Help Dash and Nevi Reunite with Their Family

Hi everyone,

I'm Kae and I'm reaching out for help to get my 2 furbabies, Dash and Nevada, home to us. I hate being this vulnerable and asking for help, as I'm usually the helper, but I need to get my pups as soon as possible.

I recently immigrated to the US from Jamaica and had to leave my dogs behind temporarily due to finances plus I had not heard back from the broker/third party agent in time for travel and my wedding was days away. I had to make the decision of either leaving and sending for them after a few weeks or postponing my wedding and waiting to hear back from the broker (who said they were waiting on the airline's response). It was one of the hardest decisions to make as I've had to leave them once before, on a 3 month work trip, and the neighbour caring for them used the funds sent otherwise and had them in an unsanitary situation where one of the pups ended up passing from parvovirus before I made it home. This time around, I asked someone I considered a friend to pet-sit until I could arrange for their flight post-winter and we agreed on them coming up in March/April 2025 or sooner if funds allowed. Due to recently immigrating, I have been unable to start working until I receive my work authorization. As such, financially the load has been on my husband with covering bills, immigration costs and other home expenses plus sending money back to Jamaica towards pet care. So we decided to slowly put aside what funds we could and get them after winter so the temperature change wouldn't be a big shock.

Dash and Nevada are from a family of street dogs that I've been feeding and taking care of over the years. I took in both pups 2 years apart, and rehomed their siblings too, so they'd have a chance at a better life. They've been by my side since then, with every move, and were the reasons I kept going a lot of times because who is going to love and take care of my crew like I do? I jokingly call them my "pedigree mutts" because even though they were initially just street dogs, I've always taken the best care of them and given them a comfortable life. You can see that they're well-loved and were taken of.

Dash loves to lay down like a distinguished gentleman with his front paws crossed or curl into my lap, and sometimes will only eat if I hold his dish in my hand, up to his face, instead of putting his dish on the floor or if I handfeed him. Nevada is very opinionated and loves to talk back as if she's part Husky and sleeps in the weirdest positions. They're the sweetest, dopiest, most protective dogs who love being loved on, as that's all they've known from me.

I regret not being able to bring them up at the same time I left or being able to send for them immediately but I thought they were in good hands. My husband has been sending money towards them every fortnight for food as well as towards the caregiver for keeping them but from pictures received January 6th, they are not being fed and I don't know where the money being sent was going to. Both Dash and Nevi have lost visible weight, as you can see from the pictures when I left a few weeks ago vs the ones this week, and look malnourished and stressed. I was still trying to wait it out due to budgeted funds and no-one else to keep them, plus a boarding facility would be more expensive, but was asked when I'll be sending for them on Wednesday as Dash had escaped. Instead of searching for him or trying to lure him in with food, he was left outside in a strange place for over 12 hours where anything could have happened.

It hurts knowing I'm in a whole different country and can't just up and leave to get my dogs. It hurts knowing that this is someone who knew what happened the last time I had someone watch my pups, and swore they'd never do the same because they know how much my dogs mean to me. It hurts knowing my dogs are being neglected by someone I trusted, who we've been sending money to care for them. Someone I've helped out when they needed without expectations of repayment. I know now that she has personal issues she is dealing with but that's no reason to take away from the pets she was entrusted with or to take out her frustration on them by neglecting them. I just want them home, here with us, so I can sleep at night knowing where they are and can finally stop worrying that I'll get a message saying one of them has passed.

I'm trying to raise enough funds to get both into the country ASAP (almost USD500 each), clear customs (Google says fee ranges from 400 to 1000 USD) and to go pick them up (1000-1500 USD depending on how we get them home). We're in Iowa and the airline we're going with, Caribbean Airlines, says they only ship pets as cargo to JFK (New York) or MIA (Florida). We were hoping to get them to CID (Iowa) or even ORD (Chicago), which would be closer, so we'll either have to rent a vehicle and drive to Miami for them or find a shipper in the US to get them to Iowa from Miami once they arrive, adding to expenses.

I know a lot of us are going through tough times too but every little helps. If you can donate, please do. If you can't donate but can share, please share and ask others to share or donate. Please help us get reunited with the rest of our crew.

Kae, DJ, Derek (+ Dashnikovich and Nevada)

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