A dog is man’s best friend. And dogs like Pipsqueak prove that by embarking on a journey of more than 10,000 miles to meet their master. Little Pip was stranded all by herself in South Carolina after her owners (Elibecks family) were made to end their world sailing trip because of the pandemic and had to fly home to Australia. Amid the pandemic, the borders were about to close soon; hence the family had to pack everything in less than 48 hours to fly home. But as fate would have it, Australia’s strict pet import rules meant their Pip couldn’t fly with them.
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Dog Flies 10,000 Miles To Reunite With The Family in Australia
The Elibecks then made some arrangements for Pip to be looked after and said goodbye and promised the little pup to meet her soon. But that’s not quite how it worked out. The Covid-19 pandemic had started to spread across the globe, and the Elibecks soon understood that it wouldn’t be possible to return to the United States because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Pip would have to make the long journey to Australia alone.
Elicbecks tried to get the paperwork done, but it was quite challenging to get Pip back from the US since offices were not functional because of the pandemic and even the airlines had declared that they are no longer flying dogs to the country. So trying to get anything like that done was extremely difficult. And that’s when Melissa Young, who works for dog rescue foundation The Sparky Foundation, stepped in and volunteered to fly across America with Pip.
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A Volunteer Flew With Pip Across America To Sydney
Melissa Young flew from Greensboro to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then from Charlotte to Los Angeles with the Pip under her seat. At LA, Pip was left with the Jetpets, who had to handle all the paperwork, before putting her on a flight from Los Angeles to Auckland. And after finishing all the formalities, Pip arrived in Auckland on July 23rd.
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Pip Arrives In Sydney On August 11
As per the laws, Pip had to quarantine for 10-days before flying to Melbourne. And in that period, the state of Victoria imposed a strict lockdown. Once Pip arrived, the borders between Victoria and New South Wales were closed. And for a while, all the flights to Sydney stood cancelled. And finally, it was August 11th, when Pip reached Sydney and his family welcomed him with open arms.