KOCHI: While the state and Central governments are taking all measures to bring back the stranded expatriates, there is uncertainty over the travel of pet owners. With no quarantine facility in all four international airports in Kerala, pet owners, who have lost their jobs or whose visas have expired, are clueless on what to do with their pets. Already short of money, travelling with pets via other South Indian airports will only add to their woes, especially with little clarity on quarantine norms for them and pets.
Though the animal quarantine facility has been a long-standing demand of pet lovers, nothing concrete has happened so far. Kerala has got the maximum number of expatriate population and a large number of them have pets in their apartments abroad. Early this year, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had raised the issue before the union Civil Aviation Ministry officials. But, just when things were taking off in the right direction, Covid-19 struck.
“With the pandemic on, there has not been much progress on the implementation of animal quarantine in Trivandrum International Airport for the last two months,” told Tharoor to TNIE.The anguish being shared by pet lovers is how they will repatriate their pets back to Kerala when the four international airports, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Karipur and Kannur, lack animal quarantine facilities. They believe the wellbeing of their children is at stake, if they don’t bring their pets back to Kerala.
Indu Ratheesh, a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher based in Muscat, is planning to return to Thiruvananthapuram due to her husband’s health issues. She was planning to travel by early April when Covid-19 struck.“Sussu, a six-year-old Siamese cat, originally belonged to my parents. We got her at a time when my brother passed away, so there is a lot of emotional attachment. My parents had to move back to Thiruvananthapuram last year after my father suffered a stroke. So we planned to bring Sussu down in April and my mother would pick us from Chennai airport. But now, there are only uncertainties,” Indu told TNIE.
P M Laseelan, a software engineer based in Florida, is currently overstaying there as his visa has expired. With an eight-year-old Persian cat, Doodle, Kozhikode native Laseelan is apprehensive of what lies ahead for his four-legged friend.“My pet’s life is equally important to me. When I came to the US in 2015, I took the animal via Bengaluru International Airport. But now, there seems to be no immediate solution. I will have to ensure that he is taken care of by my friends in the US,” said Laseelan from Florida.
Jaison Mathai, who has been working with a leading automobile company in Muscat for 24 years, is returning for good to his hometown, Kottayam. But, he is in a dilemma over what to do with his two pets Momo, a four-year-old Arabian Mau, and Popy, a 12-year-old Persian female cat. Jaison is also the face of an animal welfare group, Tiger by the Tail, in Muscat.
“ With the economy crashing, I have no other option, but to return home. Fortunately, my friends at the NGO have promised to take care of my felines. But that would not be the case of other pet lovers. It is high time the authorities concerned address the issue,” said Jaison.Already, the expatriates are facing the heat with the hike in airfares. Pet lovers are forced to dump their pets at animal shelters where there is no guarantee that they will be cared for. Kerala is generally known to be animal hostile. Maria Jacob of People for Animals (PFA), Thiruvananthapuram chapter, had been relentlessly in pursuit for the quarantine facility for pets.
“It was bad luck that Covid-19 played spoilsport. Or else, we would have got the animal quarantine facility by June here. Hopefully, there would be light at the end of the tunnel”, said Maria Jacob.C V Ravindran, Airport Manager, told TNIE that Trivandrum airport is just a facilitator and there are no issues in bringing the facility for pet lovers.“There is no issue of space at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The issue has to be brought before the Airport Advisory Committee and in due course, the animal quarantine facility can be set up,” said Ravindran.
Protocols to bring pets from abroad