"Not sure what we would have done without Jola and World Pet Travel!
We had a "series of unfortunate events" trying to get our dog from the U.S. to a Caribbean island. Domestic carriers won't take large dogs in cargo anymore unless you are active duty military or a diplomat. We were neither. So we had to go the long way: Chicago-Amsterdam-Caribbean. It was a pain in the rear, but all-in-all it should have been a 2-3 day experience (not including all the travel prep).
The first unfortunate event was our veterinarian incorrectly submitting the USDA paperwork. That caused our dog to miss her original flight, which was beyond upsetting! Jola jumped in and worked with the local team in Chicago to resubmit the paperwork directly with the USDA, so we knew we had the right documents, as well as reschedule her on the next available flight. We had to board her for a few days, but Jola handled all that and kept us apprised of her progress and care.
The second unfortunate event was the airline cancelling the second flight. Of course, that was out of everyone's control, so Jola stayed on top of our dog's care with the local team and kept us apprised, including sending photos. She ensured that the paperwork would be valid for the next available flight, which she promptly booked, and we were going for "take three."
The third unfortunate event came after Jola and her team successfully got our dog on the third flight, which routed through Amsterdam with a connecting flight. For some reason, our dog did not make the connection, but the airline did not notify anyone, so there we were - waiting at the airport - for a dog that the local cargo team advised us was not on the manifest. That was bad.
Jola probably moved mountains to reach the right folks at the airline and confirm exactly what happened - where our dog was (still in Amsterdam), and when she would be en route (the next flight out), and she let us know as soon as she knew.
I'm happy to report that our dog arrived safely, and the family was whole again.
We thought we would take a more active role in our dog's transportation, so we worked with our personal veterinarian and got the IATA-approved crate, etc. What we should have done was have Jola and the World Pet Travel team handle everything. Yes, there is a cost to transport a pet internationally, and there's no getting around that. But having an expert like Jola just handle everything is a massive stress reliever. Our vet didn't have the experience with the paperwork, which set off a chain of events that made our dog's relocation take 10 days instead of 2. Hindsight is always 20/20, but if you've read this far, then please believe me when I say, "Just call Jola and have her handle it all.""
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