were about $200. So, the grand total was around $2,200, but still cheaper than a shipping company. When we booked the second time, I was able to put a card on file with Delta, so I didn’t have to keep track of exactly how much to send to my mom. They didn’t charge me until Cairo was on his way.

When we booked the ticket, we made sure to add my mom’s driver’s license information, my U.S. driver’s license information, my email, and my German phone number. to his airway bill (ticket), so that they could verify at pickup and dropoff. I also made sure to send my mom a copy of my military orders and the original power of attorney. The agent on the phone had told also my mom that we needed to make sure Cairo had a two-inch clearance from the top of his very large ears to the roof of the crate when sitting and standing, or else he couldn’t fly. Since we were booking over the phone and not online, there wasn’t a weight restriction.

All the websites and information I found said that the window for the health certificate was 10 days from the flight. However (and I’m not sure if this was just the Wisconsin USDA office or a new COVID thing or what), the office that my mom was coordinating with to get the health certificate insisted that she only had 48 hours between the appointment and the flight, so everything happened really quickly. The other thing about Delta Cargo is that they can only book two weeks out, so once we started the process, everything happened relatively fast. My mom was able to get Cairo’s health certificate and there was something about having to get the appointment within 48 hours of the flight so it happened really quick.

Drop Off at Minneapolis International Airport

Cairo needed to be at the cargo dropoff place 4-5 hours before his flight left, and my mom wanted to get there early enough to avoid the rush. (We didn’t even think there would be a rush for cargo, but apparently, it’s a thing.) When my mom got there, the Delta workers unloaded the carate and brought it into the warehouse. At Minneapolis, the parking was really close to the Delta Cargo building, so it made loading and unloading really easy.

She took Cairo in on his leash and the Delta Cargo agents asked her a lot of questions. She needed to present her driver’s license and the health certificate. They made copies of both, but we later made sure the original health certificate was with Cairo. They didn’t ask about the power of attorney or my military orders, so she asked them to look just in case they needed them later.

She was able to take Cairo to his crate in the warehouse. When we were researching the flight, it sounded like he could only have thin, absorbant bedding, food and water. However, at the airport, they asked if my mom had any toys for him. Based on what we had been told over the phone, though, she didn’t have any along. But, now we know for next time! For the bedding, my mom had been using a flannel sheet in his travel crate while he had been staying with her so that he would be familiar with it. She had also been giving him treats and praise when he would go in his crate so that being in there would be a positive experience.

Once he was all checked in for his flight, she made sure that the gallon Ziploc bag with his food (she brought this too) was taped to the top, along with his collar, leash and documents. Since Delta is only shipping military pets right now, Cairo got a lot of attention. We were able to track his flight online and via email, which was comforting.

Once he arrived in Atlanta, the boarding company that Delta had coordinated picked him up and took care of him for the night. My mom was able to find their contact information and confirm that he was doing well. The boarding company had a lot of experience with pet cargo drop-offs, which was a relief.

Pickup at the Frankfurt International Airport

I couldn’t find a lot of information about picking up Cairo once I got to the airport, so I brought pictures of his health certificate, his vet records, my military ID and my U.S. driver’s license and hoped for my best. Spoiler: I was able to pick him up that day and everything went fine, it was just more of a process (read 3 hour process) than I expected.

My understanding was that I would just walk into wherever the cargo was, show them my driver’s license and get Cairo.

No.

I thought maybe it was because I picked him up on a Sunday or because of COVID, but it turns out I just hadn’t asked enough questions. In addition to traipsing around the airport for 3 hours (I’ve since heard that it can take up to 6), there were about €180 in customs fees that I wasn’t expecting. All in all, it wasn’t too difficult and I think it was still better than paying a company to do it for me. In the moment, it find like a crazy scavenger hunt with unforeseen fees, so I wanted to write it all out so that it makes sense for anyone else taking this route.

I had to have someone else drive me because my crate was too big to fit in my car, even when I stacked the top inside the bottom. For reference, I drove from Tampa to Baltimore with it strapped to the top of my car. I couldn’t get away with that here in Germany, though.

The first stop was the Frankfurt Animal Lounge. It’s located behind the main terminal of the airport and felt like we weren’t supposed to be there. Once we got there, we went through the middle door, up the stairs and down the hall to the right to the first door on the right, which was the Lufthansa Cargo office. I know this is really specific, but I couldn’t read the signs and there wasn’t anyone out and about to tell us where to go. I was definitely lost at first.

Once we got there, they told me to go to Gate 31, get a pass through the gate and go to building 537 to the LUG Cargo office. So, we drove to Gate 31 and went into the little registration building, told the guy there what we were looking for and he told us to drive through the gate (I guess he opened it). At building 537, we followed the signs/tape on the floor to the LUG Cargo Office and asked for the documents. They got my number and said they’d call once they have them. It took about 30 minutes and the documents turned out to be a copy of Cairo’s plane ticket and I had to pay a €20 “customs fee” to get that.

Then, we drove back to the Frankfurt Animal Lounge and went back to the Lufthansa Cargo office. There, they gave me all of the documents that were taped to the top of his crate in flight (his health certificate) and told me to take them down the hall to another office. There, they checked over the paperwork (it took about 15 minutes and then I had to pay €90 for that. I’m still not sure exactly what that was but I think it was the vet fee. At this point, also gave me the handout below, which was kind of helpful.

After that, I went back to the Lufthansa Cargo office and they gave me a key card to get through a turnstile to get to the main customs office in the Lufthansa building. They told me I could walk because it was a nice day. It was in the same area as the animal lounge but still a decent walk. Once I got to tower D, I took the elevator to the third floor. The customs office is at the end of the hall to the left through the door that says “Zoll.” My guess is that this is the only actual customs interaction I had, but oddly I didn’t have to pay anything at this stop. They wanted to see my military ID and had me fill out a form with my military information (social security number, APO address, unit, etc.) and stamped Cairo’s documents. Then I went back to the animal lounge, paid another €55 for the boarding fee (for the 4 hours he was there). Then, we went downstairs and outside and they wheeled him out in his crate!

Finally Reunited…Welcome Home, Cairo!

He was very thirsty and pretty confused. I had pictured a super emotional reunion, but he really just wanted to get out of his crate and try to figure out where he was. He was exhausted, but his crate was clean and aside from being nervous about all the new sights, sounds and smells, he was fine.

Once we got home, I let him sniff around the house (without Luna running around) and then kept him in our room for a day so he could catch up on sleep and eat in peace. He and Luna had only stayed together for about a week when she was a puppy. Other than that, they were pretty much strangers. I didn’t want them to have a rough start, since they’re going to be stuck together from now on. After Cairo had a day to rest, Devin and I took them to the dog park so they could burn off some energy and interact in a neutral environment. They didn’t really play together but they were both exhausted when we left. Once we got home, we let them run around the house together and they’ve basically been best friends ever since!!