We need help to reunite the animal members of our small family with us in Europe after our first attempt failed due to a travel permit not being issued during 2025's US government shutdown.
Annie (tabby and white cat), Ghost (grey kitty) and Buster (floofy white service dog) were rescued by Guillo some 10 years ago, and they miss each other very much.
--- The Background ---
Falling in love with someone 3,500 miles away is complicated, more or less by definition, especially if you're queer, but we (KG & Guillo) did it, complete with a trans-continental move, a marriage, and a mountain of permanent residency paperwork.
We got as far as having Buster booked onto our flight home in December 2025, in an attempt that we spent almost $2,000 on. But after a month of preparation, our vet was unable to get us a USDA travel certificate due to a government shutdown. We found out less than 12 hours before departure and had to scramble to make alternative arrangements.
That was two months ago. They're being well cared for by Guillo's mom, but it's painfully obvious how much they and Guillo miss each other, and looking after three animals is a big ask that becomes bigger the longer this all stretches on.
The vet has been kind enough to give us a partial credit for this, helping to reduce the amount we need to fundraise, but also increasing the urgency: we don't expect that they'll be able to hold this for us forever.
We know there are more important things in the world, but if you have a little money to spare to help to reunite three rescue animals with their forever person, we would be eternally grateful.
Despite doing our research, we've been taken aback by the seemingly endless extra costs and complications of moving one service dog (Buster) and two pet cats (Annie & Ghost) from the USA to their new home with us in France.
--- Introducing the beneficiaries of your generosity ---
In Guillo's words...
Buster is a 10-year-old Shih Tzu who loves bananas and hates the rain. A rescue from the Bronx, he hid underneath our car when we first brought him to New Jersey. He wouldn't come out for my other family members, but he did for me. Through many years of our helping one another, he's become my service dog as much as I am his service person. We ease each other's anxieties, and taking care of him helps me take better care of myself. I think he'd love prancing around in this rural environment... plus, I miss his bedtime cuddles!
Annie is a 12-year-old tabby and my first-ever cat, adopted from a litter of feral kittens. Her full name is Annabelle Leigh, an intentional misspelling of the Edgar Allen Poe poem, and she is indeed a princess. Out of all her toys, her favorite things to play with are hair ties and pizza stools. My lap feels empty without her conspicuous plopping...
Ghost is a 13-year-old korat I found while living in the Midwest. She was confined to a dark, tiny room by the folks that first had her... when they gave her to me, she wouldn't come out of my bedroom closet for two weeks. Now she lives in New Jersey, having come with me when I moved back home. She's still shy but is much less skittish overall, and she'll softly boop you with her paw when she wants pets.
--- Breaking down the costs ---
This is a frankly eye-watering amount of money to us, and if people are kind enough to help us out, you at least deserve a breakdown of the costs.
We already covered Buster's vaccinations, micro-chipping, and necessary veterinary care. We've also got part of the travel certificate fees banked with the vet after that administrative failure of our first attempt.
Now we're settled in Europe, we're doing extra work and putting aside money as fast as we can, but there's still a huge gap, and - as well as desperately missing our companions - we're worried both about how long the vet will maintain our credit and about the burden looking after three animals is putting on a family member who already has a lot on her plate.
The money stuff
Round trip for two humans, necessary to accompany 3 animals by air: $1100 - $1500
We'll pick the cheapest tickets possible, and we're hoping to avoid travelling in summer, which we haven't even taken into account here, as it's prohibitively expensive.
Accompanied flight to Europe for three animals: $300 - $450
Buster should travel free as a service animal, if G. is the person to travel with him, but it's uncertain how United will require us to arrange costs if we move all three animals at once, or if it'll be safe and sensible for G.
Exams & Health certificates for travel: $1500
A saving grace is that the vet says there's a way to use a shared certificate for all three, with just fresh exams required.
Ghost vet check + required vaccinations: $250
Annie vet check + required vaccinations: $250
We're in the process of getting these sorted right now, with the help of familia in the US.
Total estimated costs: $3400 - $4000
We're not asking for this much, because some of it is already paid for!
About $1,200 for the certificate is already in credit with the vet after USDA failed to get the certificate to them last time we tried - this credit is also the main reason for the urgency of this fundraiser.
We still need at least $2150, so that's what we're asking for, in the hope that the cheapest option for everything works out, and that we'll be able to put aside a decent amount from earnings to cover any unexpected eventualities.
Any extra will go towards unforeseen expenses, contingency funds and European pet passports for all three animals. If costs get wildly out of hand, we might have to adjust our goals and expectations.
As we'll be withdrawing funds to an EU bank account, we've rounded that to €2000 to take into account exchange rate fluctuations and fees. GoFundMe uses automated goal setting to gradually increase the donation amount - we'll see how that pans out, but it's started us with a more attainable €1000 goal.