Hi-we will be taking small jet from Palm Beach area one way to Bonaire in Fall and would like to share travel with others needing to get pets to Bonaire safely-email if interested-we will make the arrangements.

Hi Dennis, In all fairness to our posting policies will you please tell us if you own the jet or if you use a commercial jet..
If you DO own the jet, please state that fact next to your name ie;
Dennis Wightman/owner lear Jet
and then refer to the posting policies for clarification..
thanks for understanding.

I know for a fact the Dennis does not own the jet! He has pets that are like his children and he and his wife dote on them..and since the commercial airlines only allow one pet per person, he is forced to charter a plane! When he left the island a few months ago, it was like a mini Noah's ark. I am sure Dennis is aware of the posting policies.

Hi Guys-Thanks Michael, for defending us-you are always our angel on Bonaire! No, we don't own a Lear 45 or even a 35-darn! We fly this way out of an abiding fear that transporting pets on commercial flights in cargo could be deadly and must be traumatizing for pets-- particularly in light of the airline budget crunches when they barely take care of the human safety issues!-anyone know of a way to get a private carrier in Florida , maybe quarterly, to provide a ferry to Bonaire for people like us?-we know there are others who need to commute during the year and take pets?-until then, we carry on, so to speak.

Good on you Dennis.

When we left the island, we had to transport our dog in the hold of the KLM flight to Schiphol.

He was left on the tarmac on Bonaire for an eternity in the heat and next to the engines. My Wife enquired about the temperature in the hold (having prompted the staff several times that they were carrying live cargo) only to be told that it was 20 degrees. On request, they (allegedly) turned up the temperature.

To save the dog more stress than he needed to endure, I went on ahead and drove from the UK to the Netherlands, collected my Wife and dog and drove back to Scotland which is around 2000 miles. The relief on his face was visible as he jumped into the safety of my estate car and curled up on his blanket.

I would never consider putting him through that again and any thoughts of moving back to Bonaire would not be considered in his lifetime.

Or charter on, so to speak, Dennis. Best of luck

I have a working dog. My wife has RA. We can fly Boston to Mimi with the dog next to my wife. Mia to SJ or any other place, the dog must be placed into a crate. AA, will bend over backwards within the US, only. Caymus, our baby will never, never go through that.

I see Dennis's point.

Dennis, we need to have a drink together, my treat.

Thank you Dennis for clarifying about the jet.. I knew that it was only a wonderful gesture on your part ...but others may not realise that and what is good for one is good for all, I try to be fair to all users involved.. thank you for understanding about our rules for posting..

I received a rather rude private email asking me to delete my inane post that was obviously written with a first grade teacher I'm going to get you mentality...Too bad that person doesn't understand about fairness..

Freddie.. I don't understand your posting..are you saying Dennis was abiding by the rules? What I find annoying is that you (no disrespect intended) did not check in a private e mail with Dennis before you publicly posted your potential objection. Actually, this should be a private mail as well but perhaps others may have an opinion. Again, you all do a great job and I am sure I don't know what happens behind the scenes.

Michael, Freddie was just doing her job as a moderator. Questions needed to be addressed, and it was. Dennis responded, problem solved.

Michael asks an interesting question: when should something be clarified in public, and when should it be clarified in private? Jerry, there is no issue here as to whether it should be clarified, just how best to do it. Freddie chose the public route, others might have chosen the private route; what are the pros and cons of each? I guess I'd err on the side of trying to keep potential embarrassment to a minimum by trying the private route for clarification, and only going public if an issue seems to exist that needs public exposure.

As I said in my post Jerry, I acknowledge the good job..just I was questioning what Freddie was saying in the second post. For the life of me, I still can't figure it out!

On the original point, I notice that Sandy in "Moving to Bonaire" is trying to get her big dog to Bonaire. I emailed her to let her know of Dennis's offer. Maybe the two of them can get together on this.

As a SCUBA instructor and an English teacher I found that public criticism of an error or mistake, while it reinforces the instructor's authority, it demeans the student. It is "old school, ie dunce cap or stand in the corner mentality" and has no place in adult communication. It polarizes the factions and leads to problems. I know I will take some heat on this, but I never felt the need to take anyone to task publicly. Mel, I could not have said it better!

OK folks,,First I don't see the problem here with a moderator asking for clarification in public.. If I hadn't done that someone else would have piped up and complained, or better yet thought that it was alright to advertise their lear jet on BT.. I am just trying to be fair to everyone here on the board,, If you will all reread the above post it it says IN ALL FAIRNESS and there are 3 IF's in the post.. It was a question...not an accusation!!! When someone tells us that they really love unit 25 at BonBelledon resorts we ask them to clarify whether they own the said unit, and if they do we ask them to put their affiliation next to their name so that others will be aware of the fact that they own at that particular resort..Some people even after numerous times of us asking refuse to do this.. Fine, we can't drag a horse to water.. But it does make it easier on everyone if people are up front with their affiliations...or business names..
The rather rude email came from someone else NOT Dennis!!!!.. he and Patti sent a very nice note to the moderators saying they understood the reasoning for the question.
If the email had been a letter of concern about the post I would have answered him back privately like I did with someone else..:-)

If I have offended anyone I am truly sorry for my actions.

Michael.

At the risk of being pedantic, are you not doing exactly what you are accusing Freddie of?

You state; "I know I will take some heat on this, but I never felt the need to take anyone to task publicly".

It appears that you are doing exactly that. Maybe an email to Freddie would have given you the answer that you required and she in turn, could have posted an explanation to all.

Antony (without the "H")

Antony, why are you stirring the pot. Let it die a graceful death.

Hoist by his own petard. You gotta hate that!

Antony, my point exactly...you reinforce my statement. Thank you for taking the bait...

You are welcome Michael.

And thank you for spelling my name correctly.

Seb.

I have personal axe to grind with Michael. I don't personally know the guy so why should I make it my business to make it personal?

My comment was a nothing but an observation unlike yours which bordered on gloating sarcasm.

In the unlikely event that I had a personal issue with Michael, I would call into his shop and not vent my spleen on a public forum.

As a general observation, it is apparent that an unsavoury clique is gathering pace on BT which serves to ostracise those outside the privileged circle.

Antony, when you are here next time, pass by and we will have an icecream and raise our cones to peace and harmony.

Michael.

I am all for that and the cones are on me!

Antony (etc etc)

They certainly will be on you Antony if you guys don't eat them fast enough. Sorry - couldn't resist.

I can't speak for Michael but theres not a sun hot enough to melt my ice-cream before it's devoured.

that is why I stay away from chocolate!!

I think everyone got sidetracked. I am going to be traveling to the US in December with my husband, 3 dogs, and my cat. Dennis, could you give some information on the company you hired? AA raised their pet fees, so I am looking into other options. My flight options are better in Aruba- does anyone know of any private planes/ boats that could get us there for a reasonable fee? Thanks.

There are a few private charters that fly to Aruba but DAE also takes cargo/pets as well.

Amanda-check your email for our message to you-hope it helps.

I have 2 Great Danes, 1 is 3 and the other is 7 month old right now. Wife and I are moving to Bonaire and would like more information about this...