The COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted a lot of houses. Many people were stuck away from home. Similarly, a dog was stranded 10,000 miles away from his owners. Pipsqueak, a wiener dog, belonging to an Australian family was sailing around the world with his family when the novel coronavirus hit the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted a lot of houses. Many people were stuck away from home. Similarly, a dog was stranded 10,000 miles away from his owners. Pipsqueak, a wiener dog, belonging to an Australian family was sailing around the world with his family when the novel coronavirus hit the world. However, as Australia decided to close their borders, the Eilbeck family — Zoe and Guy Eilbeck, and their sons Cam and Max — had 48 hours to pack up their stuff, dock their 40-foot yacht in Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and fly back to their home country. However, they had to make a tough decision of leaving their dachshund Pip behind as Australia has strict pet import rules. After making a few calls, the Eilbeck family made an eight-hour-long drive to their friend Lynn Williams' house where they left Pip with a hope to come back for him in a few days. However, their hopes came crashing down as the Australian borders remained shut and the coronavirus restrictions got stricter. View this post on Instagram A Pip Pupdate: Thank you enormously to everyone who shared Pip’s plea for a travel buddy across America to LA next week - the post was shared 135 times and viewed by over 18,500 people; we’ve been blown away by the kind offers of help received from so many. Ultimately Pip’s chosen ‘wing gal’ for the two flights from North Carolina to Los Angeles is the amazing Melissa Young @mhyoung83 who has generously offered to take Pip across the country in a time of great uncertainty and deliver her to Jetpets for her onward international journey. At this point Pip will do final vet checks before climbing aboard Air New Zealand to avail herself of their hospitality en route to Auckland. Why NZ? Because Qantas aren’t flying and we need to get this gal home. After a night in NZ to get some sleep and a good meal, Pip will fly cargo to Melbourne to complete her 10 (not 14) day quarantine. We envisioned ourselves driving the 12 hours to Melbourne to collect her (hoping like mad she remembers who the hell we are after all this!) but Victoria’s just closed their borders due to the latest Covid wave so we will find a way to get her out and home to us in the coming weeks - this journey certainly feels like a never ending roller coaster! No one’s kidding themselves that this is going to be a happy trip for Pip but she’s been in limbo now for 4 months and we are determined to get her home! Melissa’s generosity and bravery in taking Pip across borders in the USA is inspiring and humbling. she also happens to be on the Board of a NFP called @sparkyfoundationnc that rescue and find dogs loving homes for “the happily ever after story book ending that they all deserve.” If you wanted to help Pip or just want to acknowledge Melissa’s act of kindness and bravery, please consider donating to her foundation - every cent received will be used wholly for animal rescue in tough times ahead. #thankyou #generosity #helpingothers #cmonpip #dachshund #minidachshund #weinerdog #doxie A post shared by No Plans Just Options (@noplans.justoptions) on Jul 10, 2020 at 6:08am PDT × Little Pip and his family, however, were determined to meet each other soon. So, the family started working on the required paperwork needed to bring Pip back, but was facing one hurdle after another. "To export a dog from America, you need to get a US declaration to say the dog is in good health and has had particular blood tests to do with rabies," Zoe explains. "This was being done in New York, which was now closed. So trying to get anything like that done was extremely difficult." View this post on Instagram Pip travel update: It’s now all on track for flight #3! This is the long one LA to Auckland. After some hiccups with official paperwork Pip has now been successfully processed by the great team at Jetpets in Los Angeles who have been cuddling and walking her during her last day on American soil. @insteinbergram @staceyhopegreen @mhyoung83 and I are on tender-hooks.... She was bumped from one flight to Auckland this afternoon but reconfirmed shortly thereafter on another AirNZ flight which leaves an hour later (who knew there were so many flights going to New Zealand tonight!) Now she’s been checked by the USDA govt vet, accepted by LAX airport and her crate sealed for export 😳 She has a long road now ahead as she waits nearly 4 hours to fly at 10.30pm local time. Flight time is then 13 hours so this will be tough for her, here’s hoping she will sleep most of the way. #goodgirl #cmonhomepip #keepgoing #heregirl #travelingpup #airNZ #aucklandbound #seenz #laflight #aircargo #weinerdog #doxie #dachshund #minidachshund #noplansjustoptions A post shared by No Plans Just Options (@noplans.justoptions) on Jul 21, 2020 at 8:24pm PDT × The family was finally able to conclude the needed paperwork and was excited to meet their dog, but Qantas, the air carrier, announced that the company won't be flying dogs to the country. With limited options and red-tape limitations, Zoe turned towards social media and posted a message looki ng for people flying east to west coast in the US to help the family out. Upon reading the post, Melissa Young, who works for dog rescue foundation The Sparky Foundation, stepped in and helped Pip flew from Greensboro to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then from Charlotte to Los Angeles with Pip under her seat. From there, Pip travelled solo from Los Angeles to Auckland through Jetpets. Upon reaching Auckland, Pip was quarantined for a night and was flown out to Melbourne the next day, where she was quarantined for 10 days, as per the rules of the state. View this post on Instagram 🇺🇸 Flight #2 Charlotte to LA - nailed it! Not a squeak from Pipsqueak, now enjoying the amenities and luxury of #aloftelsegundo with kind human, dog whisperer and travel buddy @mhyoung83 prior to her booking with #jetpets in LA tomorrow. Sleep well, Pip. Two flights in, three flights and 14 days to go until you’re back in Sydney! #travelpet #worldtraveleddog #cmonpip #headedhome #aussiebound🇦🇺 #wellbehavedpets #weinerdog #dachshund #doxie #dachshundsofinstagram #flyingsausage #lax #lababy #noplansjustoptions A post shared by No Plans Just Options (@noplans.justoptions) on Jul 19, 2020 at 6:00pm PDT × The family was getting excited to meet their part of the 'crew', but problems increased when the state of Victoria imposed a strict lockdown and the borders between Victoria and New South Wales were closed. Pip was then taken by Zoe's brother, who resides in Melbourne. However, Pip's social media popularity came to her rescue as Virgin Australia contacteed the family and agreed to fly Pip home. "Our greatest fear was that she wouldn't remember us after all that time. My kids were so worried that they got a hotdog and rubbed it on their hands. And then this tiny dog walks out through the hangar, strutting along. When she heard our voices, she came barreling into our arms. It was absolutely amazing to have her back after all that time," Zoe said. "I'm conscious that she's a dog, but we think of ourselves as a bit of a crew," said Zoe. "Living on a boat you really have to work together. And even though she just lazed about and didn't really do anything, we still consider her a member of our crew." The family has now put their docked yacht, called No Plans Just Options, on market for sale. However, the family hopes to sail again soon. "It's been a really lovely story to be a part of. Especially during a pretty horrific time in the world for most people," Zoe said.

Dog travels from South Carolina to Australia to re-unite with owners

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