Fly Casper Home

Mission accomplished! To get Casper from Oz to Vancouver

Mission accomplished! To get Casper from Oz to Vancouver

Maybe Pigs CAN fly!
Blind and deaf guinea pig battles bureaucracy to fly from Oz to Vancouver

UPDATE! Casper flew to Canada in October 2009, travelling over 18,100 km!

I'm a Canadian currently living in Port Hedland, Western Australia, and I'd like to move back to Canada with my deaf/blind guinea pig Casper. This is not as simple as you would think it would be in 2009! I have been trying to do this for over a year now, and have encountered a tangled web of bureaucracy between airlines and the Australian Civil Aviation Authority that has made it impossible for my pet to travel safely with me.

Australia, Canada and the US have have no objection to the export/import of my guinea pig. The issue is with what my guinea pig needs to survive a possible 17 hours in her crate during transport. Guinea pigs have a digestive system similar to rabbits - they need to eat frequently and because of this, are not required to have food withheld before surgery like other animals.
Some guinea pigs, like mine, do not drink water at all, but receive all their water from fresh vegetables and grass.

Australian Civil Aviation Authority rules restrict the carriage of animals in the cabin of commercial and private airlines: all animals must now fly in cargo. Because of the length of the trip from Sydney to Vancouver, I must fly through Hawaii to ensure Casper's safety. If she was allowed in the cabin with me, with veggies identical to the salad I'd be eating in flight, this would be the ideal way to transport my pet.

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Rare ‘lethal white’ guinea pig needs flight from Oz to Canada

Casper is no ordinary guinea pig. Born blind, deaf and with severe dental issues, she is only one of a handful of living ‘lethal white’ guinea pigs in the world: most lethal whites die within hours of birth, hence the name. A true survivor at a year and half old, Casper may live another five years. And she needs a flight halfway across the world.

Now that her Canadian owner is moving from Perth, Western Australia back to Vancouver, Canada, Casper needs a ride on board a plane--not in cargo, which is the only way commercial flights will accept her--in order to survive the transpacific trip. As Casper gets all her water from fresh vegetables and hand-feedings, she wouldn't survive the flight from Sydney to Vancouver.

“Casper is very special,” says her owner Jenn Ladd, “and not just because she’s beaten the odds to survive. I consider her the ‘Helen Keller’ of guinea pigs for her amazing ability to not only enjoy her life immensely, but to be able to communicate with me. Lethal whites tend to be very affectionate and cuddly, so she spends a lot of time on my lap. She nibbles on my finger when she needs to use her litter box. Even though she’s profoundly deaf, she makes all the right guinea pig noises at the right times.

“I’m like Helen Keller’s companion, Anne Sullivan, which is why re-homing Casper isn’t an option. She’s fed a pellet mush four times a day through a syringe, and her veggies are cut up in to thin narrow strips in order for her to slurp them up like spaghetti, as she can’t take bites. I’ve tried to have other people feed her but she just won’t eat for anyone but me.”

“I've asked all the commercial airlines that fly out of Australia if they will consider allowing Casper on board in her small crate but none will. She’s only 950 grams, and travels in a small cat carrier that fits under an airline seat,” says Jenn. “My hope is that a commercial airline will make an exception, or a private airline can make space on board for me and Casper. If I were Richard Branson, it wouldn’t be difficult to get Casper to Canada, but I’m just an ordinary person with an extraordinary pet.”

Lethal whites are the result of poor breeding practices by those who do not realize that crossing certain colours of guinea pigs (roans, dalmations etc.) could produce these severely disabled babies.

BEST guinea pig website/forum: www.guinealynx.com