Animalcouriers set off on a scheduled road trip to France and Spain with a delightful crew of dogs on board.
Matisse and Georgiana
We collected these happy hounds from their home in Chelsea, and drove them to Monaco to join owner Colleen for a short spell in the winter sunshine.
Georgiana (L) and Matisse in their mobile bedroom
Georgiana is a pretty Cavalier King Charles…
…with a cheeky side!
Her companion Matisse is a fluffy Coton de Tuléar…
…with a splendid grin!
Lake and Molly
Young black Lab Lake is travelling with his best friend Molly, a Jack Russell. Richard and family used to own a pub near Chipping Norton, and are now on their way to a new life in the Denia area of Spain. Lake and Molly will stay at Casa Antigua Kennels and Cattery in Jesus Pobre until the family catches up in a few days’ time.
Handsome Lake cuts a fine figure
Molly is a very sweet-natured girl
Bobby
Four-month-old Cockapoo Bobby is travelling with us from his breeder in Redditch to new owner Julie in Coín, in the Malaga area of Spain.
Bobby’s irresistible puppy face — no wonder Julie was so excited about his imminent arrival
The happy event on a sunny Spanish afternoon. Bobby was too excited to sit still for a photo! Julie has trained guide dogs in the past, so will doubtless soon have him beautifully organised.
Millie
Although this is the first of our regular trips in 2017, we haven’t been sitting idle since December!
We were able to step in and help Linda and Chris, when their flight from Luton to Gibraltar got diverted to Malaga because of bad weather. Their cat Millie was also on board, but the customs office at Malaga airport was reluctant to let Millie disembark. That’s because Gibraltar isn’t part of Spain, which presented them with technical difficulties. The customs office wanted to send her back to Luton, while Linda, Chris and all the other passengers travelled on to Gibraltar by bus.
However, Luton Airport isn’t set up to receive inbound pets, so there would have been some challenges clearing Millie back into the UK. Not to mention the long and stressful return journey she would have had.
After a series of phone calls between five parties — the Malaga handlers, Malaga customs, Gibraltar handlers, a Defra animal health vet, and Animalcouriers — we managed to persuade the authorities in Malaga to release Millie to Linda and Chris, who were waiting in the arrivals hall. Millie (still in her travel box) was allowed to travel on Linda’s lap to Gibraltar, blissfully unaware of everything that had gone on behind the scenes to make it happen!
The morning after their safe arrival, Chris wrote to say: “Thank you for everything last night… it only goes to prove that you really are a top class outfit and I would highly recommend you to anyone. The real proof of an organisation is in how they respond when a situation does not follow the normal rule book…and you passed with more than flying colours.”
A very relieved Linda with Millie
Millie happy to be home
Oci
Adorable tabby cat Oci travelled from France to the UK with us just before Christmas, and homeboarded with courier J for a few days. He’s a cat full of character and it was great fun having him to stay.
Oci flirting for a tummy rub
Maddie was especially sad to say goodbye, as she was Oci’s firm friend and principle food source while he was with us
Kozya
Courier Richard made a dedicated trip early in the new year to collect gorgeous Kozya (Kozi to his friends). Along with owner Oleg, Kozi splits his time between a villa in Siena and a home in London.
Miniature snowman spotted on a wall during an overnight stop between Reims and London. The Swiss 5 franc piece (about the same size as a £2 coin) gives an idea of scale.
Courier Richard also took a break in Rapallo, which was beautiful by day…
…and even more beautiful by night
The villa in Siena where Kozi has the run of the grounds
Kozi proved to be a delightful and friendly travel companion
Kozi is very obedient to important commands like sit, stay, and lie down — and here he is doing just that in his snuggly bed
I’m glad for the happy end for Millie and I agree with Maddie such a fab tabby kitty would be a super BFF for a little girl :O) Can you stop with Kozi at my crib please when he is on the way back to london? I would like to play with one of my hungarian cousins :o)
Oh Phenny, wouldn’t it be great for you to play with Kozi — he’s terribly well behaved and might give a puppy some good pointers 😀
OMG, these pictures are truly amazing!! Lake broke my heart – he looks so much like our sweet Chelsea. How any of your couriers ever say goodbye to these passengers is a mystery to me!! And the locations were awesome, too – I am not surprised that your clients have the most favorable comments to make about your being able to respond to tricky situations…you’re the best…thanks for these great photos today!!
Lake is a seriously handsome young chap. Working with animals and travel certainly helps you become flexible — you are often presented with ‘interesting’ situations!
What hansom doggies an Millie Kat iss gorgeous! An what a payshunt url goin thru all that to’inn an fro’inn…..
An OCi iss hansum isn’t hee???
Iss Koyza a Weimeraner of another breed??? Hee iss quite hansum all so.
Lookss like a Mew Year has trulee started fur Animal Courierss an wee goin enjoy the rides(ss)) via yur bloggie Lady Annie!!
***paw kissesss*** Siddhartha Henry xxxx an {{{hugsss}}} LadyMum
Thanks you two! 2017 is certainly fast out of the starting blocks for us.
Mee-you sure iss Lady Annie!!! 😉
Beautiful passengers and stories, as always! And a Happy New Years to you, too! I will catch up with your posts shortly.
WordPress has stopped sending email notifications to me from your site even though I have it set on “Instant Notification” in the Reader, but I just noticed a new button below this dialog box which say “Notify me of new posts via email” So I have clicked that. Hopefully that works! 🙂
Hi Lavinia, let’s hope your tweaking and our intervention, the emails start to arrive! Aaaargh, technology eh?
Wonderful to see you in this our brand new year. I hope everyone’s holiday went as planned!
Mostly! Hope it was great for you. We’re up and running once again with another lovely bunch of passengers.
Great pics!
Thank you! They are all lovely passengers.
Very informative. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it.
You have a star studded cast in this post.
We do tend to be rather lucky with our cast of characters.
Happy New year to you!
You have a lovely collection of guests on your travels, as usual.
It was great that you managed to get Millie released. I can imagine how worried her people were till it was sorted!
Millie’s situation was so Catch 22 — it was a great relief when common sense prevailed!
So happy you are back online. Great photos.
Great to catch up with you too.
Great to see you and your lively band of pets in the New Year, AC! That’s a pretty impressive tongue that Geogiana sports.The Rapallo by night is gorgeous. –Curt
Hi Curt, great to hear from you. Yup, another lively band of pets for sure! Georgiana must have read the blog and put a little practice in. Courier R was very taken with lit up Rapallo.
A lot of passengers to starting off the New Year, Annie. When we saw Matisse, we had to think about Blondie…I don’t know why Granny came up with that… Millie was lucky to have you around and such a thoughtful recognition from Chris. In a way she looks like me, do you think we are related? Pawkisses for a Happy Caturday and a safe travel 🙂 <3
Yes, never a quiet moment 😉 We believe you certainly could be related, Millie seems to have the pose down pat 😀
Oh wow. I think I fell in love with Oci (Just don’t tell Jazz Cat Jay or the Night Furies, please hahaha)
Isn’t Oci just delicious! Don’t worry, our lips are sealed 😉 Maddie was rather sad to see him go.