The most stressful part of moving with my husband to the UAE was all about how our two cats (Fiji and Tico) would survive the travel 1/2 way around the world.  I was so pleased to get in touch with Angela as she was able to answer my very long list of questions.  There are so many rules and regulations for each country and airline and I knew that hiring an expert would help us immensely.

I was pleased to have Angela’s assistance as there are many hoops to jump through and lots of paperwork that needs to be in order before the cats could travel.  My biggest concern was that due to time constraints the cats had to be picked up by a third party, driven to LA and kept over night before they could even begin their long flight segments.  However, the driver showed up and was a big sweetheart of a guy.  He was very reassuring, introduced himself to our cats, told stories about his best pets and totally put me at ease.  What a relief!

I am happy to report that the cats are doing extremely well.  They have settled in and found all the best sunny spots in our new home.

Thanks World Pet Travel… we will be calling when it is time to move again!

Cheers,

Page

I want to thank you for the way you handled the trip from Roatan (an island off Honduras) to Cebu, Philippines for our three cats.  They were just as calm and happy when they arrived, we’d have never guessed they had been on a 3 day trip around the world.

I was especially impressed when I found out that one of their connecting flights was late and instead of just putting them on the next flight which did not have sufficient air circulation, you held them safely until they could get on another flight that was safe.  I am sure you deal everyday with people whose pets are family and very dear to them.  We were concerned since this was the first time we had shipped our pets anyway but in the cabin.  It was a delight to find them in such obviously good condition.

I have already recommended your company to friends who are having a hard time shipping their pets overseas.  It is complicated and even one little glitch in a foreign country can spell disaster.  We thank you for your conscientious and kind treatment and won’t hesitate to use you in the future.

Sincerely,

Pam Casey
p.s.  we’re still trying to get the little devils all together for a family photo!

While McDonald’s doesn’t seem like the first place a cow on the loose might go, that wasn’t the case for the runaway cow named Darcy.

Darcy is a good cow and normally doesn’t get in to trouble. But her owners say when she’s bored, she’ll do anything to get attention — including busting out of her pen.that wasn’t the case for Darcy, the runaway cow.

When Darcy escaped from her pen in he town of Brush in northeastern Colorado, she hoofed it half a mile where she finally wound up at a McDonald’s drive thru window.

The family joked that Darcy was probably visiting relatives.

Eventually, Darcy’s family was able to round her up and bring her back home.

Excessive scratching and chewing at the paws can be signs of seasonal allergies. Your vets can help find the underlying cause for the allergies but luckily there are several sprays and shampoos that can help with the irritation.

If your pet suffers from hot spots, those painful patches of irritated skin, try Vet’s Best Hot Spot Itch Relief Spray, an alcohol-free and steroid-free spritz that can help control your pet’s excessive need to scratch. You can also dilute the spray with water and use it as a leave-in rub after bath time.

The only itch more annoying than a hot spot may be all-over irritated skin. The sweet-smelling PawGanics Soothing Foaming Pet Shampoo uses natural, plant-based ingredients to clean and comfort your pet’s itchy fur.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. To keep your pet’s home pest-free and comfy, try Dr. Harvey’s Herbal Protection Spray, a mild, all-natural preventive spray that keeps away fleas and ticks from your pet’s bedding and fur. The spray uses natural ingredients like citronella oil, and natural astringents like witch hazel to help soothe your pet’s skin.

If your pet’s allergies are caused by flea bites, give yourself another powerful weapon in the war against pests with the Fly Free Zone Natural Fly Repellant Dog Collar. The sporty, comfortable collar uses citronella as its primary component — a plus if your pet also has allergies to flea and tick collars that use chemical ingredients.

Experts measure a dead dolphin washed up on the shore

Over the past four months nearly 900 dolphins have washed up on the shores of Peru’s coastline.

Teams are investigating what might be the cause of these mysterious deaths and have come up with a hypothesis.

It is most likely due to a virus but are waiting for further tests to rule out any possible environmental pollution or any other possibilities that are killing these marine mammals at an excessive rate.

Authorities say the man who allegeldy tried to abandon to puppies along with their mother made one big mistake after leaving them behind a city business.

He left his luggage tag with all of his personal information on the suitcase. Authorities were able to easily locate Mr. Davis is to be charged with two counts — one for the adult dog and the other for the puppies — of either first-degree or second-degree misdemeanor abandonment

Mr. Davis claims that he did not abandon the dogs but instead said he says that he had given the dogs to someone in Michigan. That doesn’t seem to add up seeing as the suitecase was found a quarter of a mile from Mr. Davis’s home.

The mother and pups are now being taken care of at the Toledo Area Humane Society.

They will be going to a foster home by the end of the week. They won’t be available for adoption for at least four weeks, officials said, but because they are part of a cruelty case, that time might be extended.

Swans have a seemingly peaceful demeanor about them and their monogamous ways has made them the symbol of lasting love. The graceful swan, usually snow white with long graceful necks have an aggressive side to them that most are unaware of. They are extremely territorial and and aggressive when they feel threatened.  While this a good trait to have in terms of them driving away geese it doesn’t always end up happily.

Hensley was a married man, father of two who worked for a company that used dogs and swans to keep away unwanted geese. When he was checking on the swans on a kayak that morning a swan turned on him.

Cook County sheriff’s investigators believe Hensley either got too close to the swan or the swan’s nesting area, the Sun-Times said.

When the swan began its attack, Hensley fell out of the kayak, into the water, where the swan continued its ruthless attack. Despite his attempt to swim to the shore, the swan persisted. By the time emergency personnel got there, Hensley has already gone under the water. A biopsy showed that he had died from drowning.

Hensley liked working with animals, according to his father-in-law, George Koutsogiannis. “Maybe he didn’t fight back enough when the swan attacked him. Maybe he didn’t want to hurt the animal. I can’t understand how this was possible,” Koutsogiannis said.

For most of us it has become habit to put our seat belts on when in the car, but that rule seems to slip people’s minds when it comes to their four-legged loved ones.

In a sudden stop or accident, a dog can become a flying projectile and can seriously injure you if not buckled up securely. A 60-pound dog/Golden Retriever becomes a projectile of 2,700 pounds at just 35 mph.

Statistics show that thousands of pets are injured in car accidents every year, just as humans, they need to be buckled up!

Our family recently lost one of our own, Julie, in a car accident.  She was sitting in the back seat and when we slid on some ice and hit a tree head on, she came flying to the front of the car and hit the gear shift. We thought everything was fine but later that night we started noticing that she was not her jittery self. We rushed her to the emergency clinic where they explained that she had gone into shock. They did all they could to help her but her body was just unable to recover from the shock and she passed late that night.

It’s safe to say that we will never look over buckling up all of our loved ones and neither should you.

You can check out more information about this at Bark Buckle UP !

Thanks heaps,

Deborah

Yoda, named 2011′s ugliest dog, passed away in her sleep on Saturday at the age of 15. She was a mangy Chinese crested-Chihuahua mix with a beautiful personality claims her owner, Terry Schumacher.

Yoda was found behind an apartment complex and was apparently mistaken for a rat when first discovered.

She had a severe overbites, her eyes clouded with cataracts, she was missing patches of fur on her ears causing them to look bat-like, she also had a protruding tongue and spidery, hairless legs.

After beating 29 other canine contestants at the competition in Petaluma, Calif., last year, the 1.8-pound mix won $1,000 and became known as the “world’s ugliest dog”.

Schumacher says that she will miss “her funny little ways.”