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Riley - a Staffy travelling from Vilnius to Zurich

Transporting animals internationally is a science on its own. Each country has rules, each airline restrictions and even airports have their own regulations.

ACE Pet Moving was hired to move Riley, a four year old male Staffordshire Terrier, from Vilnius in Lithuania to Lucerne in Switzerland. At first, this might sound just like any other pet move.

However, when you start looking into it, you will find that there aren't many airlines flying between Lithuania and Switzerland. And in most cases it is not allowed to move a dog flying as cargo from one airline to another (liability issues). The only option was moving the dog on Lufthansa via Frankfurt to Zurich.

This is when the airline requirement from Lufthansa on moving certain breeds applied. Moving a Staffordshire Terrier on Lufthansa is only allowed when using a special crate as per IATA Live Animal Regulation Container Requirement 82.

Normally wolfs, lynx species or hyenas require this type of travel crate, which has to be secured with metal parts and made of solid wood.

Since this type of crate was not available in Lithuania, we arranged to have one build and transported to Vilnius.

Once all was set, Riley was collected from the owner's place in Vilnius, transported to the airport and took the flight via Frankfurt to Zurich.

Upon arrival, everything was prepared to receive Riley and move through customs as quickly as possible. We took Riley for a walk, provided fresh water and delivered the happy boy to his owner in Lucerne.

Riley was a real cutie and really sweet. It's unfortunate that those breeds have such a bad reputation. The ACE Team has moved many so called "fighting breeds" and has only made great experiences.