The massive disruption caused by the volcano cloud has come at a bad time for pet shippers. Many have seen their shipment numbers drop by 50% to 60% in the past year, as companies stop paying to relocate employees’ families abroad, said Sally Smith, the owner of Johnsonburg, NJ-based Airborne Animals LLC. In 2008, 75% of pet owners polled in the U.S. said they frequently travel with their animals, according to BringYourPet.com, a directory service for pet-friendly hotels.
Pet shippers have lost precious time and money during the disruption, often having to re-file lengthy health certificates that sometimes must be completed within hours of a pet’s takeoff. Many have stranded animals in their midst, biding time until it’s safe to fly….
In Frankfurt, Mr. [Paul] Robinson was reunited with [his dog] Pen on Saturday afternoon. He found his friend “quite thin””like a hyena during a summer drought in the African Savannah kind of thin.” That night, he put Pen in the front seat of the Fiat and cruised back to Ljubljana in the slow lane of the autobahn.
Both are taking the journey in stride. “We all have adventures doing things for the people we love, the animals we love,” Mr. Robinson said. “You just take the risk and go.”