Pet Travel Story: Rascal & May’s Move to Tajikistan

My biggest worry when I received a job in Dushanbe, Tajikistan was how to get my pets, Rascal, a large Shetland Sheepdog, and May, an opinionated cat, to my new home. I had raised both of them from early puppy/kittenhood and they were my family, so there was no way I could have left them behind. 

 

I knew I wouldn't be able to fly with them since I had to travel via meetings on the other side of the globe, so I turned to PetRelocation for help. I could really tell that they cared about my pets, since every time I had a panicked question about something, it was already taken care of.

 

They arranged all the paperwork with my veterinarian, who even told me that "those pet shippers you're working with are so nice and know what they're doing." There are very few flights into Dushanbe and most of them are not pet-friendly, so it took a while to come up with a route that would work for us. 

The pets ended up flying from DC to London, where they had a brief stop for scones and tea, then to Moscow, where they spent the weekend, then on to Dushanbe.  I received updates all along the way about their flights, and even had a phone call from Moscow to tell me that Rascal was making new friends on his walks.

From Moscow, they sent along a person to keep an eye on them on the last flight, and I am convinced she worked some magic in Russian to enable the pets to sail smoothly through customs upon arrival. They both seemed a little anxious from their long trip when I pulled them off the baggage carousel at the airport, but were in good health and very happy to see me. 

The pets are now both getting settled into their new home. Rascal was very happy to find his dog bed waiting for him and is enjoying barking at the local dogs in the neighborhood. May climbed behind and under and on top of every piece of furniture in the house and decided it met her standards.

 

Thank you,