A Professional Ground Pet Travel Service
Times have changed. So has the ground pet travel industry
One ground pet transport company found a unique niche business. Stories of our challenges and accomplishments while transporting pets🐈⬛
Desperation breeds ingenuity.
People have asked us how we started our ground pet transport business. We were desperate. Between 2003-2005 saw a massive housing crisis and decline in the economy. We were working in the moving industry as contractors, packing homes. What we called putting a home in a box. As professional packers we would get everything ready for movers to roll up with a moving truck and load the household effects. Twenty years of lugging paper packs, boxes up and down apartment complexes. Large homes with thousands of pounds of household goods, tight timelines to get the household items in a box. Well, over time that wanes on a person over time.
With the downturn on the economy and getting tired of heavy lifting, dirty houses. And just age taking a toll on our job we made a major decision to cancel our contracts with the moving companies and head in a completely different direction. Desperation of wanting to get our of what we were doing forces us to look for something new. After an all night bender on the computer, looking desperately for something new to make a living. I’m not a college graduate, just a simple woman wanting the freedom to work for myself. I have learned a few thing over the years, such as look for a product or service that is not provided. People will tell you what they need and want. Follow that and your business will always be a winner.
Looking for something new.
One long night on the computer I saw people looking for someone to drive their pets. With virtually no one responding to the request.
We had packed one client’s home, she had three Welsch corgis running around the house. At noon she gathered them up, off to the airport for the dogs to catch a flight to Florida. Her husband was in Florida waiting to receive the dogs. Once the house was packed and loaded she to would be driving to Florida. An hour after leaving the client storms into the house completely upset. On her heals were the three corgis. The ride for them was just a fun time out. Not realizing they were to be on a plane. The client spent the rest of the day looking for a professional pet transport company to move her pets by van, car anything with wheels. At that time there were no professional ground pet transport companies.
A NEW START
Sitting with a new van, a new idea blossomed, and just like that we started a moving company for pets. After seeing the issue that day in the clients home we had realized this really could be a thing. We searched the bidding board. At that time, the bid board was a big thing. I personally never wanted to move another heavy item, so, moving furniture was out of the question. There were pets on the board. Lots of pets needing moved. Back in the early 2000’s there were only four our companies. All of our companies started within six months of each other. Ground pet transport companies were far and few.
By this point we were running out of money. We decided to jump in with all feet. Our contract work was being given to employees of the company we contracted with. We plowed forward and bid on a few pets. Three accepted. two little dogs and a cat. Just like our other job we threw ourselves into this new venture with gusto. We purchased our first kennels needed for the trip and off we went to Florida to relocate our first pets.
Getting our feet wet.
OMG, we were so excited! Traveling and pets, how awesome of a job could this possibly be. I felt like we fell into heaven. We traveled to Florida to picked up two little dogs. then back up the coast to pickup the cat. Thinking this was all cookies and marshmallows Jill walked into the next house to load and bring a cat out to the van. I sat waiting for her. Good grief what was taking her so long. Almost an hour later she rolls out with paperwork, kennel and cat. She is bleeding from her hand and arm.
“What the hay happened to you?” I asked. Turns out the cat really didn’t like people, and really didn’t want to take a ride. That was our first time into realizing transporting pets might not be as easy as we expected.
Reality of traveling with pets
We stopped for dinner on one of such trips. Exhausted, we just needed to get out of the van for a few moments for ourselves. It was one of those trips we had learned that traveling with pets was not all bubble gum and marshmallows. It was a trip with cats. Lots of cats. All crying though the night. All wanting either a litter box to use. had used the litterbox and wanted it out, or they themselves wanted out of the kennel to wonder the van at night.
The waiter comes to take our order and commented on how tired we looked, and asked if we were truckers. No, we said. We were pet transporters. What? The waitress said. Well we move pets Jill went on to explain. OMG! That is so cool I’ve never heard of people moving pets. You all have the greatest job.
Sure. We both said. Until you get two hours of sleep for the night.
How times have changed
That was 20 plus years ago. We laugh about it now. There we were heading up the highway with three little kennels in this great big van. Scratched, bleeding, we trundled up the highway causally getting these three little ones to their new homes. The feelings we had once we delivered the last pet is hard to explain. We were full of awe, relief, excited, we thought we were the shizzle.
So here we are twenty plus years later, a professional ground pet transport service. Turns out it was a thing. So much has changed in the ground pet transport industry. There are hundreds of pet transporter listed though out the world wide web. That’s ok, we know our business inside and out. We know the numbers and what it takes to keep pets safe.
Now follow my blog as I share our challenges, heartbreaks, frustrations, and accomplishments in becoming your pets favorite ride.