Cat Travels Across Three Countries to Avoid COVID Lockdown

When you love someone, you do whatever it takes to be with them. This knowledge is what led to the success of various films such as “Home Alone” where Kevin’s mother found different ways of traveling back home, including a lift by a traveling polka band. Sometimes, it is not our children that get mistakenly left behind; it is our pets. In “Lilo & Stitch” we learned that Ohana means family which also translates to no one getting left behind or forgotten; hence we move heaven and earth to be with family members. Pets are part of our families; therefore, the story of how a cat traveled across three countries to avoid COVID lockdown should not surprise you. If you have not heard it yet, here are the details.

Money is no object when it comes to family

Frances Hayter and her husband had gone from Australia to Texas, where Frances was on a work secondment that would last eight months. Of course, she had traveled with her beloved pet, Indigo, and since the couple does not have children, the cat became the apple of their eyes. While life seemed perfect, the coronavirus hit the entire world, causing the Australian prime minister to order all residents back home before the COVID lockdown. Since flights would also not be allowed, Frances had to book one of the last ones, but it did not come without some heartbreak.

While Frances was ready to go back home to Brisbane, Indigo was not because she required some vet work. Frances, therefore, left Indigo at the vet in Houston where the feline had to stay for two months, leaving the woman so distraught that she kept crying as she wondered if the two would ever be reunited. However, Frances was determined to get her 10-year-old cat back. Consequently, once Indigo was given the go-ahead to be moved, she was driven to Dallas; a journey that lasted four hours. Indigo was only the beginning of a long tiring journey because then she had to be flown to Los Angeles. Luckily she got to relax for six nights in Los Angeles before embarking on a 12-hour flight to New Zealand.

Unfortunately with the quarantine in progress, her reunion with Frances was delayed when Indigo got to Melbourne and had to be quarantined for two weeks. The final leg of the journey involved a flight to Brisbane, and finally, Frances had Indigo back in her loving arms. The pet owner is still awestruck that she got her cat back and has to keep petting her to believe it. While that is an incredible adventure for Indigo, it did not come without a hefty bill. Frances and her husband had to part with $15,000 for the entire trip, but to them, it was worth every dollar to get their fur baby back. After all, as reported by Microsoft News, you cannot leave your child behind if you can avoid it.

Even animals can’t help but get emotional during reunions

The love between an animal and his human has been perfectly documented by a video that went viral in May 2020. Ismael Fernandez had not seen his donkey, Baldomera, for two months after Spain issued the COVID lockdown order. It was such a tormenting time for the donkey owner and the minute the government eased the lockdown restrictions, all that Ismael could think about was seeing his donkey. As much as Ismael was also eager to see his family, he was worried that Baldomera would not recognize him after the two-month separation.

However, their bond was unbreakable. When Ismael went to the farm to meet his donkey, he was careful not to spook Baldomera hence carefully approached her. Baldomera then spotted Ismael and brayed loudly, setting Ismael’s worries aside. Ismael, on the other hand, shed tears of joy, and thankfully, the special moment was captured on video. Ismael posted the video on Facebook saying that he was not ashamed that people could see him crying. To him, it was a demonstration of the existence of unconditional love, and Ismael even added that Baldomera got emotional too after seeing his owner cry.

The lockdown has also led to a business opportunity

The best business is one that seeks to fill a particular gap, and Deepika Singh recognized such an opportunity when she realized that people are not willing to travel with pets. According to Asia One, Deepika, a 25-year-old cybersecurity researcher, arranged to bring home her stranded relatives. However, the idea of chartering a private jet struck her after she saw her friends charter a private plane to Goa; thus, Deepika wondered if the same could be done for pets and senior citizens.

Deepika, therefore, did her research by floating the idea on her WhatsApp network, but not everyone was willing to travel with pets, even if the animals were caged. The entrepreneur, therefore, made arrangements with Accretion Aviation to transport pets that had been separated from their owners during the COVID-19 lockdown. So far she has booked a six-seater jet but only has four pets booked on the flight, including Harvinder Kaur’s two dogs. For it to be a viable undertaking, Deepika still has to get two more pets to fill the remaining seats since the charter cost her more than $16,000.

Since the pet owners have already demonstrated that they do not mind the price as long as they get to see their pets again, Deepika is considering expanding the business to offer pet flights as a regular service. Currently, the jet is operating between Delhi and Mumbai, but the entrepreneur wants to provide the service to other states within India. She even has taken the necessary measures to ensure the safety of pets by screening the animal’s temperatures since animals have been reported to contract the coronavirus. Deepika is also looking forward to hiring a person to accompany the pets and be their flight attendant.