Couple ‘exports’ their pets to Australia
The animals' first flight was from Johannesburg to Singapore on October 5
AFTER a brief stay with their “grandmother” in Glen Marais, five four-legged children boarded an aircraft on Wednesday to be reunited with their “parents” in Australia.
For Claudia Ferreira and Daryl Monnink from Allensnek, Roodepoort, October 17 will be a happy day when they collect their three cats and two dogs from the quarantine facility in their new country.
For Claudia, who arrived in Australia on July 5, it was a long three months since she last saw her pets. Daryl had been there since March.
“When we decided to move to Australia, we knew we couldn’t leave our five children behind,” Claudia said.
The harsh reality of pets being handed over to shelters when people move is a sad one for her, a co-founder of Santa Cause for Paws, a non-profit organisation that collects Christmas gifts for animal shelters.
Although it is a lengthy process to get everything in order for the animals to travel overseas, the couple set about getting quotes and finally decided on a company.
Their local vet helped with the initial requirements (microchip, vaccination, and Rabies Titre test for each pet).
Daryl went over to Australia first to find work and more importantly, secure a pet-friendly rental. So after moving out of their place in March, Claudia and their pets went to stay with her mom in Glen Marais.
A Kempton Park vet then took over the remainder of the process (dewormer, flea treatment and drawing blood from the dogs for various tests, which was sent to Onderstepoort.
“It takes six months from start to finish but for the most part, the pets remain with you and you use your own vet for a lot of the requirements,” Claudia said.
On September 29, seven days before their export, they went to the agency transporting them to make sure they were all ready.
The animals’ first flight was from Johannesburg to Singapore on October 5. There they got off, were walked and fed before boarding their next flight to Melbourne, Australia. There they will stay in quarantine for 10 days, after which their family can fetch them.
Australia and New Zealand are the only countries left with quarantine.
“Although it has been tough and did require a bit of money, we managed to save while the six month process was happening. You don’t need to pay everything in one go as it is very spread out,” Claudia said.
“It is a lot easier nowadays to move animals over and I suggest to anyone considering moving, whether locally or internationally, to check out the requirements before deciding to hand the animals over to someone else.”
