Supposedly, we’d prepared very well for bringing the girls here to Hawaii. It’s pretty complicated, and quite expensive, and with very rigid requirements. It didn’t go quite as planned.
First, Disa had a hot spot on her back that made the vet in Missouri refused to give her a health certificate. No one here could believe that — it’s not contagious, was small, being treated, etc. Oh, well, they’ll try again in 10 days and hope it’s cleared up by then. Still, what a pain in the ass.
Then, evidently the crew at the United Cargo facility in Kansas City was incompetent. Frank had grumbled at me while it was in progress, mentioning room temperature IQs and taking over two hours to complete the process of checking the two girls in, but I had assumed that at least they eventually got the stuff correct.
That was wildly incorrect. The paperwork was completely fucked up. Instead of a health certificate for each girl, they had two for Gaela, none for Stina, and instead of the original signed certificate, it was a copy. That’s unacceptable in Hawaii, who insists on an original, signed in blue ink. Oy.
Because of the time difference, everything in Missouri was closed, so it wasn’t like they could fax or email the right paperwork, and Hawaii wouldn’t accept faxed or emailed copies anyway.
The hardest part of all of this is that it was discovered with the girls in the crates, listening to me being questioned. So they spent 45 minutes crying and whining and wanting to get out and be with me, shaking and upset. It was miserable for all concerned, but mostly for them, and I felt so bad for them.
I was really worried that they wouldn’t release the girls to me, but it was finally decided that I could go to the vet here and have an exam for each and a new health certificate issued that Hawaii would accept.
So we rushed over to the vet’s office, waited around while they fit us into their busy schedule, paid the money for a very pro forma exam, and finally got onto the road to home.
The poor girls were so upset and confused. I stopped a few places along the way to let them at least stretch their legs, but all they would do was cling to me for a while.
They are so resilient, though. It’s only been a couple of days, and they are happy as can be. Still very clingy, but I’m okay with that. They are still very quiet — very few sounds at all, no barking. I’ve walked them around the farm quite a bit, they’ve met mongoose already and are on the job. This morning, I took them to Whittington Park, and they met the ocean. They would barely stay in and swim at all, and were far more interested in chasing mongoose trails and running.
I’m so glad they are here, and can’t wait for Disa to arrive. Maybe then we’ll get some happy video!