The couple, from Newport, South Wales, refused to leave Pebbles and have been stuck in San Jose ever since. Abbey, who runs a marketing firm with Hugh, said: ‘When they suggested we leave Pebbles behind, I thought they were joking.
‘We would never abandon her – she is a member of our family, she’s like our child. We are all in this together, and we won’t go home until we can all go together.
‘A few days after we arrived they closed the borders to foreigners, all the national parks, beaches and they put curfews in place.
For our Coronavirus live blog click here .INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Having a pet in the home can actually lower a child’s likelihood of developing related allergies by as much as 33 percent. Children exposed early on to animals tend to develop stronger immune systems overall.
‘We are lucky the owner of the Airbnb we are staying in has allowed us to stay for as long as we need and gave us a discount.’ The pair got Pebbles as a puppy in 2015, and have since taken her to 28 countries all over the world, including Mexico, Canada, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Lithuania, Spain, France Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria and Hungary. They left the UK on January 18 heading to Canada for a fortnight, then Mexico, planning to travel for two years all over the Americas.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Dogs that have been spayed or neutered live longer than dogs who are intact.
But after arriving in Costa Rica their trip was put on hold due to the virus outbreak.
Although they admit things for them could have been much worse, they are waiting for the lockdown to be lifted and either continue their travels or come back to the UK.
Abbey added: ‘We decided we wanted to travel long-term with Pebbles so we first did a test run in Europe to see how she coped.‘When we got home after our trip, at the end of October she was depressed to be back at home – she absolutely loved travelling.
‘She was just sitting bored, she didn’t want to do the same route on our walk every day so I was taking her with the car to different places to keep her occupied.
‘She loves swimming, she loves going to the beach, she likes getting dog treats from strangers.
‘If we didn’t have Pebbles we would have left before they closed the borders, we would have got one of the last flights to Europe.
‘Ideally if we can, we’d like to keep travelling, maybe not the original route we had in mind- we are thinking of the West coast of Canada.Meeting your new puppy, kitten or any other pet can be an exciting experience. Your pet, however, has some adjusting to do. New sights, smells and sounds can be overwhelming for the little guy and keeping a calm household is important.
‘If travel changes significantly and we won’t be able to travel freely, we’d choose to go back home.’
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