The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

AFSA NEWS 66 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL to highlight the effects of agency travel practices on Foreign Service members and request greater flexibility in complying with agency travel restrictions. Pet transport has now become a significant factor in bidding decisions; it has a systemic effect on the Foreign Service and should be given appropriate attention by management. As we go to press on this article, the State Depart- ment has just announced updated transfer allowances, including a pet shipping allowance. See page 68 for more on this development, which is the culmination of years of effort by AFSA, both within the department and in Congress. AFSA hopes all foreign affairs agencies will adopt this new allowance for their employees. Structure of the Survey. The survey was created pri- marily to focus on the finan- cial costs and effort expended in transporting pets from high-risk rabies countries. However, the largest bloc of respondents had transported pets from non-rabies coun- tries. We found that these respondents faced many of the same hurdles as those who came from countries on the CDC’s high-risk list, which is in effect through July 2023. That said, the effort and expense required were higher for those coming from high-risk countries, and those respondents were more likely after the experi- ence to tell us that pet trans- port will figure prominently in future bidding decisions. Here are the main survey findings. Financial costs from a high-risk country. There were three main costs for respondents transporting a pet from a high-risk rabies country: the rabies titer test process, extraordinary veteri- narian costs, and airline pet travel fees. In addition, some paid for separate air tickets on non-American carriers, third-party shippers, and/or quarantine fees. For the main cost catego- ries, approximately three- quarters of respondents spent between $10 and $600 for titers and $10 to $600 for vet fees. Forty-five percent spent $10 to $600 on pet travel. However, others experi- enced very elevated costs: 14 percent spent more than $1,000 on titers, and the same percentage of respon- dents paid more than $1,000 for vet fees. Thirty-four percent of respondents from high-risk rabies countries spent more than $1,000 on airline pet travel fees. Separate air tickets, usu- ally for transporting a pet on a non–Fly America airline due to the dearth of U.S. carri- ers willing to fly pets, was AFSA Pet Survey Results Continued from page 61 Less than $200 $200 to $400 $400 to $600 $800 to $1,000 More than $1,000 Not applicable 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% $600 to $800 Approximately how much did you pay in out-of-pocket costs directly associated with pet travel fees when traveling from a high-risk rabies country? (Pet travel fees refer to airline checked/excess baggage and/ or cargo fees.) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Less than 10 hours 10 to 20 hours 20 to 30 hours 30 to 40 hours 40 to 50 hours More than 70 hours 50 to 60 hours 60 to 70 hours Approximately how many hours in total were needed to coordinate travel (from a high-risk rabies country) during your most recent trip?