Ukraine: Won’t leave our pets behind: Indian students in Ukraine

The war between Russia and Ukraine has drastically affected Indian students studying in Ukraine. While some have moved to safety and some have been evacuated, many are still waiting for their turn to return to India. Rishabh Kaushik is one of them. An engineering student from the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, Rishabh wants to come back home to India safe, but not without his fur buddy Maliboo.
Rishabh’s story made news after he put out a post on social media seeking help with regards to an NOC for flying his pet dog out with him. His post came after making several calls to the Indian embassy and writing multiple emails to Animal Quarantine and Certification Station (AQCS) in Delhi. Rishabh informed us that he had presented all the documents of his pet to AQCS, but despite that, they kept asking for more documents. "My dog and I have been in distress for the past few days and amid such a crisis. All I wanted was an emergency NOC so that I could come to India with Maliboo and I would’ve easily submitted all the other documents required then," said Rishabh.

In this situation, PETA India wrote to Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, following which an office memorandum was issued by the ministry stating that “considering unique and extraordinary situations in war-hit Ukraine wherein pre-export requisite formalities for export of pets into India may not be fulfilled, the import of pet dogs and/or pet cats along with stranded Indians being rescued by the Government of India is being facilitated as a one-time relaxation measure”.
Upon hearing the update about the travel guidelines, Rishabh told us, "I am extremely happy and thankful for this update. After travelling for 20 hours by road, we have finally managed to reach Hungary and I am awaiting flight details now and am looking forward to returning to India with Maliboo."
Documents required for bringing your pet to India from a foreign country
-Health certificate from an accredited veterinarian which must be issued not more than 10 days of the flight date
-License issued by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
-No Objection Certificate issued by Animal Quarantine and Certificate Station (AQCS)
-All vaccination reports of the pet

Train your pet to understand obedience. Dogs should at least understand basic direction like “sit” and “stay.” In an emergency situation these cues could save your pet’s life.

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