(MY) pet service in Kuala Lumpur International Airport

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Cover Story

Five-star treatment for jet-set pets

By THERESA MANAVALAN theresam

 

April 28: LUCKY jet-set pets get their day in the sun at the Quarantine Centre

in Sepang, just outside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

 

As bona fide travellers, they make a necessary stopover at quarantine before

they're allowed to move with their owners into new homes in Malaysia.

 

Quarantine is a pet peeve of animal lovers worldwide but in Sepang, cats and

canines get five-star service in the roomy catteries and spacious kennels

designed like mini-link houses

with pooch-size front porches to play in.

 

Not only that, there are also walkers to exercise the mutts in a secure yard

and to groom them.

 

Get this: keepers to manja (pamper) the felines, stretch those muscles and

fluff out their fur. And, if you really can't stand being away from your

precious pet, well, there's a modest

hostel where you can also stay.

 

Your pet pernickety about its food? Tuna? Beef? Basmati rice? Just let the

folks at the quarantine centre know and they'll find ways.

 

" We also encourage owners to supply the pet's own diet as it's comforting for

the animal, " says Dr C. Sockalingam, the vet-in-charge of the Sepang Quarantine

Centre.

 

" Familiar things make it easier for them to settle in. Typically, they've come

through a long journey in a cargo hold, which is stressful. Being away from

owners is hard on pets accustomed to life in a home. But despite that, animals

are resilient. They usually do well. " Quarantine charges are

reasonable. Boarding a dog at Sepang costs RM6 a day - one of the lowest in the

world - plus RM69 for a sevenday quarantine service package. The import permit

for a dog is RM5. For cats and canines, seven days is the standard with an

extension if the animal shows signs of any illness.

 

They don't need a passport as such, but will need a health certificate from

their country of origin which shows they've been tested for a number of

diseases.

 

The quarantine service itself involves pick-up from KLIA's cargo yard, clearing

Customs and other formalities (think of it as pet immigration) and a quick

inspection for injury at Animal Hotel.

 

That's a special house at the KLIA cargo yard for animals so they don't have to

wait among the moving forklifts and giant crates of mail, oysters, rib-eye

steaks and other things that are air-flown into Malaysia.

 

If there's a delay of some sort, Animal Hotel is a cool, quiet place for them

to relax in. Then, a fast drive to the quarantine centre where there's a full

physical inspection of the animal for illness, followed by daily checks during

the prescribed period. The inspection also ensures that the animal

matches the description in its papers.

 

" That is important, because we're dealing with individual animals and

individual owners, " says Dr Sockalingam. An animal's identity is not an issue

when the owner is right there waiting for the animal to arrive. Usually, this

work is handled by professional freight forwarders and quarantine

staff.

 

However, there are occasional flaws in the logistics. " One handsome German

Shepherd arrived in good shape from the US but no one came to claim him, " says

Dr Sockalingam. " Every attempt to trace the owner failed. A month passed and

the dog became good friends with the staff but still, no sign of the owner.

 

" We were already contemplating its future but the owner finally showed up. He

had apparently gone on a long tour before starting his expatriate position

here. " But such events are rare. Usually, owners who take the trouble to fly in

their pets here are truly devoted. They visit them every day, bring fresh food

from home, and spend several hours a day in play and exercise.

 

" This is encouraged, " says Dr Sockalingam. " Any animal would prefer to be

groomed and walked by its owner. This is healthy. " Owners can be quirky. One

requested that his dog be fed with fried chicken. And it was done.

 

" And many have asked to sleep with their dogs in the kennels, " says Dr

Sockalingam. " I draw the line there. That's not allowed. " Still, if they

absolutely insist, owners can stay at a hostel at the centre intended for syces

and veterinarians accompanying some animals like racehorses. If the animal's

new home is not quite ready, the owner can ask for extra boarding time if space

permits.

 

Most individuals bringing in pets are expatriates but a growing number of

Malaysians who have lived abroad are returning with animals. Many, says Dr

Sockalingam, are students who come home with their degrees and a dog or a cat,

and not necessarily a pedigree.

 

Last year alone, 963 dogs came through Sepang quarantine, as did 489 cats, 397

horses and 219 birds.

 

In 2000, pet dealers imported 100 ferrets from New Zealand, Japan and the Czech

Republic, 400 squirrels from Indonesia, Spain, the US and Canary Island, and 40

porcupines from Uzbekistan, which eventually went into Malaysian homes.

 

So did large numbers of chipmunks, iguanas and softshell turtles. Farmers

imported 874 goats, 220 sheep, 53 cattle, 124,177 ducklings and 2.87 million

chicks.

 

The 20.3-hectare Sepang Quarantine Centre cost RM42 million to build, as part

of the KLIA master plan. It opened in 1998, a month before the airport. It can

house up to 60 dogs, 48 cats and 92 horses. Kennels, catteries and stables are

located in clusters so consignments of animals can be housed together and

separately from others.

 

Animal traffic has grown. It costs the centre about RM350,000 a year to

operate. Last year, it turned in a profit of RM50,000.

 

" We expect traffic to increase in the coming years, " says Dr Sockalingam.

" These days, people don't view the export or import of animals as being

difficult, and it's not. " Also, the Sepang Quarantine Centre is viewed as a

transit centre. For example, horses from Australia headed for Africa can break

journey here in quarantine conditions. That is expected to generate significant

revenue as well.

 

Already, Sepang is the preferred quarantine centre of racehorse importers

because of its spacious stalls and paddocks.

 

" KLIA has become the preferred route in for horses, " says Dr Sockalingam. " They

don't sail over much these days. " Given that each horse can cost more than RM1

million, speedy travel and quick turnover has become important.

 

Horses are the only animals that require " passports " , as stipulated by the

Malaysian Racing Association. The equine passport is a file containing every

known detail about the horse - its height, weight, genealogy - but most

importantly, its identifying marks. Racehorses are specially

bred at great cost for a unique, high-roller industry.

 

Racehorses are almost always chaperoned by syces, and in some cases by a

veterinarian or even the breeder from the stud farm. Horses from India and

Australia are typically quarantined for 14 days. Horses from Argentina are kept

for 31 days. That's because there are different diseases to look out for.

 

" Quarantine's main concern is disease, " says Dr Sockalingam. " There are

diseases that affect animals and diseases that can spread to humans. Quarantine

policy is intended to prevent the entry of diseases which pose a threat to

animals, and humans, already here.

 

" Quarantine has no other role. If there was no quarantine at all, diseases

would be rampant and entire industries, especially livestock, would be wiped

out. " Malaysia is free of some diseases on the International Organisation of

Zoonotic Diseases A-list, which includes Foot and Mouth, Rift Valley Fever and

Newcastle Disease in poultry. On the B-list are rabies and anthrax. Rabies

remains a big concern worldwide although there are many more widespread

zoonotic diseases.

 

The prescribed quarantine period is decided on factors arising from an import

risk analysis. That is based on species, the health status of that species in

the country of origin, and in some cases, even the farm the animal came from.

 

One-day-old chicks from approved foreign farms, for example, are " technically "

exempt from a stay at a quarantine station. They can go straight to a local

poultry farm where they will be monitored.

 

But times are slowly changing for travelling pets. A Briton's freedom to take

his pet abroad died with Queen Victoria. The quarantine rules of 1901 prevented

all cats, dogs and domestic animals from entering Britain freely.

 

After a long, vigorous campaign by animal rights' lobby groups for an

alternative to quarantine, pet passports were introduced in 2000. The first one

through: Frodo Baggins, a black pug named after the hobbit in Lord Of The Rings

whose owner, a London art restorer, spends several months at a

time in Europe on assignment and thought it would be nice to have her dog with

her.

 

The pet passport is based entirely on a microchip that documents all

vaccinations and carries the animal's health records. At ports of entry, a

Customs official scans the animal and gets a vet's report online. Health checks

follow. It's in place in several European countries and Canada.

 

But, already, critics are saying the confusion could be reduced by

standardising the dog's breakfast of official forms, which differ from country

to country and usually leaves frustrated owners barking up the wrong tree.

 

Even so, no one can afford to do away with quarantine just yet because

countries simply don't have the same health status.

 

Wildlife is welcome at Sepang but, traditionally, they're headed for zoos and

circuses which are quarantine zones in themselves and usually managed by a

veterinarian.

 

" As there are special handling skills involved, big animals like elephants and

giraffes or ferocious animals like lions and tigers are best taken direct to

their final destinations, " says Dr Sockalin-gam.

 

" We provide the quarantine service by visiting the zoo or circus site. However,

they can stay here if they need to. We'll always find room. "