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Dec. 16, 2011
Hurdles to adopting a pet abroad
Israeli puppy makes the journey from Jerusalem to Houston, Tex.
FELICE FRIEDSON THE MEDIA LINE
A puppy born in Israel and abandoned in the streets of Jerusalem has completed his unlikely journey to a new home and new life in Houston, Tex., the final stop on a trek that began beneath the wheels of a tour bus that was parked in front of the hotel where Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Houston) and the tour group she and her husband brought to Israel were staying.
The dog’s cheerful welcome by Riddle and friends who first met the puppy in Israel culminated in an unlikely series of events that began before the Riddles even departed for their trip. The couple had debated whether Israel would be the right place to find a rescue dog and Riddle recalled the reaction of her husband, Mike, a Houston estate attorney, who thought he had settled the matter with his unqualified declaration, “No, no, no. We are not going to do that.”
Looking back, Riddle – an experienced politician now in her fifth legislative session in Austin – insisted with a grin that she didn’t go against her husband’s wishes at all because, “We didn’t really find him – he found us.”
An animal lover and horse breeder, Mike Riddle didn’t really stand a chance. The puppy was cowering beneath the wheels of the tour bus after being ejected from his home. “He was abandoned on the streets right in front of the hotel and he was going to die because he was under the bus. There were a lot of tour buses around and he would have been squished,” Debbie Riddle recalled. Besides, she added, “He immediately took to me.”
Hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats are abandoned each year on the streets of Jerusalem alone. A fortunate handful are adopted by foreign residents willing to go through the time and expense of enlisting organizations that handle the bureaucratic red tape involved in relocating animals – details far more complicated than having the animal vaccinated and brought on-board someone’s flight home.
Dr. Eytan Kreiner, chief executive officer of Terminals4Pets, the veterinarian who handled Golani’s arrangements, said that “the first thing to be done after determining that the animal is in good health is to determine what regulations in Israel and in the destination country apply.” Even though, Kreiner said, “you could see from the first moment ... that he’s physically in good shape ... he’s happy ... the only thing he wants is attention ... [and] to be around people,” it would be a month of vaccinations and examinations along with a trip to the Agriculture Ministry, before Golani would reach Houston.
“To fly a cat or dog from Israel to any place in the world can vary from $500 to about $1,500 or more, depending on length of time the animal needs to spend in Israel, vaccinations, crating, security, customs and transportation,” he added.
The Riddles are not alone. It’s not unusual for visitors to rescue one or more of the hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats abandoned in Israel and ship them home for a new life. Paula Nelson said that, over the past four years, she has flown seven cats home to West Virginia, three of which have become pets for her two daughters. “People are crazy,” said Nelson, who attributes the obsession with Israel’s strays as “Jerusalem fever.” Yet, she insisted, she and her husband “have very tender hearts.” But she discourages anyone from bringing back a pet they’re not willing to “take care of for life.”
For Riddle, however, that Golani was born in Israel was an important element in her decision to take him home, also evident in her selection of a name for the dog. In fact, Golani is mostly Canaani, a breed indigenous to Israel renowned for its search and rescue skills. Since part of the dog’s role with the Riddle family will relate to personal protection, the politician wanted a “tough” name. She named her puppy in tribute to one of the Israel Defence Forces’ elite infantry brigades, explaining that, “because he’s going to be a family pet, a member of the family and also a protector, I felt like the name Golani fit him very well. He is very handsome and terribly lovable. He has the instinct to protect but is lovable.”
Deborah Taylor was on a church trip to Israel when she found two kittens near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Afraid one would be trampled, she scooped up the kitten and placed it in her pocketbook. Her taxi driver led her to Kreiner to whom she paid $100 per kitten to insure placement off the streets. With two dogs and a cat back home, “my husband didn’t want me to bring more animals home.”
Chaya Beili, who manages the shelter at the Jerusalem Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where around 200 dogs and about 200 cats are boarded at any given time, attested to the overabundance of stray animals on the streets of the Israeli capital. She said, “We advise leaving cats on the streets as long as they are spayed. What’s the point of moving them to an environment they can’t handle? Dogs are a different story. Legally, they can’t live on the streets in Israel and, practically, it’s more difficult for them.” Beili receives more calls per month than she can accommodate.
“I just got a call from someone who found a puppy by the Qalandiya checkpoint [separating Jerusalem and Ramallah]. There’s no city responsible at the checkpoint. These puppies are usually strays belonging to Arab villages, where spraying and neutering is banned and dog food is barely heard of. We have at least 100 of these Canaani dogs.”
Israel is not the exclusive birthplace of animals America-bound. “In both Afghanistan and Iraq, American soldiers bond with street dogs and go to all measures to bring these animals home,” said to Kelley O’Meara, director of companion animals and engagement at Humane Society International. According to O’Meara, “Local groups are essential in expediting this complex process which, in the case of Afghanistan, can cost between three to four thousand dollars [per animal].”
Thirty-five days after their fortuitous meeting alongside the tour bus in front of the Olive Tree Hotel, Golani was brought to the cargo terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport, where Kreiner cleared the final red tape and the dog, now grown to a robust six and a half pounds, was placed aboard a lighted, pressurized area of a United-Continental Boeing 777 jet for his flight to Houston with a Newark stopover for customs clearance.
Meanwhile, back in Houston, inhabitants – human and otherwise – of the Riddle’s 16-acre horse farm anxiously awaited Golani’s arrival. At Houston’s George Bush International Airport, Golani was greeted by Riddle and some members of her tour group who had witnessed their fateful meeting in Jerusalem. It didn’t matter whether Golani recognized Riddle because he remembered her or he became familiar with the scent of the Riddles’ socks left in the dog’s crate. An onlooker would be hard-pressed to deny a bond already existed between owner and pet.
“He ended up the birthday present I wished for,” an emotional Riddle said by telephone after arriving home with Golani. “And Golani’s got duel citizenship: Israeli and Texan.”
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