One family found a private jet was the best option to move their pets from Hong Kong to Singapore.
| Australian Erika Freiman thought hiring a private jet to move pets was a crazy idea. That is until it became her best option to relocate her family’s dog, Elvis, and cat, Ginger Rogers, from Hong Kong to Singapore.
At least, though, the Freimans and the others involved could afford what would appear to be extravagant option but was actually less expensive than a commercial flight. “Some people don’t have a choice. They have to leave their pets behind – and it’s completely devastating.”After a few years of enforced stagnation, expats are on the move. Contracts are finishing, geopolitics are shifting, and families are making choices about where they want to live.
Mei Mei and Bentley are in Bangkok, waiting till they can join their family in Brisbane - hopefully by February.“Luckily, my husband is still working in Bangkok, so they are with him in the house. Previously when we’ve gone on assignment, we’ve been given three months to move,” she says. “So far we are up for $24,000 for the two dogs and there is no guarantee there won’t be additional charges. It’s crazy, crazy money.
The cost of a cattery in Hong Kong is bit steeper than that, as Michelle Cronin-Bruce has discovered. “We’ve got two cats currently residing at great expense at a cattery in Hong Kong waiting for us to bring them to Singapore. The cost of the three and a half hour flight – for just two small cats – is $US12,000.”
“Sometimes people are shocked about the cost, but we just collect the money. It’s very complicated,” Lim said. That’s the experience of an Australian working in the Philippines who is pondering when is the best time to bring his family – and their dog – back home. In 2019, he received a quote for $12,000. Recently, he asked again and was told it would cost between $34,000 and $39,000 to get the dog from the Philippines to Dubai or Korea to satisfy quarantine and then onto to Melbourne.