Owning a pet is a full time (beautiful & rewarding) job. My current flatmates are two very adorable rescued felines and together we maintain a peaceful and calm house. So when I recently rescued and fostered a stray puppy the peace in the house, was let’s say, slightly interrupted. I knew I couldn’t adopt the puppy so I immediately started looking for potential forever homes with a lot of help from my friends and the social media community. This was a challenge too but long story short, my sister and her husband decided to adopt Stella, the pup.
With this decision rose another challenge – how do I take Stella from Bombay to Delhi?
From what I had heard, travelling with pets by air usually means keeping them with the cargo which can be risky. So, that wasn’t an option. After asking around most people recommended taking the pup by train but I had to be in Delhi that night for my sister’s birthday so travelling by train wasn’t an option.
Then, I got in touch with one friend who had previously taken a rescued puppy on board an Air India flight. I followed her advice (listed below) and the guidelines listed on the Air India website and both the puppy & I were on board the flight to Delhi!
The Air India staff was so helpful throughout my check-in experience at the airport – the entire process was seamless. The flight’s Captain has the last say in whether the pet is allowed on board and he sent his approval within 20 minutes!
Here are the steps:
- The pet must be carried in a crate
- The crate & pet shouldn’t weigh more than 5 kgs
- The crate should be lined with a moisture absorbent mat
- The pet must have received their rabies vaccine
- The puppy must have a fit-to-fly certificate (mine was given by the doctor the day of the flight)
- The pet must wear a muzzle
I also had to pay an additional charge of INR 2500 to bring Stella on board.
Overall, this experience was stress-free, super easy and the journey was made very comfortable thanks to the Air India staff.
Sahiba Chopra 