PETS AND OWNERS ALSO SEPARATED UNDER TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

New Queenstown resident Megan Moller says she’s having sleepless nights trying to explain to her 6-year-old son why he can’t see his best friend: a Schnauzer named Scout.

The Moller family moved to New Zealand from South Africa in January, but with travel restrictions still in place, her cats, Izzy and Sadie, are stuck in a boarding facility while Scout is bunking with Moller’s sister.

“It has given us heartache and created a longing we didn’t know we would ever face,” she said.

The Mollers are among a number of families who are unable to reunite with their pets.

On the other side of this equation is a usually busy pet travel industry that’s been turned on its head.

Moller’s three pets were scheduled to fly to New Zealand on March 31 and had already undergone all the compulsory vet checks and blood tests when their flight was cancelled five days before departure.

Getting her pets onto a repatriation flight was close to impossible, Moller said.

South Africa was still in lockdown, so the state vets weren’t operating, and because repatriation flights were scheduled only five to seven days ahead of time, she would be unable to follow protocols that required three sets of blood tests taken seven days apart, she said.

Moller had been in contact with a number of airlines, but they were unable to tell her when normal animal travel would resume.

“I cannot wait to hold my cats, and to cuddle my Scout. I can’t wait to feel Scoutie’s heartbeat against mine, and to see the joy in her eyes,” she said.

Angela Van Wijk is facing a similar situation.

She arrived in New Zealand in February and her two dogs, a German Shephard and an English Bull Terrier, are stuck in a boarding kennel in South Africa, which she said is costing her family “a fortune.”

They’ve been told they need to wait for the state vet to reopen before Murphy and Shadow can undergo the required blood tests.

Quarantine facilities, pet logistics companies and boarding kennels are waiting for normal travel to resume to get the industry back on its feet.

Auckland Quarantine owner David Bell had to temporarily close his facility during the lockdown.

While the business is housing a handful of pet imports under Alert Level Two, he said the business wouldn’t be sustainable for some time.

“For the next few weeks, it’s going to be one or two consignments a week,” he said.

Bell had made use of the Government’s wage subsidy scheme, but said he would need to lay staff off if there wasn’t enough work to keep them on.

“That’s the way it is for a lot of businesses,” he said, “It’s pretty grim.”

Vet nurse Deb England was made redundant from the quarantine facility she managed because of the lockdown.

While it wasn’t unexpected, it was upsetting, she said.

“When it was said out loud, it was a shock,” England said. “It was a job I enjoyed and took pride in.”

She was lucky enough to have a second trade to fall back on and had found work in a nursery, but England said she was still dealing with the loss of suddenly not seeing her workmates every day.

“We were a pretty tight-knit little bunch who all had our own strengths and together made up a great team. Our shared passion for the animals gave us quite a strong bond,” she said.

Bell didn’t expect activity to pick up for Auckland Quarantine’s sister business Brookby Pet Lodge anytime soon.

“A lot of people have been affected, so they’re not going to be able to travel,” he said.

Wags Pet Travel owner Martyn Slade said freight restrictions had significantly disrupted his work.

Air New Zealand were only accepting consignments from accredited shippers, Slade said.

In the past, he and his team would handle the paperwork and pet owners could drop their animals off at the airport themselves.

“It just adds so much extra costs,” he said.

Slade noted that the cost of shipping an animal domestically had also increased in recent weeks.

Bell agreed: “Freight prices are so high, it’s too expensive to send animals anywhere.”

Canterbury Quarantine owner Karen Bayliss said cargo had been given precedence over animal travel during lockdown, making it difficult to secure flights.

“We’re very dependent on the airlines agreeing to fly pets,” she said.

Bayliss didn’t run a boarding kennel which could have supplemented her income.

Slade was able to reopen his doggy daycare and boarding kennel after lockdown, but six weeks of no income had taken its toll.

The wage subsidy had helped him retain staff, but he was expecting to operate at 50 per cent of his usual turnover for some time.

Without people travelling for long periods of time, he was unlikely to see demand for his boarding services.

“We’re all stuffed, basically,” Slade said.

Bell said the industry would struggle until normal travel and immigration resumed.

“They need to open the borders back up for the pet travel industry to work,” he said.

Bayliss said a number of pets had been booked to travel in April, May and June after their owners had already arrived in New Zealand.

“It would be good to get these pets moving and reunite them with their families,” she said.

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesperson said pets were being allowed into New Zealand, provided they met MPI requirements.

But ultimately, it was up to the airlines whether they had the capacity to transport animals, which usually travel as freight, the spokesperson said.

“At the moment there are reduced numbers of animals due to the restrictions on people being able to travel to New Zealand. Any increase in animal travel would be contingent on normal flight schedules resuming,” she said.

Air New Zealand spokesperson Anna Cross said the airline was accepting pets as cargo, but flights were still limited.

“Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on airlines worldwide and Air New Zealand is operating a limited international network due to the pandemic,” Cross said.

“Naturally we will look to operate more flights as government border restrictions are eased and demand increases,” she said.