Pet transport hell - rant, long, sorry! Mega stressed!
I am going out of mind with worry at the moment. We have just moved to NZ from UK and decided to take our much loved 4 yr old moggies with us on the basis that although they aren’t too keen on travelling, they are young, fit and v healthy and should be able to handle a couple of days in a cattery/flying. Also they are very attached to us (and vice versa) so there is no way we could split up our little furry family.
I did my research on and ended up booking the services of an expensive professional transport company to handle it, well in advance.
This is turning out to be the most stressful experience of my life. It started with just little things like the pet export agent sending us incomplete forms for the first parasite treatments but is now escalating into a nightmare.
We flew out on Monday, the cats were supposed to be going on the same plane but we found out on the Thursday before that DEFRA had failed to process their paperwork so they would be going on the Tuesday flight instead. I was a little bit annoyed with the pet export agent for letting this happen, we booked well in advance and we feel she should have been more proactive in chasing them up especially given how much this has cost us. They were the most expensive option but we went with them based on location and service claims.
As there was nothing we could do about this change of plan so we grudgingly accepted the flight had moved to Tuesday – headed off for our flight (which we were unable to change) and asked her to please let me know by email if they got on the Tuesday flight or if there was a further problem.
When we get to our final destination in the Manawatu (some 30 hrs later) we log on to find no email and no idea if they made the Tues flight or not. We then hear from the quarantine station who say they have spoken to the airline and they are on the Tues flight. Or so we thought.
The next morning, it turns out they had in fact missed that flight as well because the airport van had failed to pick them up in time!!!! Aaaurgh!!!! Useless idiots!
And of course our pet export agent didn’t even realize herself until the morning and there was a miscommunication with the airline. Again, although this was in the hands of 3rd party, I feel she should have been aware of this – surely it’s their job to schedule the van and make sure it picks up? Even if it was out of hours they claim there is always someone on site so someone should have taken responsibility for this and the moment the van didn't appear get on phone and chase?
So now they were on the Weds flight (48 hours later) and getting dangerously close to their first flea/parasite treatment being out of date if there are any more delays.
They were supposed to arrive in Auckland at 5.30am ish this morning and the online tracking number hadn’t updated with progress so I made the decision to call the airline cargo company myself to see if they have arrived and also check they are OK.
After an hour of them not answering the phone (despite the fact they are supposed to open at 7.30am I finally get through to someone and after much waiting they say they did arrive in Auckland (phew) and will be on their way to Wellington (their final destination) this afternoon. Phew
I then made the mistake of asking if someone could check they are ok as I now haven’t seen them for 5 days and I am worried. I was transferred to someone in the warehouse who was completely unsympathetic barked ‘what do you want?!’ really rudely. They kept saying ‘it’s a dog right?’ (me “No, 2 cats!!!!”) and said they would go back to the warehouse, check and call me back. After 30 mins anxiously waiting (during which time I started typing this message!) my nerves in shreds (jet lag has us only getting 3 hours sleep at the moment and waking up at 3am) they called back and were, fortunately, much nicer.
She said ‘they are fine’ and that their wellington flight has been moved up and they would land at 11.30am. But they hadn’t passed this info on to quarantine guys – I had to let them know. I have just spoken to the NZ quarantine station (who I have to say have been wonderful so far with their communication, unlike some of the other links in the chain!) so it looks as though this ordeal is nearing an end but until I see them I won’t relax. It’s been a whole week since they left their UK home, and 5 days since I have seen them (saw them v briefly at airport) and I am really worried about what state they will be in mentally and physically.
Anyway sorry for the vent but just had to get it all out. Today is supposed to be happy - getting keys to new NZ home and I can't stop thinking about my poor furries still stuck in that box
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