The situation is that me and my wife are moving back to the U.S. We will be bringing our cats with us on the plane, in the airplane cabin (not in cargo). We will be flying United as they are the only airline that flies to the U.S. from Taiwan that allows you to bring pets in the airplane cabin. Delta used to also, but they are no longer flying to Taiwan. The other airlines (EVA, China Airlines, etc.) all require you to put them in cargo.
The only problem is, that, based on what we have read on various blogs, etc. is that the airport “TSA” (what I mean is, the equivalent to what would be called TSA in the U.S.) at Taoyuan Airport will instruct you to keep the cat in the carrier and put the cat and carrier together through the X-ray machine. I do not want my cats to have to go through an X-ray. The thought of my cats having to go through an X-ray makes me sick.
I have read some people have refused to do this and sometimes the TSA there will let you take the cat out of the carrier and carry the cat through the metal detector (and have the empty carrier go through the X-ray). I have also read that some people were not so lucky and that the TSA forced them to put the carrier (with cat inside) through the X-ray.
Does anyone have any experience with this or any advice?
Not to be rude, but please don’t tell me how airports do it in the U.S… I know that in the U.S. TSA will tell you to take the cat out of the carrier. But, unfortunately, it seems that, in Taiwan, the airport security doesn’t seem to see things the same way.
I don’t mean to be snarky or anything, but this has just been a considerable source of stress as me and my wife prepare to move back to the U.S.
Hi, thanks for the link to that thread. Yes, I had read that thread before, but the thread author did not mention anything specifically about exactly what happened (or didn’t happen) at the Taoyuan TSA section on their flight to the U.S. Thus, the reason I am asking here for anybody’s experience with this.
Believe it or not, those airport x-ray machines actually emit softer x-rays, at a lower power, than medical types. If he’s ever had a whole-body x-ray at the vet, he got a higher exposure than he would in one of those things. There’s probably some detailed information online if you google it.
However, they’re still not approved for use on living creatures and I’m sure you can point this out to the security staff. If they’ve sent cats through in the past, it’s more likely due to ignorance and carelessness rather than adherence to some unwritten rule. In my experience the Taoyuan people aren’t as full of themselves as, say, their American equivalents and will probably do the right thing if you ask them nicely.
In the extremely unlikely event they do force you to put the cat through, he’s really not going to get a massive dose of x-rays and turn into the Incredible Hulk on the plane.
Judging by this article I found, this owner was asked to subject her cat through 3 X-rays, except that the US customs guy gave her a pass, so her cat only went through one at Taoyuan and one in Korea.
In this article the owner asked to not have her cat go through X-ray, so she was instructed to remove her cat from the carrier and her cat went through the metal detector with her, and the empty carrier went through the X-ray.
If you do not want your want to go through the X-ray, you could try asking them, and perhaps show them that blog article if they at first refused to let you carry your cat through the metal detector.
X-raying cats makes no sense. I don’t think the terrorists have figured out how to make cat-bombs yet. I second the idea of asking them nicely, and maybe mentioning that your cat freaks out in confined spaces. They probably don’t want their x-ray machine covered with cat puke.
[quote=“Dr_Milker, post:11, topic:160803, full:true”] they’re not very ideological.
[/quote]
hmmm yeah. IMHO cats are nihilistic bastards who would like to see the extinction of all life on earth, with the possible exception of spiders, birds, and obviously cats.