Hazel, Merlin and Jamie

“Petraveller genuinely cares about animals.”

Bushfire survivor Hazel and her Maine Coon sibling Merlin travelled from Sydney to Glasgow with Petraveller. Read to know more about Hazel and Merlin’s international pet relocation experience.

Ridgeback cross Kelpie Hazel is five years old. She became a part of Claire’s family when she was just seven weeks old. Claire saw the litter’s photo and fell in love with Hazel at first sight.

Merlin is a Maine Coon cross Ragdoll cat. Claire adopted Merlin after she lost four cats in the bush fires last November. Claire says, “He lived with a family with kids and two other cats, but they couldn’t look after him. Merlin rescued us as much as we rescued him.”

Hazel is an amazing dog who loves people, horses, chickens and cats. Claire says fondly, “Hazel is quite a character and is very much a part of the family. She is quite talkative and is completely spoilt! We tried crate training her as a puppy, she cried so much that we gave up. Since then, she has slept in bed with us.” She laughs and adds, “As you can imagine, it’s quite cramped with a 38-kilo dog and two large humans, never mind the cat.”

Claire smiles and shares, “When one of our other cats had kittens, Hazel took her job as Auntie Hazel very seriously. She watched over them when the mother went out, even allowing them to snuggle up with her.”

Hazel was attacked by dogs a couple of times as a puppy, which left her very nervous of small dogs. Claire says, “We lived on a small island where there were lots of people and dogs living close together. She’s been a lot better since we moved to the farm.”

Merlin is an extremely friendly and quirky kitty. Claire says, “He’s not a lap cat but will snuggle up beside you and purr loudly. If you pick him up, Merlin will fling off your shoulder. He is very talkative and enjoys going with us for long walks around the farm with the dog and the horses. He is good friends with Hazel and the horses and loves to chase after them.”

After living in Sydney for a long time, Claire and her family were moving back home to Glasgow, Scotland. Claire says, “In 2019, we decided to move up to Nambucca valley with five chickens, four cats and Hazel to a community farm. We were renovating an old shack and were about to buy into the land. Unfortunately, in November the bushfires hit, they came on so fast that we only managed to get out with the clothes we were wearing and Hazel.”

Claire adds, “Sadly all of our cats and chickens died in the fire, we were devastated. Luckily some kind people have lent us a bus, and we’re living on another farm. That’s when we adopted Merlin. We eventually decided to move back to Scotland to be close to family. Just when we were making our plans to leave, COVID-19 hit, and we’ve been delayed ever since.”

Claire and her partner Jamie were understandably anxious about the long-distance flight. Claire shares, “Hazel suffers from separation anxiety, and we’re concerned about how she’s going to react to this trip. But, after losing lots of animals in the fire, there was no way we could leave Hazel or Merlin behind.”

Claire decided to contact an international pet relocation company to handle Hazel and Merlin’s journey. She wanted her pets to have a comfortable and safe pet travel experience. She reached out to a few companies for quotes before choosing Petraveller. She says, “We got a few quotes and chose another pet transport company because they were cheaper. But they were not able to get the pets on a flight to Scotland, only till London. We reached out to Petraveller later because they seemed trustworthy and genuinely cared about animals.”

Hazel and Merlin made it safely to Glasgow and are now happily settled in their new home. Thank you, Claire, for trusting Petraveller with the relocation of your precious fur babies. We wish you good luck with the move and many incredible adventures with adorable Hazel and Merlin in Scotland.