Hup up, Luna Dog! Hup up! With a wag of her tail, a shake, and a jangle of the harness, this golden retriever guide dog answers the “all aboard call” to start the long airplane journey home at the end of another enjoyable vacation in the hot sun.
Travelling abroad with a guide dog can be complicated, time consuming, hindered by a general lack of awareness, and fraught with bureaucracy. The effort, however, is worth it in terms of freedom and independence, which are, after all, the reasons why one gets a guide dog in the first place. The obstacles can be overcome with research, planning, and a little public relations work.
By focusing on Caribbean vacations, this article will share some of the tips that we have found, from our own personal experiences, to work well. Travelling to the U.S. we find effortless, although travelling to other parts of the world is, to date, outside the scope of our experience.
Our family, like a growing number of Canadians, enjoys escaping the cold winter for a couple of weeks. We did not experience any real problems until Luna Dog joined our family. The first hurdle to overcome is always in deciding where to go. You will most likely have to do this research on your own and then inform your travel agent. The choice is a matter of which country you can enter with your guide dog rather than which country you want to go to. We set criteria based on what we want to do, swimming for example, and then find a place that both meets our criteria and will accept the dog. The American Humane Society publishes a brochure on foreign travel with animals which summarizes the entry requirements of various countries. This is a good place to start; however, the brochure is not always accurate. For example, it says that Jamaica exempts guide dogs from quarantine regulations, but a letter from the Jamaican Department of Agriculture advises that, in Jamaica, guide dogs are not exempted.
Generally speaking, the list of possibilities for travel with a guide dog among the Caribbean nations are the Bahamas, Cuba, St. Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Curacao, the Cayman Islands, and the Caribbean coasts of Venezuela, Columbia, and Mexico. Countries which do not allow guide dogs to enter have quarantine regulations modelled on the British system and include Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Antigua, and Ste. Lucia. At the time of this writing, the Dominican Republic’s policy remains an enigma to us. We mention this in order to point out the difficulties sometimes involved in obtaining information from some countries and the general reluctance of the international travel industry to consider this aspect of the tourist trade seriously.
Our family has visited both the Bahamas and Cuba, which are good examples of the two types of procedures you will have to cope with. In the case of the Bahamas, a form is obtained from the Minister of Agriculture in Nassau, completed and returned with $10 U.S., and in a month or so you receive it back with an official stamp. Next, visit your vet 24 hours before leaving, have your dog examined, and obtain an International Animal Health Certificate. Armed with these two documents, we breezed through immigration in Nassau with no questions asked. One final note on the fee: although the Bahamian officials say that the $10 fee is waived for guide dogs, our application was returned with a request for the fee. Rather than argue, we just paid it in order to speed up the process.
Cuba is a good example of the other pattern of entry requirement. First, obtain an International Animal Health Certificate from your friendly neighbourhood veterinarian. Have the certificate signed and stamped by a Canadian Department of Agriculture veterinarian. Have the certificate legalized at the our Department of External Affairs’ nearest office. Take or send the certificate to the nearest consulate or embassy, pay the fee (in this case $75), wait a week for the wax seal, then take your certified certificate and away you go. Some countries will accept either the Department of Agriculture or External Affairs stamp, so check first. Some countries have a time limit, such as having the veterinarian’s examination within 30 days of the trip.
It is important to find a travel agent with good communication skills, who knows the business, and who is committed to the project. Even so, it will be necessary to provide information, combat misconceptions, and provide direction in resolving the obstacles that will be placed in the path of the guide dog.
The first of these obstacles is the persistence of tour operators, property operators, and governments in treating the guide dog as a pet. We have never completely conquered this problem, but continue to combat it. A document in the language of the country concerned explaining the function of your guide dog can be very helpful, especially if it is on official government letterhead or officially stamped. This document will work wonders. If you cannot procure such a document, simply make back-to-back photocopies of guide dog information with the entry permit or even a form letter from the tourist board inviting people to visit (which we did in the case of the Bahamas).
Try to choose a tour operator who will work with you and your travel agent to encourage the destination property to accept your guide dog. Some companies expect you to make a booking before they will ask and do not seem to understand the feelings of rejection you can experience as a result of being denied access because of your guide dog, especially if this happens several times. Also insist that the tour operator send an explanation of the dog and its function in the language of the country concerned ALONG WITH the request for a reservation. Some will refuse. Others will ask for extra money to cover the cost of cleaning up after the dog or as compensation for the extra body in the room. Others will demand a muzzle. These have all happened to us and we have rejected all of these conditions.
Try to select a chain hotel’s property for your holiday destination. While there may not be any laws in the country you are visiting which guarantee access, the affiliate hotel is governed by the bill of rights of its own parent country. Chain hotels are familiar with the concept and will, in general, offer the least resistance. The Best Western British Colonial in Nassau is a case in point. It was one of the hotels best suited to our purposes in which we ever stayed. The security guards even chased off the occasional loose dog and kept the grounds safe for Luna.
Stray dogs are a concern, but we have yet to have a problem that we could not cope with. On the streets, people may be afraid of all dogs, including guide dogs, since many of these countries’ dogs have been made extremely aggressive by having been abusively trained as guard or attack dogs.
Once you have a reservation, your task is not over. Insist that reference to your guide dog appears on all documents that contain your name, including the travel insurance document. Should you have problems or if anyone tries to penalize you for the presence of your dog, you will have written proof of the fact that the presence of your guide dog was well known and accepted at the time of sale. Watch the terms and conditions of the tour operator. For example, some companies say that seat selection is on a “first come, first served” basis. That is fine, except that it is their responsibility to ensure that we have a seat with sufficient room for the dog. On most aircraft this means the bulkhead seat. We insist on this.
Ensure that your tour operator notifies the airline you are using that you are travelling with a guide dog at the time of reservation. Ask for a copy of the airline’s rules and procedures for accommodating guide dogs. This is important. One airline told us that it would not accept the dog unless she were muzzled. When we asked for that rule in writing we learned that as long as the dog was wearing a harness she would be accepted. Carry this rule with you when you travel. Staff, particularly of charter carriers, may not be used to dealing with travellers with disabilities. It would be very difficult to deal with the “muzzle matter” at an airport early on the morning of departure, not to mention the fact that it would just add needless stress. Just give the agents a copy of the airline’s rule and leave it to them.
On the way to Cuba, Security at Mirabel required the airline to re-issue a boarding pass because the original did not include the guide dog. On one occasion at an airport, when the ground attendant was asked where would be the best place for the guide dog to go to the washroom, he proceeded to yell into his walkie talkie “Where’s the nearest fire hydrant? I’ve got a dog who needs to go!”
Obtaining a copy of the airline’s applicable rule or tariff, well in advance of the day of the trip, is also a good way of ensuring that the travel company has advised the airline of your guide dog at the time the reservation is made. At the check-in counter the airline will ask to see travel documents for you, including your passport, and for the dog, the permit and/or health certificate. Airlines must ensure that all passengers have the proper documentation before individuals are accepted by them.
This forethought should ensure that your vacation is truly relaxing. At your destination, your hosts may not be familiar with independent blind persons, let alone guide dogs. Many funny things will happen and you should be tolerant, within reason. People on the beach seeing the dog being harnessed would ask if we were going to ride the dog or run the dog in the dog races. Restaurants, cabs and busses will be worried about their licences and getting in trouble with their own authorities. Giving them a sense of security by offering the proprietor or driver a copy of your official-looking awareness document about guide dogs helps. Offering the person a copy to keep is, in a sense, providing that person with a permanent defense, if hassles should occur after you leave. We had eaten in one spot several times when one day a customer started to fuss about Luna. The owner produced our paper from under the counter and proceeded to read it in a loud voice to all concerned. Once the customer understood, he was very friendly. Yes, we made a bit of a spectacle but it was better than going hungry.