After months of dead ends and frustration, a group of stressed pet owners have taken it upon themselves to organise transport home for their beloved furry family members.
Several Australian families who were living in Canada prior to the pandemic have managed to get themselves home, but have been fighting for months to get their pets back to Australia. They have now grouped together and are chartering a flight that they expect will cost them around $100,000.
The flight will contain around 70 cats and dogs and will fly from Vancouver to Melbourne later this week.
Among the pets on board the special flight are Allan Smith’s two dogs, a pug named Poochini and a Jack Russel called Roxie. Mr Smith said that his family, who live in Adelaide, are desperate to have their pups back home.
Originally, the family came home in December, with their pets due to follow them in April. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everything went topsy turvy. While being looked after by friends, Mr Smith did everything he could to get his dogs home, but airlines told him that pets were no longer being flown as airports shut down around the world.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Australians around the world were urged to come home, with many being forced to leave their pets behind with friends or in shelters.
Currently, Melbourne Airport hosts the only animal quarantine facility in the country, and all animals must spend time there before being allowed to set foot on Aussie soil, due to strict biosecurity laws.
Worldwide Animal Travel has worked with Jetpets to charter the Air Canada plane, after several families pleaded for their help. According to a spokeswoman:
"These animals have been stranded due to COVID-19 and limited flights. The pets have been stuck since March, so the families are undoubtedly very excited and relieved to finally be reunited"
"Worldwide Animal Travel and Jetpets have partnered, in conjunction with Air Canada and the Australian quarantine team to facilitate this bulk movement and help reunite pets and their families across the globe from Vancouver to Melbourne. Nothing is more pleasing for our team than a safe and happy family reunion.”
After Melbourne’s ‘second wave’ of the virus, no planes were allowed to stop at the airport, and even if they were the quarantine facility was booked out for months as returning Aussies flooded in. However, the rules have been changed slightly in light of the circumstances, with flights allowed to fly to Sydney before transferring to Melbourne, and more animal quarantine facilities have been opened.
We’re sure there will be lots of happy tails wagging later this week (and teary eyes), when pets are finally reunited with their loved ones after months apart.
Jenna Rank
Jenna has visited over 50 countries across the world, and hopes to visit 100 by 2025
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