Woman faces bill to fly her pooch

April 21, 2020

An Australian woman who lived in New York is facing a $9,500 bill to fly her beloved pooch down under after she was locked out of the flight ban.

Georgie Boyd, 29, was in London trying to renew her visa when flights from Europe to the US were cancelled.

The wedding planner was forced to abandon her apartment and her rescue puppy Boston in Manhattan.

Georgie is now back with her family in Adelaide, Australia, and faces a lengthy and expensive process to bring Boston, a two-year-old rescue mix, home.

She said: “I had to go to London to renew my visa in early March.

“My E3 visa got declined because of underlying reasons that meant I couldn’t even get an ESTA.”

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is the standard tourist visa for visitors to the United States.

“By the middle of March I couldn’t get back to New York and my dog,” Georgie said.

“I couldn’t get a tourist visa because COVID had caused chaos and then Trump closed the border.

“I was locked in London with a small suitcase – I thought I was going to be there for ten days so I literally had a pair of jeans, a jumper, a t-shirt and some activewear.

“I had no option but to come back to my parents in Adelaide.”

Georgie began the difficult task of dismantling her life in New York from 10,000 miles away.

“I had my dog and my apartment all back in New York – my life was in New York.

“One of my good friends packed up my entire life for me and put it all in boxes.

“I had to surrender all my furniture, about $2,000 worth of furniture, with my apartment.

“Luckily I wasn’t tied into a lease so I got my March rent back but I lost half of my security deposit.

“I hadn’t seen Boston since the end of February.

“He was a rescue puppy so that was pretty traumatic, not only for me, but for him as well.

“I messaged one of my good friends in Massachusetts and she and her husband drove down that night and picked him up and took him back to their home.”

Now Georgie relies on daily photo updates of Boston from her friend and worries about the toll the separation is having on the emotional support animal.

She said: “It’s so hard to be separated from him.

“I don’t want him to feel like I’ve given up on him.

“I got him in August 2019 from an animal shelter.

“He was so anxious – he was scared of bikes and skateboards.

“He would get separation anxiety when I went to the bathroom – I had to give him CBD just to calm him down.

“He was an emotional support dog.

“I took him everywhere I went – to work, to cafes.

“I feel really sorry for him, he’s moved around the place while I was trying to figure my own living situation out.

“What I’m struggling to come to terms with is what’s going to happen if I can’t raise the money to bring him over.”

Georgie is facing a colossal bill to bring Boston home with the pooch needing special certificates, injections, bloodwork and a pricey quarantine before he will be allowed into the country.

The transport itself is $6,500 with vet bills adding a further $3,000.

The Department of Agriculture in Australia also require that pets have certain injections at least 180 days before entering the county so the earliest Georgie will be reunited with Boston is October.

“It’s been a massive whirlwind.

“Just to get him over here is $6,500 and that doesn’t include vet bills.

“I have already spent a grand on blood tests, immunizations and health checks.

“You have to have rabies injections and blood tests prior which mean big vet bills.

“The ten-day quarantine in Australia costs $2,000.

“I have had to go through a company which has its own fees and each certificate costs between $400 and $500.

“Then the actual transport to get Boston here will be a flight from New York to LA, LA to Singapore and Singapore to Melbourne which is $2,000 and I also have to pay for the carer that will look after him onboard and make sure he gets through the flight.

“It’s a lot of little costs which pile up but if I get one of the certificates or import letters wrong, Boston could actually be sent back to New York.”

Georgie has seen her savings wiped out by the coronavirus chaos.

“My visas were $600 each – that’s $1,200 lost in visa fees.

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