This story is from October 29, 2020

Dog flies 26 hours from Dubai to Kerala for family wedding

Smurf chose to go hungry throughout the 26-hour journey from Dubai to Puthupally here, first by flight, and then via road until he was back with his family.
Dog flies 26 hours from Dubai to Kerala for family wedding
Smurf, a seven-year-old Yorkshire terrier, has been with Roopa Kurian and her daughter Malavika Kurian since he was a month-old
KOTTAYAM: Smurf chose to go hungry throughout the 26-hour journey from Dubai to Puthupally here, first by flight, and then via road until he was back with his family.
Smurf, a seven-year-old Yorkshire terrier, has been with Roopa Kurian and her daughter Malavika Kurian since he was a month-old. But they were separated for months as he couldn’t travel on the repatriation flight with Roopa and Malavika when they returned to Kerala on June 4.
“The dog was gifted to my daughter by her friend,” said Roopa Kurian. “Her marriage is in December and she wanted Smurf to be present on the occasion at any cost,” she added. The family spent around ₹1.75 lakh to bring their pet home.
yorkshire2

Roopa Kurian, who was working as a journalist in Dubai for 23 years returned, along with her daughter, to her native Puthuppally during the lockdown. Her husband Cherian Kurian had died four years ago. “We came by the repatriation flight and pets were not allowed,” said Kurian. Smurf was left with the family of Roopa Kurian’s sister in Dubai.
The family was helped in their efforts by travel agents and the ticket was cleared in an Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi. The flight landed in Bengaluru around 1.30 am on Wednesday and after the clearance by the veterinary medical team, the dog proceeded to Puthuppally in a car.
“Apart from the driver, there was a pet handler with Smurf. Every five hours the car stopped and Smurf was taken out for a walk. He refused to have food all the while,” said Kurian. He even underwent all the screening processes that a traveller is subjected to during the pandemic.
Very few flights have a separate section for pets and few airports in India have the facility for clearing pets as passengers. Smurf returned to normal after meeting Malavika and Roopa. Despite the jetlag, he played his usual tricks and had food after a bath. Malavika Kurian is currently doing a course in culinary art in New York in the US and is here for her marriage in December.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA