We
arrived at Brussels cargo area too early so had to wait
around until the flight came in. The cargo area was like
an industrial site. Lots of warehoure type buildings with
numbers on them.
8.30am;
her flight was due in and we finally found the building
where we had to hand in her paperwork. The assistant there
couldn't find any record of her on the computer because
Delta's database was down. She asked for us to come back
in an hour as they were still unloaded the plane.
9.30am;
YES! She was on there. We were given more documents and
had to pay administration costs. Then we had to go to another
building where we would encounter the vet.
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10.00am;
the vet finally arrives. He takes the papers we have
for Cin and disappears for half an hour. 'I can't
allow her entry into the country because my microchip
scanner can't read her chip' her chip is AVID and
his scanner was for ISO. (Whatever that is). He said
he didn't know where to get such a scanner from and
perhaps we could call by an American military base
some 30 minute drive away.
Well
with this I burst into tears, she had come too far
for all of this to happen. I was breaking my heart,
so the vet said, 'hang on I will go and see if I can
locate such a scanner'... He came back, he couldn't....
but for this time he would close his eyes to it and
granted her entry into the country. I think my tears
clinched it. I asked how she was, she was fine they
had just cleaned up her.
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10.45am,We
were still not done and we had still not seen her. We then
had to go and find a building to pay more costs for the
an additional vet thing. That was a pain in the neck to
find. We couldn't find which of the 1000 rooms we had to
go and when we did find it we were sent to the lower floor
to pay at some pay station. Then we were given more papers
and told to go to customs to get the documents stamped.
11.05am
We get to customs and the person who had to deal with us
wasn't there. A que build up behind us. By the time he finally
showed up, 11.50am, I was like a raging bull.
11.55am.
We were sent to the cargo bay handed in the stamped papers
from the customs and then, one minute befor noon Cinnamon
came into our sight. All the stress of the pass few weeks
and the stress of the morning was gone. Cinnamon had come
home.
Tears
streaming down my face, I asked if we could take her
out of the crate, 'yes of course everything is done
now' was the reply. She was so quiet in her crate,
so sweet. We let her out and the emotions took the
better of us. Her food was still stuck on top of the
crate; they hadn't given it to her. Her water bowl
was dry.
We
left the cargo bay and walked to the car Jan took
her for a walk while I prepared some food and water
for her. She was hungry and thirsty but didn't seem
tired. I think she was relieved to have human interaction
again.
I
had baby wipes with me so I freshened her up wiping
her face and paws. We were ready to hit the road and
take this long awaited girl home.
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I
sat in the back of the car with her but after a few minutes
she was in the front, sitting on Laurent's lap. The whole
time Jan was talking to her and stroking her while he was
driving. We were hungry and pulled over at a restaurant.
She had more food and water and we took her into the restaurant
with us. She was quite the star in there and had the attention
of the waiter and waitresses. They brought her water and
a roast beef sandwich. I shared my food with her too, she
was so hungry. Everyone was looking and admiring her. Jan
was like the proud father. "This is my little girl".
He
is totally smitten. In the pictures you can see Jan
on the phone, he has a lot of friends, they were all
calling, "have you got her?” Everyone was
calling. AS we drove to his home he saw one of his
colleagues at the gas station, we had to do a detour
so he could show him.
She
is very smart, she likes chewy things. She hid one
in my bag. In the pictures you can see two types of
chewy treats. The light ones are 'dental sticks' and
the odd shaped dark things are tripe sticks. Smells
totally disgusting but the dogs love them. Well it
was one of those she put in my bag. Ewwwwwwwwwww
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We
got to his house and Jan wanted to introduce Tyson, I felt
uneasy about it, but I didn't have the fight in me to say
no. He got Tyson and tails wagged. I would say they were
both happy and seemed to like each other, but I did request
to Jan to take it slowly. So we went for a walk along the
canal, Jan lives in a village near to the beach. After about
5 minutes Cin wasn't interested in Tyson, I told Jan that
she was too tired too care. Jan understood.
Me,
I find her adorable. I feel she is an easy dog, extremely
sweet. I think that after she has rested properly that she
and Tyson will get on well. For about a minute they were
in a tight enclosed area and she and Tyson were licking
each others faces. They even shared the water bowl with
no problem at all.
We
went back to their home and Tyson wanted to play, Cin corrected
him, I knew this would happen she was just too tired. So
Jan separated them into different rooms. As we were leaving
Jan was going to go and take a nap and take Cin with him
on the bed.
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We
got home some time later and Jan called. He had tried
to have a nap but Cinnamon and Tyson were talking
to each other through the door. The kids came home
from school, the wife from work, and all lavished
attention on Cin which she loved. We could hear the
kids giggling in the background playing with Tyson
and Cinnamon. It seems that Tyson and Cinnamon are
getting along like a house on fire. Where she has
got the energy from, I have no idea. |
Cinnamon
has met a lot of people here already as Jan was eager to
show off his little girl, she behaved like a little darling.
Jan will walk over hot coals and broken glass to keep her
safe, protected and loved. He says he feels complete.
I
texted him a message asking if everything was ok. The reply
was 'more than ok'.
I'm very emotional
and keep crying, I can't believe we have done it!!! So many
people were involved in this.
Jan
would like to thank EVERYONE who has brought Cin home to
him.
I
will keep you updated with pictures, and you can follow
CIN'S
PICTURE GALLERY in the future on here...
Linz
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