We have two dogs, both are rescue's and they mean so much to us, which made the question of how would we get them to St. Croix particularly complicated. I think this is the topic we spent the most time on when planning our move. Our dogs are not service dogs, they both have trauma from before we adopted them which makes them pretty anxious in large groups of people. They are also both medium size dogs between forty five and sixty pounds, so they wouldn't fit discreetly under the seat in front of us on a plane. Therefore, we needed to find a way to get them there safely and not through conventional means.

The options we explored included private jet/charter plane, charter boat, boat we captain, ferry, family friend fly us, pet cargo, and pet forwarder. In talking to people on the island who have moved with dogs, this question of how to get their animals on and off the island is huge. We talked to people who took them as service dogs, used chartered planes, and pet forwarders. Costs of transport varied and with starting costs around three thousand dollars all the way to twenty thousand dollars.

After researching, making calls, and talking to people we learned of an organization that has worked to transport dogs. Before hurricane Maria this organization successfully removed animals in shelters from the island and sent them to the main land before the storm hit. This was an impressive undertaking and the individuals involved have continued to work to help people and their animals. This is the organization we went with.