Air Canada: Dublin-Toronto

What should have been a simple process caused a distressed doctor, headlines worldwide and thousands of Euros in costs. Here is the story of how Rita got to Canada.

The information in this article comes from my own experience with Air Canada (AC), flying Dublin-Toronto on 3rd August 2021. Rules and regulations may differ between airlines, aircrafts, seasons and routes.

There are two different spaces in the aircraft where a dog can travel. If they are under 20lbs and fit into a carrier that fits under the seat in front, they can travel in the cabin with you. If they are too large, they must travel in the hold. Although this sounds frightening and unsafe, live animals travel in a compartment in the front of the plane which is temperature and pressure controlled. You can learn more in this YouTube video. If travelling in the hold, you have two options. You can check in your pet as excess baggage, so they count as one of your items of checked luggage. Alternatively, or if you are not travelling on the flight yourself, they can go via cargo. This is the department which deals with package deliveries, e.g. Fedex, DHL shipments and other commercial activities.

My original plan was to bring Rita as excess baggage. I booked my ticket online (after a few cancellations/postponements and re-bookings due to COVID19) on 29th June 2021 and immediately phoned Air Canada to register Rita and pay about CAD150 for this. Documents I needed for Rita were an EU/NI Pet Passport (We originally had a EU-UK one and then Brexit happened, but all my vet had to do was put a sticker on the front saying it was from NI, as NI is still allowed to use EU passports), and her rabies vaccination, both of which I had got the previous year (as our original plans were delayed due to COVID19). The rabies vaccination must be administered at least 30 days prior to travel, and Rita’s is valid for 3 years. She also required a vet health certificate within 10 days prior to the flight. We had a crate which satisfied the dimensions relative to Rita’s size, lined with an absorbent puppy-training pad and a comfortable blanket, and bowls which hooked to the inside of the door. The wheels came off, it had to be secured with screws, and “Live Animal” stickers attached. I also attached the flight details, my contact details, and a photocopy of her passport.

However, 24 hours before I was due to fly (as I was driving, making a last minute dash to Belfast’s Apple Store to get my laptop fixed, which had conveniently decided not to turn on the night before), I got a phone call from Dublin Airport. The lady was checking the flight manifest for the following day, and noticed I had a “live animal in hold” note on my booking. She asked how I was getting Rita to the hold, and I replied I would be checking her in as excess baggage. The startling reply was “No, we don’t do that anymore, Air Canada should have informed you”.

“The new upgraded system, which involved having a new baggage belt system being built, brought more complexity to the baggage system.
Bags now travel longer distances with several level changes on the journey”

— DAA

It was due to a new regulation brought in by Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) on 19th July, a mere 15 days before my flight. They claim they have upgraded their baggage systems and it was no longer suitable for live animals. They don’t explain why they can’t manually carry the crate from one part of the airport to another (which is what the cargo team would be doing…more on this later…) but just say it only applied to animals on departing flights, not arrivals. DAA apparently informed Air Canada on 15th June (i.e. before I even had booked my flight!) and as their customer, they should have informed me. When I phoned AC, they had no idea, and I was put on hold for over an hour while they figured out my options. Regardless, this change was not publicised well by DAA and I soon found out I was not the only one affected.

I had planned to distribute these flyers during the flight

So what was I to do? Well, the only option was for me to travel Rita via Air Canada Cargo. However this was a much more complex process. To do so, I would need to act through a registered International Pet and Animal Transportation Association (IPATA) agent. I phoned a few (which was a task in itself as it was a public holiday in Ireland and most were closed) and discovered there were waiting times of 6-8 weeks, mainly due to this new restriction. Although I didn’t use them in the end, I would like to mention K International, who were very informative and helpful. AC offered to pay (as this would cost in the region of EUR1600), and supplied me with a CAD500 travel voucher, but there was nothing they could do to speed the process up or bypass regulations. I realised there would be no chance of getting Rita booked onto the flight with me the following day, and so I decided to travel on alone. Mum and Dad were tasked with caring for Rita and initiating her travel arrangements as I crossed the Atlantic.

Rita came to see me off, despite the fact that she couldn't get on the flight

As I am from Northern Ireland, we decided to try IPATA-registered Breeny Boarding & Quarantine Kennels. We thought there could have been an option to travel Rita via Heathrow to avoid the large backlog at Dublin, but they advised this would take just as long. Breeny then connected us with an IPATA agent in Dublin, Multi-Cargo, and they took over the booking. This sounds like a simple process, but it wasn’t. Firstly, Air Canada had offered to pay all the involved parties (Breeny Kennels, Multi-Cargo, AC Cargo, customs charges) directly, but this was difficult to organise, presumably due to miscommunication. So after 2 weeks of waiting, we decided to pay it out of our own pocket and get reimbursed later. Once this was decided, Multi-Cargo accepted Rita’s booking. However, by this time, temperatures had risen in Toronto and a heat embargo was placed on live animal travel. This was for Rita’s welfare, in case she was sitting on the runway for too long in the heat. The embargo applies when temperatures are above 29.5 degrees, and this time it lasted 2 weeks. AC Cargo did not accept any bookings during the embargo. Once it was lifted, Multi-Cargo were able to book Rita onto a flight for 9th September 2021. The same documentation was required as before, and Multi-Cargo checked all this. Overall, it took 5 weeks of waiting to get Rita over to Canada.

Rita stopped at Applegreen after leaving me at the airport. Pictured here with Grand-pawrent Colin, who took charge of organising Rita’s travel

In this time, she was well looked after by her grand-pawrents, but I missed her terribly. In my frustration, I emailed Dog Lovers NI Facebook group, to make them aware of the new restrictions at Dublin Airport. They shared my story, and it was picked up by Belfast Live/ The Mirror correspondent Jilly Beattie, and then by my local newspaper Carrickfergus Times. Furthermore, a new friend in Canada shared it to the local news channel, CTV Kitchener, and they got in touch. They visited my condo with a camera, and interviewed my parents and Rita over Zoom. We were making headlines! Visit our Press Coverage page to read the articles and watch the videos.

Take-off time: My dad had to drop Rita to AC Cargo at Dublin Airport at 6.30am on the day of travel (the flight time was 10.50am). Rita had not been fed since 5pm the previous evening to prevent her soiling her crate. I’m not too sure what she did in the time before her flight, but I don’t think she was able to visit the duty-free. Meanwhile, at 6am in Canada, I woke up and anxiously tracked flight AC801 online.

The flight was due to arrive in Toronto-Pearson at 12.45pm, and I arrived shortly after this, as they advised leaving 60-90 minutes between flight arrival and dog collection. I drove the hour from Kitchener-Waterloo, where I now live, to the AC Cargo building on the outskirts of the airport. They had a ticket system, so I grabbed my number and waited to be called. The service assistant checked my details and told me to wait another 20 minutes. So I waited, until about 45 minutes later, when I was told that Rita was there! BUT I couldn’t see her yet…first there was a lot of paperwork to do. I was handed Rita’s documentation which had travelled with her, then I had to drive a few minutes up the road to the Canadian customs, and wait for another 45 minutes or so while they processed her documentation, and sent an inspector down to AC Cargo to check Rita. I then had to pay an inspection fee and return to AC Cargo myself. Back again, I had to take another service ticket, and once called to the counter, pay some more fees (!!!); luckily AC were reimbursing me. And then they told me I could come into the back and collect Rita!

I was brought into the warehouse and asked to wait while the man retrieved Rita. Eventually she appeared, in her crate on a trolley. She looked a bit sheepish and bewildered, but as soon as she saw me she started trembling with excitement. Once she was released from her crate, she jumped all over me and her tail wouldn’t stop wagging.

We were ready to begin our adventures in Canada.

Hamilton, ON

Newtownabbey