on the road with Animalcouriers

Animalcouriers headed for Greece to meet cats and dogs travelling to the UK. Beautiful blue skies and bright spring sunshine greeted us as we disembarked from the ferry in Patras. The next day, we were in Athens to meet the delightful dogs and cats travelling with us from Greece to the UK.

Arrival in Patras

Snow lingering on the mountain tops meant the air was cool

Beehives in among fruit trees near Korinthos

Buddy, Star and Elsa

These three gorgeous hounds from Lemnos and Lesvos are travelling with us for Starlight Barking Trust. New homes await them in the UK.

Panos, who operates a busy pet taxi service, brought Buddy, Star and Elsa to meet us

A winsome look from Buddy

Dear Elsa

Super Star

Elsa and Star enjoying a walk

Hugo

Handsome, inscrutable Shiba Inu Hugo turns heads everywhere we go. Police and customs officers in Greece and Italy asked about him, and we could probably have found him about six new homes by now! He is, however, the much loved pet of Andreas, who left Greece to work in London and can’t wait for Hugo to arrive.

Andreas’s parents brought Hugo to us, and were clearly sad to see him leave

A closer look at Hugo as we enjoy a walk

Koudra

Splendid Boxer / Pointer cross Koudra belongs to Anna, who’s moved to London for work. Now her beloved dog is joining her. Anna’s parents have been caring for Koudra and told us they will miss her very much. They’re hoping to visit Anna and Koudra very soon.

Anna’s parents arrive with Koudra

An emotional goodbye for Koudra from Anna’s dad

She’s a lovely girl

Spots, Smudge and Safi

This fine feline trio belong to Arlene. They’re relocating with her from Crete to Derbyshire.

You can see where the name Smudge came from!

Beautiful Safi & gorgeous Spots

Tufty, Ena, Thea and Won Kei

Cath brought her four adorable kittens — one ginger boy and three tortie girls — to join our trip. While living in Greece, Cath was adopted by a local feral cat, who promptly gave birth to these four! Won Kei is so named because she was a bit wobbly on her feet as a baby.

Cath is now relocating to the UK and taking the four youngsters with her. Mum is too feral to adapt to travelling and life in London, so Cath has arranged for her to be sterilised and cared for in situ.

Courier M with Cath

Cath saying goodbye to the kittens

A closer look at two of the tortie girls and their ginger tabby brother

Won Kei and Tufty

Ena and Thea

Marco

Friendly fellow Marco belongs to Gill and Tom, who’ve relocated to Surrey. Marco stayed at Chris’s Animal Hotel, where our friend Akis, who operates a pet taxi service, collected him.

It was a pleasure, as always, to see Akis

Handsome Marco

Orhidea and Ramzes

A pair of simply stunning Forest cats, Orhidea and Ramzes belong to Katja, who’s relocated to the UK from Corfu.

Tetiana and Eduardo brought Katja’s cats to us

Beautiful Orhidea

Splendid Ramzes

With our Greek passengers all on board and settled into their bedrooms, we were ready for the off. Here you can see Hugo on the left, and Star and Elsa to the right.

From Greece to Italy

From Athens we headed to Patras to board our pre-booked crossing to Italy, but the ferry waiting for us wasn’t the one we were expecting. It had no open deck to allow our passengers a well ventilated ride, so we couldn’t take it. We were offered an alternative crossing 24 hours later, but that wasn’t possible for us as the pets had started their journey.

So we motored to Igoumenitsa where we were able to board a ferry to Brindisi. It was a very windy crossing on the Adriatic, with gale force winds forecast, but none of us — pets or couriers — noticed. Everyone slept well and arrived in Italy feeling refreshed. We’re now making up time as best we can.

Tito, Pippi and Mimi

This fabulous feline trio are exchanging southern Italy for Gloucester, relocating with owner Serena. They’re a very friendly and relaxed group who get on well together.

Sweet Mimi

Inseparable Pippi and Tito

Chloe

In Rome we called in to collect cute Yorkshire Terrier Chloe. Owner Gaby, who’s gone on ahead to Kent, told us that Chloe is sweet, kind, active, friendly and playful, and loves cuddles. Which turned out to be a perfect description of this little girl!

The strong wind was still noticeable as we made our way towards Rome

We collected Chloe from Shaliemar and Christine

The wind didn’t do too much for Chloe’s coiffure, but her very smart jumper kept her cosy

Chloe prefers a calm and sunny evening walk

We stayed the night in Mentana, near Rome, at a hilltop hotel with great views