April was, as planned, a quieter month for us, with Sands going to the UK, and no UK transport until the end of the month. Must say that the break was most welcome and gave us time to recharge and rethink how we want to continue helping the cats and dogs in Spain.
Interesting to see that two of the rescue sites have recently set up their own transports. Time will tell if this has any effect on our business transporting pets to the UK from Spain. It’s certainly a lot quieter at the moment. Rescue Centres are saying that they are not re-homing as many cats and dogs at the moment, and people are not exactly in a rush to move to Spain with their pets (although we have had a steady number of enquiries). It is still busy though with people moving back to the UK from Spain with their pets, and we have noticed an increase in people that used to live in Spain all the time but are now going back and forth between the UK and Spain, either to work or just for a change of scenery and to go places that are busy! We have more long term return bookings to take people’s pets back and forth than ever before.
The bitchiness, petty mindness and bad business practice continues unfortunately. Really trying to stay out of it as really not at all interested. I just don’t see that there is a ‘right way’ to do animal rescue. Of course there are rules, regulations, best practices etc but really if one rescue wants to raise funds from donations to fund a transport and another wants the adopter to pay is one right and one wrong? If a transport company wants to take as little time as possible over the transport to minimise the time a pet spends on the van, while another prefers a more sedate approach is one right and one wrong? So long as both are certified and put the animals welfare first and the customers know exactly what they are getting when they book surely that is what matters. Ditto with shared cages. For our own part we travel with enough cages and flight boxes for one per dog but if three pets live together and normally travel together and it would stress them to be apart would it be right to separate them into their own cages? In my view no. Others may disagree. What is important is what he owner thinks and wants and is comfortable with.
There are some real issues that need to be addressed. The transporting of dogs that haven’t been Leish tested. The irresponsible transportation of unsterilised dogs and cats to other countries. The over hasty transportation of rescue animals without their behavior having been assessed over a reasonable period of time. Personally I think people would be better served looking at these issues rather than who re-homes more dogs, who is the best transport company etc.
For our part we have no illusions to grandeur or desire to be the best at all. We are very very comfortable with the way we do things. We have the relevant certifications and licenses. We are in the process of sorting out a TRACES transport on behalf of a number of charities who are TRACES registered and we have a Testimonial Page and ongoing repeat client base that says we satisfy enough people’s requirements.
Future Transports
May
The transport in May will leave Spain on the 18th May, arriving in the UK on the 19th May. We will leave the UK again on the 22nd May arriving back in Spain on the 23rd May.
At present we still have two places left. I say ‘still’ but this transport has been fully booked twice and twice we have had people cancel. People need to take a LOT more care when booking their pets transport to be honest. To book and then find out the pets are too young to travel is just incompetent and causes all kinds of issues, not least for people that have been turned away because we were full.
June
The transport in June will leave Spain on the 8th June, arriving in the UK on the 9th June. We will leave the UK again on the 11th June arriving back in Spain on the 12th June.
The third person space is available for anyone looking for a FREE trip back to the UK.
We currently have 9 spaces available on this transport.
July
We have two transports in July
The first transport in July will leave Spain on the 6th July, arriving in the UK on the 7th July. We will leave the UK again on the 127th July arriving back in Spain on the 31st July.
The third person space is available on both of these transports.
We currently have 15 spaces available on both of these transport.
News
PETS Transport Scheme
Again there seems to be some confusion as to the use of the PETS transport scheme. In brief it can only be used for the transportation of a personal pet, when the transport is necessitated by a move (permanent or temporary) by the pets owner.
A rescue animal can not be transported under the PETS scheme, and requires an additional health certificate.
Bosnia
Bosnia is looking good. We don’t require a different type of transporter license or personal visas.
The date remains the 17 June to the 23 June. Have to say it is nice not to be involved in anything other than the logistics once all the dogs are confirmed and the driving!
Next Transport Availability
More Information
Transport Details
Transport Schedule
Transport Costs
Pet Passport Requirements
Transport Checklist
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ALStrays Pet Transport Newsletter: May 2013 | ALStrays http://t.co/JoIEYFiw1x
Thank you Chris for the safe and timely transportation of our three dogs to our villa in Alicante province. They have all settled in great with our two Spanish dogs and are enjoying lazy days in the sun. I would thoroughly recommend your service to others and you know we have already booked all five back to the UK in October, many thanks, Vic and Janette Gilchrist, Biar, Alicante.