Our New Calling...Snake Handlers

Yesterday James and I headed up to the Santa Monica Mountains to assist our friend and business associate Jules Sylvester with the shipment of some of his snakes to Florida. When it comes to snakes, Jules is at the top of the list. He has been working as an animal trainer, consultant, and actor in Hollywood since the early 80's (Snakes on a Plane, CSI, Indiana Jones, Casino Royal etc....). If you watch Jay Leno, you have probably seen this crazy Brit handling the worlds most venomous snakes.

Jules had offered to assist us with a special project we are working on, and in return, we would assist him with a shipment. We meet Jules at the Carl's JR. parking lot in West Lake Village and jump in his van. After a short ride up a windy pot hole infested, part dirt, part asphalt single lane road, we arrive at Reptile Rentals which is located on a beautiful 10 acre plot deep in the Santa Monica mountains.

We strolled into the "snake pit" that is kept at about 80-85 degrees and has a sweet smelling aroma consisting of maggots, ammonia & reptile feces. When you walk into the warehouse the orchestra of rattles begin. Peering at you from behind the glass are some very intimidating rattle snakes. Jules introduces us to all his friends and shows us the two 7-8 foot snakes that we will be shipping for him. Jules has no problem wrangling and bagging the snakes on his own, but being the gentleman he is, he insists James and I participate (see above pic). After bagging and boxing the snakes, we headed back down the canyon to drop the snakes off at LAX for their journey.

It was a great afternoon and a chance to get out of the South Bay. The highlight of the trip was watching the cobra try and take us out from behind the glass, and the fresh free range eggs he pulled out of the hen house for us to take home. I have a new found respect for snake charmers and handlers. Jules has been handling snakes since he was a wee lad and has never been bitten! "If you get bit, it's because you did something wrong. You know that 100% of the time that snake is going to try and bite you if it gets the chance."

Josh Goes to Hawaii

Hawaii is a very popular destination for Pacific Pet Transport, being located on the Pacific Coast may have something to do with it. Pacific Pet and Pacific Air Cargo recently joined teams to offer a complete turn key solution for shipping your pets from LAX to the Hawaiian Islands. Pacific Air Cargo has a non-stop freighter out of LAX five days a week. The flight departs late in the evening and arrives around 6am, which is great because you will never encounter any heat embargoes. Pets also travel main deck, right next to the crew, and are checked on 2-3 times during transit (no other airline can offer this service). Upon arrival the pets are transferred to the airport quarantine station where they are first in line to be processed and released to their owners (only if you comply with the regulations for direct release, I'll address that later).

If Honolulu is not your pets final destination, Pacific Pet has a wonderful agent located at HNL that can pick them up from the airport, provide a comfort stop, and put them on a connecting flight. Enough with the boring services and regulations talk, lets take a look at a page from Josh's personal journal during his recent trip to Hawaii to experience the import and quarantine process:

"Aloha,

This is Josh with Pacific Pet Transport. Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii to see firsthand how the entire process works for your animals journey to paradise. It started here in Los Angeles where I hand carried "Lucy" onto the Pacific Air Cargo plane. It was nice to see how well they treat the animals, and unlike other airlines, the staff has direct access to them during the flight. Upon arrival into Honolulu, the animals are transported to Hawaii Airport Quarantine. For animals which qualify for the 5-Day-Or-Less program, paperwork and animals are checked by Hawaiian Agriculture. Owners can pick up their animals within a few hours of arrival into Hawaii, or our agents can deliver to residence on Oahu. If final destination is an Outer Island, we can arrange flight and delivery.

I had the opportunity to tour both the Airport Quarantine and Halawa Valley Quarantine Stations and was very impressed with their service, cleanliness, and genuine care for the animals. For animals that do not qualify for direct release or if the owners are arriving after their animals, they are transported to the Halawa Valley Quarantine Station which is a 10 minute drive from the airport. Located in the tropical and lush Halawa Valley, animals enjoy the care of their great staff who love what they do. The only problem is they all smoke cigarettes...... I also met with all the other airlines that fly in and out of HNL as well as our customs broker for you international travelers.

Of course you cannot visit Hawaii without a little R & R. I had a great time relaxing, site seeing, meeting new friends, and of course surfing. I stopped by my favorite restaurant to pick up some local grinds and then headed out for some surf. Up at "Pipeline" located on the North Shore of Oahu, I met some friendly locals and caught some awesome waves. Overall, it was a good trip for business and personal discovery. It was great to be back."

Mahalo,
Josh Kundrat

For those of you that may be traveling to Hawaii in the near future and plan on taking your pets, you can find the requirements for direct release here: http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/info

Hello Blogging World

Pacific Pet Transport has finally decided to step up to the plate and join the blogging world. The purpose of our blog is to be informative and slightly entertaining. I, Nathan, will be in charge of sharing our experiences with anyone that's interested. Our blog will probably be a little more personal than our competitors, with whom we are quite good friends (shout out to Rachel at PetRelo), but will also cover country profiles, airline regulations and important information that will assist you when it comes time to ship that special someone across the country or overseas. If any of you have questions pertaining to animal travel or just life questions in general, you can email us at any time.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to some of the individuals that will frequent our posts (from left to right):
Nathan, Miguel, James, Josh






This picture is from a shipment we did last year when we relocated a Sumatran Rhino from Los Angeles to Indonesia (http://www.indonesia-ottawa.org/information/details.php?type=news_copy&id=3674).

Sundance Film Festival

Pacific Pet Transport was asked to help sponsor the House of Hype (a hospitality suite that caters to celebrities) this year at the Sundance film festival. We were part of the "Pet Pad" which Featured Best Friends Animal Society, celebrity dog trainer Tamar Geller, and celebrity vet Dr. Karen Halligan. Some other sponsors of the event included Nintendo, Vespa, Nivea, Skull Candy, and Def Jam.

The picture on the left is courtesy of Clay Meyers and includes Sherry from Best Friends, also star of "Dogtown," and President of Pacific Pet Transport James Nelligan.

Let me give you a little background information regarding Best Friends and the wonderful work they do (check them out on their website and donate to further the cause http://www.bestfriends.org/aboutus/):

"The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary at Angel Canyon, at the heart of the Golden Circle of national parks in southern Utah, is home on any given day to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals, who come from shelters and rescue groups around the country for special care they can only receive at Best Friends. Most of the animals who find their way to Best Friends have special physical or behavioral needs, and our expert staff of veterinarians, trainers and caregivers offer them all the help they require. Most of them are ready to go to good new homes after just a few weeks of special care. A few, who are too old or too sick, or who have suffered extra trauma, find a home and haven at the sanctuary, and are given loving care for the rest of their lives.

Best Friends works with our members -- and with humane groups, individuals and entire communities -- to set up spay/neuter, shelter, foster and adoption programs in neighborhoods, cities, and states throughout the country. Through this work, Best Friends is helping to save and rehabilitate tens of thousands of animals each year. Through the online Best Friends Network, the society reaches across the nation and around the world, helping local communities to rescue animals in distress and to create their own No More Homeless Pets communities. At home and abroad, Best Friends has led some of the largest animal rescue efforts in recent history. These rescues include natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, wartime situations, and animal hoarding or failed shelter situations where hundreds of dogs and cats need urgent and continuing care for many months before they can be placed in good new homes. With its sanctuary and rescue experience, Best Friends is the only organization in the country capable of mounting such major rescue efforts.

At home and abroad, Best Friends has led some of the largest animal rescue efforts in recent history. These rescues include natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, wartime situations, and animal hoarding or failed shelter situations where hundreds of dogs and cats need urgent and continuing care for many months before they can be placed in good new homes. With its sanctuary and rescue experience, Best Friends is the only organization in the country capable of mounting such major rescue efforts."

James and I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah on Thursday the 15th and went directly up to Park City to get set up. We didn't really know what to expect, but were well received. In preparation for the event, we did a run of limited edition scarves with a custom Pacific Pet logo to give away to everyone and anyone that came through "The House". We used black American Apparel scarves and burned the logo onto the end of them with white dye. Needless to say, they were a huge hit, we even had the security guards at the door rocking them all weekend.
The event started every morning at 11am and went until 5pm, during this time celebrities and entertainment executives were escorted through and introduced to the sponsors and given free swag. We ran into a few clients we had worked with in the past (Christy Brinkley, Paramount), along with some friends including Matthew Gray Gubler from "Criminal Minds."
The real fun began during the Ultra Lounge, which went from 10pm to 3am every night we were there. Def Jam brought in the entertainment which included DJ Clinton Sparks, DJ Felli Fel and a few live performances as well.
Overall the event was a huge success and was definitely more like a vacation than a business trip. Pacific Pet made some great friends and received some great international exposure. We are already planning for next year.