on the road with Animalcouriers

Meet the delightful cats and dogs who recently travelled with Animalcouriers from the UK to Spain and Portugal; and our equally delightful passengers who joined us for the return trip.

Sacha

Boxer Sacha belongs to Raquel, who’s relocated from Sheffield to Zamora in Spain.

Friendly Sacha was the perfect passenger

Sacha reaches her Spanish home — such a well behaved girl!

Cash

Gorgeous grey-and-white puss Cash travelled with us from London to Lisbon in Portugal.

Cash snuggles in for the trip

Corky

Tuxedo cat Corky belongs to Ana, who’s moved to Atouguia in Portugal. Ana’s daughter Fatima who’s been taking care of him in Swansea, tried to bring him to us, but got caught in terrible traffic jams. Luckily we could do a bit of a dash the next day to collect him, so he didn’t miss the trip.

Gentle Corky

Poco, Poquita and Mista

Originally due to travel by road with us, this Chihuahua trio instead flew with courier J as she headed to Spain to join courier M on the trip. There was an ecstatic reunion with Julie and family in Javea, Alicante.

The view over Benidorm towards Javea

Airport arrival

Kisses for Mista

Cuddles for Poco and Poquita

Risya, Broshka, Rocket, Imhotep and Captain Hook

This very fine feline quintet belong to Sam, who’s relocating from Alicante to the Netherlands.

Handsome Rocket

Silky Imhotep, a Siberian Forest cat

Dreamy Risya

Cheeky Captain Hook

Stunning Broshka

Fire and Freddy

This dynamic feline duo had a short stay at Burntwood Kennels, before joining our trip. They travelled with us to rejoin their owner in Murcia, Spain.

Fire in front, Freddy behind

Chuchi

Sweet Beagle cross Chuchi belongs to Ross and Maria, who are both vets. After three years living in the UK, they’re returning to Almeria in Spain with their 19-month-old baby. Chuchi travelled with us to join them there.

Chuchi gets a proper send-off from Ross

Chuchi en route — a great little dog

An evening welcome for Chuchi in Turre

Rocky, Tyson and Arnie

We collected these three little dogs from the Tiny Dog Hotel on the outskirts of Marbella, in Malaga. They travelled with us to rejoin owners Ryan and Jade in Witney.

Hotel owner Antoinette spotted a niche market for boarding and day care for small dogs. The hotel is located in a lovely traditional house. While we were there, we watched a steady stream of small dogs and their owners popping in and out.

Hotel owner Antoinette and kennel manager Lucia with Rocky, Tyson and Arnie

Antoinette wishing everyone safe travels

L to R: Chihuahua Tyson, Bichon Maltese cross Rocky, and Yorkie Arnie

Twiggy and Loulou

Splendid cats Twiggy and Loulou homeboarded with Animalcouriers for a short while before we set off. Owner Helen had to go on ahead to Spain in time for her daughter’s wedding.

Loulou (L) and Twiggy (R)

Happy reunions with Helen in Malaga

Tarty

Tarty is a very sweet, and very forward, three-year-old black Labrador, who belongs to John and Julia. We met her in Malaga and she travelled to Surrey with us.

Tarty showing her lively side as she appears with Julia

Very beautiful Koi carp in the pond at the front door

Tarty has a little blanket that she carries everywhere with her

Courier M going for an arty close-up out on a walk

The end result — Cecil B himself would be proud!

Nala

Podenco Nala, who belongs to Natasha, joined us at La Linea, on the border with Gibraltar. She travelled with us to Barnsley.

Nala arriving and meeting courier M

What a beautiful girl she is!

The biggest smiles as Nala is reunited with her family

Nera

Charming English Bull Terrier Nera belongs to Ana and Jose. She travelled with us from Maia in Portugal to Essex.

Lively, playful Nera

Tobias and Xavier

These delightful kitties belong to Mafalda. We collected them in Aveiro, Portugal, and they travelled with us to rejoin Mafalda in London.

Sweet Tobias

Cutie Xavier

Fritz and Kikas

We collected Sonia’s splendid cats Fritz and Kikas in Cavaleiros, Portugal. They’ll be reunited with Sonia in Musselburgh in Scotland.

Adorable Fritz

Gorgeous Kikas

Lucy

Darling Husky Lucy belongs to Aurea. We collected her from Vania in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, for her journey to Surrey.

Lucy does her meerkat impression

Lovely Lucy has typical Husky eyes — one brown and one blue

Lovely Lucy happy to be home

Dot and Luna

Dot and Luna belong to Claire and Daniel. The cats joined us in c and travelled with us to Chichester.

Both cats were quite shy…

…and their almost identical markings made it hard to tell them apart!

Kitty

Kitty got on board in Sines. She travelled with us to join owner Ana in Horley. Kitty proved to be quite strong minded and we soon developed a healthy respect for her. Her owners told us: “She chooses who she wants to speak to.” We told them: “We like Kitty but don’t think she liked us much!”

Kitty — a very pretty cat

A happy reunion for Kitty

Oscar

Bichon Frise Oscar is a floofy little chap! Owned by Margaret and Malcolm, he travelled with us from the Portuguese Algarve to Merseyside.

Dear little Oscar

Sheba

We collected Joanna’s dog Sheba from Ken and Christine in Ferragudo. She travelled with us to rejoin Joanna in Colchester.

Super Sheba enjoying a walk

On our journey northward through France we passed a number of torched speed cameras — one of the effects of the ‘gilets jaunes’ protests currently taking place there. At Rouen we came upon this smoking roundabout, so quickly reversed back up a slip road and took an alternative route to avoid any trouble.