Just a quick update.... what a nightmare few hours that was. I woke at 3am to check for an update. Flight was on time and they were about to be vet checked so all going to plan. However they then started querying Camilli's ownership of the dogs and were more or less accusing her of stealing them because the vaccination / pet passport was still in his name - but despite the transport company confirming all details this end etc etc... anyway cut a long story short, it was all bluff on their side because they didn't have a leg to stand on and Camilli's sister (thank goodness she had gone with her dad) threatened to call a solicitor and walked off and pretended she was on the phone.
Got back and the border guys made a deal - a bucket load of money and they can have the dogs. Far more than we were originally told but little anyone of us could do about it. Camilli's family didn't have that much cash on them (it was more than double what we were told) and they couldn't go to a cash point because it wouldn't have been safe to go on their own (not that time of night in that area) and they had to make sure that one of them remained with the animals otherwise the guys would have just shut the door behind them. Finally Camilli got hold of a friend who, a good few hours later, managed to get the necessary cash to them and then they were on their way.
I've been awake since 3am WhatsApp'ing with Camilli and she in turn with her family trying to figure a way out, but end result was that £400 had to change hands before the dogs were released. Good old bribery and corruption and nothing anyone can do about it
I have since received a few photo's from the dogs in their new home. They now have another canine friend who apparently is over the moon and totally excited to have friends; there is also a feline friend, but said cat is no where near as happy as the dog
. They can now run in and out the house and play in a large fenced garden to their hearts content, whereas whilst here in London they were limited to 3 walks a day as the house didn't have a garden. For the dogs, whilst probably not the most pleasant 24 hours in their life, this move has been so worth it - they'll be spoilt rotten and have all the space they could wish for. Camilli will miss them tremendously though.
Me? I'm glad they're there and no more worries about them