Our last trip to Kiev was probably our most difficult one. Not because we had to spend a lot of time and effort to prepare all veterinary certificates, to find and book the most suitable flight for our dogs, to find and select proper sized vari-kennels, to have the dogs measured and weighed at the cargo terminal prior to the actual flight, to spend a whole lot of money, etc, as everyone we contacted in Dubai – veterinarians, air company representatives, customs officers and export section employees of the Dubai airport cargo terminal went out of their way to fully assist and help us.
Since Aihime and Kansai each weighed more than 32 kg in their vari-kennels we were not allowed to check them on board in the passenger terminal. We had to transport them as life cargo through the cargo terminal. And obviously we worried, but in the end everything went pretty smoothly there.
Our nightmare started the moment we arrived in Kiev . Customs clearance there took no less than 8 hours. And we were not even allowed to take our dogs for a short walk, let alone have them make their toilet, or simply give them some water and food.
To clear your dogs through customs in the cargo terminal of Boryspil International Airport you undoubtedly need to have a degree from the Customs Academy of Ukraine to be able to understand all particulars and procedures related to life animals clearance. I actually think that most of the customs inspectors who work there never attended said academy as most of them did not have a clue of what they were doing or what they were supposed to do. And we faced the same difficulties when we sent our dogs back after the show.
Strange as it may seem, but in Emirates – a Muslim country, where dogs are not part of the culture – people did whatever they could to make the trip as comfortable and easy as possible for our dogs, while in Ukraine, where almost every family household has a dog and where dogs are simply part of society, the customs inspectors only showed blatant indifference and even cruelty towards our dogs, who were only considered cargo. (Read more in our letter to UKU Vice-president Mr. Sergei Slukin…)
In spite of all those difficulties Hachimantai kennel got three more champions!
December 13, 2008 - “Kievskaya Rus” International Dog Show with FCI-CACIB award, judge Zvi Kupferberg ( Israel )
(male) Junior Ch. of Ukraine, Ch. of Ukraine, Ch. of Russia Kadzuko Ju Go Royal Nippon Akitos (breeder Yossi Rotshild, Israel) got CAC, CACIB, BOB (Kadzuko arrived from Donetsk with his handler Alexandra Yavorskaya)
(male) Mikunihomare Go Kagano Yaoya (Kansai) (breeder Shigeki Abe , Japan ) won Intermedia class with flying colours and was awarded the САС title
(female) Aihime Go Seaside Nakagawa (breeder Jitaro Nakagawa , Japan ) was judged Best Bitch and was awarded the САС and CACIB titles.
December 14, 2008 - “Crystal Cup of Ukraine ” International Dog Show with FCI-CACIB award, judge Vyacheslav Verbitsky ( Belarus ).
Our three dogs marveled again and obtained exactly the same results as on December 13 and due to that:
(male) Junior Ch. of Ukraine , Ch. of Ukraine, Ch. of Russia Kadzuko Ju Go Royal Nippon Akitos (breeder Yossi Rotshild , Israel ) became Grand Champion of Ukraine
(male) Mikunihomare Go Kagano Yaoya (Kansai) (breeder Shigeki Abe , Japan ) became Champion of Ukraine
(female) Aihime Go Seaside Nakagawa (breeder Jitaro Nakagawa , Japan ) became Champion of Ukraine
No need to say we are very happy with those results.
On a last note, we would like to congratulate Mr. Onischenko, President of Ukrainian Kennel Union, and Mr. Slukin, UKU Vice-president for a perfect organisation and the high level of contestants they attracted to the shows. Those two days were truly big international events enjoyed by many Ukrainian cynologists and foreign guests.
