Thursday, January 27, 2011

QLD Floods- Dog Rescue

Devastation and heartache.  – Two things that come to mind when thinking about the floods that engulfed a vast majority of Queensland this month. Many people lost everything, houses, loved ones and even pets.

In Central Queensland lies a town called Rolleston, In between Emerald and Roma. This town was devastated by floods, one property owned by local resident Max Mayne was completely washed out by water. He lost millions of dollars in crops and machinery and not to mention years of hard work.  The place is still underwater.

As many of you would understand, when a natural disaster like this occurs many resources become unavailable . Aviation fuel is one of those things; this was not given to civilans and was a very precious resource as many people require the assistance of helicopters to escape the floods.

A popular family in the area recently experienced a heartbreaking accident that took the life of their beloved family member. Then the floods hit. Luckily they all managed to evacuate the property before it was too late but sadly had to leave the family dogs behind.

All the roads out to the property were completely underwater or washed away and they only way out there was by helicopter. This is where the kind hearted Max Mayne comes in; along with the help of others he offered his services and helicopter to rescue these dogs.

They flew out to the property, fed the dogs, then put them in the sides of the helicopter. The pictures below show the process they went through to ensure the animals safety. 








Amongst the devastation there is always people who will put others first, even when you’ve lost so much to continue to help others, save lives and help deliver necessary supplies to those who need them the most shows the true meaning of an Australian hero.

** A special thank you to Louise Salmon who provided us with the background and photos to this story.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Jetpets domestic travel process

The Jetpets travel process

Taking the initial step of deciding to fly your pet can be very daunting but at Jetpets your pet is our biggest priority. We take the step by step journey that your pet would go through if they fly with us.

We are following the journey of one very adorable Bichon Frise, Charlie, who has a sad story. Charlie’s owner was an older gentleman who for the last couple of months had been in and out of hospital. The lovely people at Bayside Pet Resort had been taking care of him. Unfortunately Charlie’s owner passed away. Luckily, Charlie has been relocated to a family member in Sydney.

The first step in travelling with Jetpets is to give us a call. Our caring consultations will be more than happy to answer any questions you have and book your pet in to travel. If you are having your pet picked up from your house one of our coordinators will organise the time, driver and crate to collect the pet.

I was fortunate enough to go out with one of our Melbourne drivers, Dave. After an early morning start we got on the road and headed out to the other side of Melbourne where Charlie was located. We did a couple of pick ups along the way.

We reached the small suburb of Bangholme where the Bayside Pet Resort is located. A very excited Charlie bounded out on his lead; this white bundle of joy was so excited. 

 Firstly Dave lines the crates with newspaper, fills up a small water bowl, then the pets and owners say goodbye, have a cuddle and then they are loaded into the crate.

Once Charlie was secured in his crate, Dave loaded him into the Jetpets van, Charlie had a little bit of a cry but once we started driving he relaxed and was settled in his crate.

Depending on where your pet is going and what time some pets come to our transit lounge to wait for the flight in comfort. All the dogs are taken out of their crates and one of the drivers will take them for a walk and then back to the transit lounge to wait for their flight.

Charlie’s flight wasn’t too far away so Dave and I drove Charlie straight to the Toll Freight building, which is the freight company that is associated with Virgin Blue. When we arrived at the freight terminal Dave gets Charlie out of his crate and takes him for a walk and makes sure he has a little drink, toilet break and to stretch his legs.



 After Charlie has been walked he is loaded back into his crate, weighed and passed over to the lovely staff at Virgin Blue.

 Once all the pets have arrived for the flight, they are all put onto the barrows and are taken out to the tarmac. From there they are loaded onto the plane just like the luggage (only handled with a lot more care!) They go up a conveyor belt and into the freight holding area underneath the plane. The pet section is pressurised so they experience the flight just like humans. 
This is the Virgin Blue plane Charlie flew on.





Once the flight is over, the same process at the freight terminal is repeated- The pets are put onto the conveyor belt and then onto a barrow and taken into the freight terminal. At this point pets can be collected from here, otherwise a Jetpets driver will be waiting to collect them and they can either go to one of our depots (Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane) or we will deliver them straight to your door!
Charlie was being delivered straight to his new home where his new life begins! 


This is Charlie once he arrived in Sydney  

 A special thank you to Dave our driver for allowing me to write this blog as well as our Melbourne and Sydney coordinators Mick and Jeremy for organising and taking pictures!