A Day in the Life of a PetRelocation Coordinator

So, your pet is moving across the world (or country) and has decided to take you with them.  That’s great! But the pet portion of the move can often be far more time-consuming than anticipated. Luckily, that is exactly why PetRelocation is here. We have an experienced team of savvy consultants & shippers who are prepared to handle any obstacle that might pop up throughout the entire planning and pet-moving process.

Once you’ve entrusted us with your pet’s journey, you will be assigned to a dedicated Relocation Coordinator—your main point of contact throughout your move. Your Relocation Coordinator will wear many hats during this time with you, and you two will become very close while you navigate your move together.

So, what does a Relocation Coordinator do all day? It goes a little something like this:

Every Morning: Checking in on Pets in Transit

Each morning, your dedicated coordinator arrives at our office in hip East Austin. It’s likely that the night before, they were dreaming of the pets in transit who now need to be checked on. So, first thing first—we see how our furry friends are doing on their travels.

Often, we need to get in touch with an airline (or a few) to check on flight statuses. “Lufthansa is a great airline for getting awesome updates on pets traveling worldwide!” Kelcey, a senior coordinator, gushes. “They’ll send pictures and updates to us and the pet mom or dad, showing how their baby is doing”.

"This is a huge relief for the pet parent. Unlike your other family members, you can’t just text your pet to see how they’re doing. So, getting these updates to send to our clients is huge.”

That is huge! We love sharing these updates with pet parents each morning.

“Uh-oh”, Ananda, another coordinator who sits nearby, says. Well, that’s never a good way to start the day. “All flights out of Houston are being delayed or canceled this morning”. Uh oh, indeed! Houston is a huge port for all kinds of flights, both domestic & international, which means it’s likely that a few PetRelocation clients will be affected by the hiccup. 

But that’s okay because every relocation coordinator knows how to handle this. Everyone bands together to pinpoint whose flights need to be re-routed, who will need to be boarded or requires extra paperwork from their vets, and which pets need their move plans to be totally reworked.

“I couldn’t imagine,” Andrea, an international relocation coordinator says while sipping her morning coffee and looking over flight plans, “having to do something like this on your own. Can you? If you were trying to move across the world and then also trying to manage flight cancellations for your pets? I’m so happy we’re here to help, you know?”

Andrea’s so right. Many of our pet parents are already in their new home country when their pets are traveling. So, given the different countries, time zones, and language barriers, it’s a huge reassurance to know that people like Kelcey, Ananda, and Andrea are here to take care of their pets’ trips.

Early Afternoon: Responding to Clients & Kicking Off New Moves 

Now that the first unexpected hiccup of the day has been taken care of, everyone dives into their new projects and provides the support each client needs. Natalie, for instance, has an exciting new client to help. Natalie is our specialist for clients moving to and from the European Union & United Kingdom. Noticing a huge pile of paperwork on her desk, I ask what she’s working on.

“This family has 14 pets!” she exclaims. “12 cats and two dogs! I bet it’s overwhelming to move with that many furbabies.”

I can’t imagine! But that’s the exciting part of this role. Each team gets to dive into experiences we’ve never even imagined before. We get to learn all about the cultures of countries we may have never visited or even heard of previously and put ourselves in the shoes of a family so unlike our own—like this amazing client with 14 pets!

“Time to start on this vet pack,'' she says. The “vet pack” is a packet your relocation coordinator puts together for your veterinarian to use to guide the exit paperwork they’ll prepare for your pet to leave the country. This final paperwork is called a “health certificate,” and for some countries, it can be daunting to fill out.

“So, that’s 14 pets with each health certificate being five pages long. So that’s going to be… ummm…” She laughs, “That’s going to be a lot of paperwork! I’ll be sending this vet a short novel.”

“I’m sure they’re glad for the help. How do you stay organized?” I ask.

“Coffee,” she laughs. “Lots and lots of coffee”.

Locating pets halfway across the world, rerouting dozens of flights, and organizing lengthy veterinarian appointments for 14 pets. And that’s all before lunch! Time to take a break.

Taking Lunch and Swapping Stories

The break room is buzzing with updates from active moves and recaps of pet-and-owner reunions. There is truly never a dull day. Today alone, we are moving two Great Danes from Singapore to Australia, a horse from Atlanta to Seattle, and we just got an inquiry about moving a rabbit from California to Pakistan!

“We have never moved a rabbit from the U.S. to Pakistan, so that’s going to be a  puzzle to solve. But we can do it.” Kelcey says over her lunch from a local downtown Austin shop. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way! And I can’t imagine ever leaving my own pets behind. So, we’ll make it happen”.

Afternoons are for Booking, Vet Packs, and More

With our own pets freely wandering the office, everyone makes themselves at home to finish up the exciting work for the day. Every single one of us is a pet owner, so the office is never without a good boy or girl in need of a belly rub.

“Can I borrow Gracie?” asks Nina, our senior international relocation coordinator for Australia. “I’m trying to help a client pick the right travel kennel & she looks about the right size!” The travel kennel is very important. If your pet is going on a 10-hour flight, we certainly don’t want him or her cooped up in a kennel that’s too small. To ensure a comfy, cozy ride, it’s important to measure, re-measure, and try out different sizes. Luckily, we have a few models in the office who can help.

Now that we have a good recommendation for our client, we all head back to work. (Gracie feels like a celebrity.)

Looking down at my watch, I realize the day is almost behind us now. “Ananda,” I ask, “were you able to work out the Houston cancellations?”

Being the proactive superstar that she is, she lets me know that everything has either been re-routed through Dallas or rescheduled for tomorrow. “That’s great!” I say, amazed once again at how quickly and calmly our team can defuse what could be very stressful situations.

The day is winding down as everyone sends out their vet packs, checks on pets during their layovers, books flights, and wraps up the rest of their tasks. During this week alone, PetRelocation is bringing pets to their new home countries of Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, and more.

It may sound like a lot, and it is! Pet moves don’t always go pur-fectly, but in 2019 alone, PetRelocation and our amazing team of coordinators have safely reunited more than 1,000 families. It’s just another day in the life of a coordinator at PetRelocation!

Want to learn more about all of PetRelocation's fantastic relocation coordinators? Visit our team page!