Jetpets Transports First Full-Size Sea Turtle

Jetpets assists in Olive Ridley Sea Turtle rehabilitation program
Jetpets assists in Olive Ridley Sea Turtle rehabilitation program

Jetpets are no stranger to servicing unique animal transportation needs and when we were recently contacted by Sydney’s Sea Life aquarium we were excited to learn that we would be transporting a female Sea Turtle named, “Extra Virgin”.

You might be wondering, “Why such a strange name for a turtle?”, so please allow me to explain.

“Extra Virgin” is a member of the Olive Ridley species of marine turtles. The species are known by their olive-green hue…hence the comedic nickname.

According to the World Wildlife Federation’s (WWF) website the Olive Ridley turtle’s status is considered “vulnerable”. This is due to several reasons including how fragile their breeding cycle is, with hatchling turtles returning to the same place they were born to lay their own eggs once the reach maturity. As these hatchling locations are so specific and infrequent, any damage or change to their environment could adversely affect the entire species. The turtles are also impacted by plastic rubbish, commercial fishing practices, poaching and water pollution.

Extra Virgin will return to the ocean after she completes her rehabilitation period
Extra Virgin will return to the ocean after she completes her rehabilitation period

With such precious cargo in our care it was imperative that we pulled out all the stops to ensure that Extra Virgin reached her destination safely.

Through consultation we were able to assist in preparing Extra Virgin’s travel crate to make it more comfortable during her flight to QLD. We also liaised with the airlines to ensure that she spent no unnecessary time in crate.

Extra Virgin was being transported to undertake rehabilitation for a minor injury at her new home at Sealife on the Sunshine coast. Once she has fully recovered she will be released back into the wild to re-join the rest of her species.

Extra Virgin Is placed in to her rehabilitation tank after her journey
Extra Virgin Is placed in to her rehabilitation tank after her journey

special mention also needs to go to Jetpets’ Pet Handler Kellie, who did a fantastic job of picking up Extra Virgin and getting her safely to the rehabilitation tank to begin her recovery.

If you would like to visit Sealife on the Sunshine coast you can visit their website here to get all the details.

Rusty The Hitchhiking Terrier Returns Home

The cheeky hitchhiking terrier, Rusty, who hitched a 1,500-kilometre ride on a truck from his home in Goondiwindi, Queensland, to Snowtown in South Australia has captured the hearts of the nation.

Rusty The Hitchhiking Terrier Returns Home with Jetpets | | Pet Transport Australia

Rusty’s adventure began after he decided to go looking for his family while they were away on a short holiday. Somewhere along the way Rusty decided to stowaway on a truck driven by Paul McDowell and his wife Heather Reid, and when they discovered him they decided to take him with them until they could identify and get in touch with his owners.

After his owner Laura was made aware of Rusty’s incredible journey she put out a call on social media to see if anyone could assist in getting Rusty back home. As the industry leader in pet transport we jumped at the chance to see Rusty reunited with his family and offered to transport him home free of charge.

In order to get the little guy home safely we pulled out all the stops by donating a state of the art pet travel crate complete with a stay dry fleece matt and plenty of room to stretch his legs.

With the arrangements made to get him home the story began to circulate online and soon almost every news station in the country was calling to get the scoop on Rusty, as the well wishes poured in on social media from all over the world.

Rusty’s surrogate family believe Rusty was sent to them to help them get over the grief of recently losing their family dog, who was stuck by a car on New Year Eve but were delighted that Rusty would be reunited with his family once again.

“I will miss him though, he’s been great company for our five-month old French mastiff and a distraction following the loss of our other dog in an accident just days before Rusty turned up”, said Heather.

Rusty’s journey home began with a few cuddles before he boarded his flight from Adelaide to Brisbane after which he enjoyed the comforts of a stopover at our transit lounge to stretch his legs and have a meal before his 4-hour road transport back to Goondiwindi.

“He was very relaxed and quiet the whole way in the air-conditioned van and only started barking when I drove in to the driveway, so he got a bit excited then”, said pet handler Deb Duce.

“It’s really nice to have him back, the kids have missed him and we’re very excited to have him back”, said owner Laura Scudamore.

We were also amazed to discover that this is not the first time little Rusty had gone on a solo trip away from home too. In 2016 Rusty was found in Chinchilla, more than 200 kilometres from Goondiwindi. With a children’s book in the works from his previous adventure the author will have to add a few extra chapters after Rusty’s recent adventure.

In any case if Rusty decides to get itchy feet and contract the travel bug again you can be sure we will be there to get this adventurous dog home safe and sound once again.

Watch Rusty’s Happy Reunion Now.

Rusty The Hitchhiking Terrier Returns Home with Jetpets | Pet Transport Australia

Sahara in the City

As our Jetpets furry ambassador, sometimes Sahara has to do the jobs nobody wants to do… like go to Sydney for the weekend, relax in a five-star hotel and be pampered. (It’s a tough job isn’t it!)

As part of Rufus and Coco’s competition in conjunction with Jetpets, you too could win the chance to pamper yourselves and your pooch at the Langham Hotel like Sahara or escape to country Victoria for the ultimate relaxing weekend with your puppy. Simply follow this link and enter for your chance at a Jetpets Holiday.

Koalas home safe and sound

You may remember back in March this year Jetpets helped relocate Hamilton Islands koalas after Cyclone Debbie destroyed their habitat. Now it’s time for their return trip home and Jetpets were there once again to ensure the safe transportation of these iconic animals.

Koala | Animal Moves | Jetpets | Hamilton Island

A last-minute surge by the category four system, Cyclone Debbie on its way to mainland Queensland, Australia brought the extreme weather event directly over the top of Hamilton island, home to 1,208 Queenslanders and thousands of the islands rich and diverse wildlife species.

The cyclone which hit Queensland in March this year left behind a trail of destruction and as no evacuation order was issued to Hamilton island the residents and the wildlife were forced to hunker down and make the best of a bad situation.

The cyclone battered the island with 263km winds, rain and all manner of debris, kicked up by the incredible winds while residents cowered indoors hoping to escape the fury of the storm.

Once cyclone Debbie had past the sheer destruction was described as “looking like world war 3”. Debbie destroyed businesses, property and hundreds of eucalyptus trees, which is the koala’s main food source as well as their homes.

With their habitat in disarray the people at Australia Zoo reached out to Wild Life Hamilton Island and offered to house the koala’s and two dingoes, with them while their environment was rebuilt and the trees given a chance to regrow and recover. Jetpets stepped in to make this possible and assisted in moving the animals to their temporary home at Australia Zoo.

While the residents are still rebuilding and repairing extensive damage after six months, the island has been deemed safe for the return of the koalas and Jetpets were only too happy to assist in bringing them home. With tourist wildlife activities kicking off again on September the 15th the koalas are back just in time to step back in to the limelight.

We are very proud to be in a position to assist in the amazing work that Australian Zoos do on a daily basis and we support their efforts as they continue to preserve and protect Australia’s native wildlife.

Koala | Animal Moves | Jetpets | Hamilton Island

Finding your purrfect match!

Are you, or someone you know, thinking about bringing a new pet into the family? We get it, falling in love with a pet is easy (trust us, we fall in love every day!)

When selecting a new pet for your family, there are a number of different options available, but we believe visiting a shelter or rescue organisation is a great place to start your search. When you rescue a pet, not only will you be giving a beautiful animal a second chance at a happy life, but the shelter or rescue organisation will also have a number of different breeds available, (including pure-breds in many cases,) as well as pets at all different stages of life, not just kittens and puppies. This means that the shelter or rescue organisation will be able to work with you to select the perfect pet to suit your family and lifestyle.

Ready to start looking for your ‘purrfect’ match? PetRescue is a great place to start.

PetRescue is a free non-profit service that connects rescue groups with adopters. With the awesome support of a growing community of pet lovers, PetRescue.com.au is now Australia’s most visited charity website, helping to save the lives of thousands of homeless pets every month. Better still? PetRescue work closely with our team here at Jetpets to transport rescue pets to ‘furever’ homes across Australia every day.

Pet Rescue | Perfect Match | Jetpets | Pet Travel Melbourne

Chico’s Reunion

Chico the Pomeranian - an amazing pet move by Jetpets

Here at Jetpets, we were proud to fly Chico the Pomeranian home to Dubbo where he was reunited with his owner Stacey after being stolen 4 years ago and found in Port Macquarie!

Four years ago Stacey returned home to discover her beloved pet Chico was missing. Despite Stacey’s best efforts to find Chico, the years passed without any clue about his whereabouts. Just as Stacey had almost given up hope of ever finding Chico, she took a phone call from a veterinary clinic in Port Macquarie (a long way from home in Dubbo), to say that they had Chico and were trying to find his owner. Last week, we were thrilled to provide a complimentary flight and travel service to facilitate the happy reunion between Stacey and Chico!

Chico the Pomeranian - an amazing pet move by JetpetsStacey rescued Chico from a local pound in Dubbo two years prior to him going missing. Stacey adored Chico and looked forward to returning home each day to his wagging tail and warm welcome. As you can imagine, Stacey was very distressed to return home four years ago to not be greeted by her furry friend. Stacey immediately displayed lost pet posters throughout her local community in the hope that Chico would be found, but as the years passed with no sign of his whereabouts she was started to losing hope.

Four years after going missing, Chico was found by a stranger on the side of the road in Port Macquarie and taken to a local vet. When the vet scanned Chico’s micro-chip Stacey was identified as the owner and contacted. In taking the call, Stacey was speechless and overjoyed that she would see Chico again! Stacey contacted us to organise the comfortable and safe transportation of Chico to Dubbo and we were honoured to reunite Stacey and Chico.

A Pug Wedding

It was a match made in dodgy heaven…

Have you heard about Jasmine & Jasper the pugs? (If not, check out their story here.) These two doggy partners in crime were married in a fundraising event for Pug Rescue on May 17th, at the beautiful West Beach Bathers Pavilion in St Kilda.

The event was attended by 300+ people and 60 pugs guests, with the pug bride dressed by a renowned Melbourne based couture gown designer! It was a lavish affair, with drinks, canapés, wedding cake and music following the adorable ceremony, as well as some inspiring stories of rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming from the Pug Rescue team.

You can read all about the event, and Pug Rescue here.

Here at Jetpets, we were proud to sponsor the pug wedding and support the Pug Rescue team.

A Pug Wedding - Celebrity Pets

Izzy the Rescue Shar Pei

we were so happy to help the RSPCA NSW with the transport of Izzy the Shar Pei.Jetpets is proud of the partnership that we have with the RSPCA Australia-wide. The RSPCA does amazing work with rescue groups all over Australia each and every day.

 

In February, we were so happy to help the RSPCA NSW with the transport of Izzy the Shar Pei.

 

Izzy, who had Entropion (a medical condition in which the eyelid folds inward,) travelled down to Melbourne to be relocated to Shar Pei Rescue.

 

Entropion is is very uncomfortable and irritating for the animal. Thankfully, Izzy had Entropion surgery and was lucky enough to find a new ‘furever’ home within two weeks of arriving in Melbourne – a great result!

 

Thanks to Anne from the RSPCA NSW for sending us this adorable pic of Izzy and we hope that she is settling into her new home nicely!

 

“We have a great relationship with Shar Pei rescue and together we have saved many Shar Pei’s thanks to JetPets wonderful support! Thank you so much for your help with Izzy!” Anne – RSPCA NSW