Helping Ukrainian Asylum Seekers With Pets Entering The U.S.

      Ukrainian people are deeply devoted to their pets. When they flee and become refugees, they take their pets with them.

     Elena shared an incredible story with me yesterday. Ukrainian refugees seeking political asylum in the U.S. make their way to Mexico. They need to have money to pay for plane flights from European cities like Warsaw, etc. They take their dogs and cats with them on the airplane. Elena once had to transport a dog from Argentina to San Francisco. It was a very involved and expensive process including buying a cage, getting vaccination certificates, etc.

     After these Ukrainian people spend all this money and take all this effort, they arrive in Mexico. They come to the US border. They encounter a final almost insurmountable obstacle. U.S. immigration authorities will not allow their dogs and cats entry into the U.S. because Ukraine is on a blacklist for high numbers of rabies cases. Most asylum seekers decline to enter the U.S. without their pets.

    Some intrepid U.S. citizens have stepped up and come to the aid of these asylum seekers. Volunteers cross into Mexico. They take Ukrainian pets back across the border. They tell immigration officials that the animals are theirs. They took them over to Mexico with them.

    When bad things happen, some good people stand up and do the right thing.