Dog travels 10,000 miles to rejoin owners

(CNN) -A dog stranded in South Carolina traveled more than 10,000 miles to rejoin her owners in Australia during the pandemic, CNN reported.

In the height of the pandemic, Zoe and Guy Eilbeck and their sons had less than 48 hours to leave Hilton Head Island and fly to Australia.

According to CNN, Australia’s pet import rules meant that the Eilbeck’s had to leave their dog Pip behind.

Zoe said she knew arranging to take Pip back home would be a lengthy process due to Australia’s strict border regulations.

“I knew we’d have to import Pip and that she’d have to do 10 days quarantine,” Zoe tells CNN.

Zoe said on March 27, she hired a rental car and took an eight-hour drive to North Carolina and handed Pip over to her friend Lynn Williams before she flew back to Australia.

CNN reported Williams advertised for someone to replace her as Pip’s guardian as she was unable to.

Ellen Steinberg of North Carolina answered the ad to watch Pip.

“The deal was that Pip would decide who she would go to live with,” Steinberg tells CNN Travel. “We won the shootout, and Pip came a few days later.”

Zoe tried to find a way to come back to the U.S. to get Pip but said she soon realized the dog would have to make the journey alone due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“To export a dog from America, you need to get a U.S. declaration to say the dog is in good health and has had particular blood tests to do with rabies,” said Zoe.

CNN reported, Zoe discovered that she could import Pip if the family went through New Zealand and managed to get their dog on a flight from Los Angeles to Auckland.

5 months later, Pip finally arrived to Australia after quarantining and the family said they were excited to finally be reunited.

“When she heard our voices, she came barreling into our arms. It was absolutely amazing to have her back after all that time,” said Zoe.

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