Natasha Hrytsenko, a lifelong resident of Ukraine, had always dreamed of having a fluffy white dog. When she first started working, Ms. Hrytsenko, now 30, used her first two paychecks to buy a purebred mini Maltese puppy. She brought Eddie home to the Kiev apartment she shared with her older sister.
Eight years later, when their country was engulfed by war and they decided to flee, Ms. Hrytsenko recalls telling her sister: “I can leave my best clothes, my favorite bags and even my cell phone. But I will never leave Eddie behind.”
The couple made their way to Poland, then Germany, then Portugal, and finally the United States, where they had friends in Virginia. The little dog traveled with them, tucked under their arms or perched on their laps.
The sisters made it as far as Tijuana, the Mexican city on California’s southern border, before hearing the news that stopped them abruptly: dogs from Ukraine, in most cases, were not allowed into the United States. In Mexico, some people have had to abandon their pets due to federal health regulations.
“I would rather go back to Europe,” Ms. Hrytsenko told her sister.
Among the thousands of Ukrainians queuing at the southern border since the Russian invasion, the past few weeks have been marked by a painful loss: homes, loved ones, jobs, the quiet comfort of familiar neighborhoods. For those who managed to take a beloved pet with them on their journey into an uncertain future, the border lockdown proved devastating.
“He’s everything to us,” said Ms. Hrytsenko’s sister Ira, 31, of the dog.
“The number of dogs here has been growing by the day,” said Victoria Pindrik, a volunteer with the Save Ukraine Relief Fund, which works with Ukrainian refugees trying to enter the United States. “Dogs were sent back to us.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bans dogs from entering the United States if they’ve been to one of about 50 “high-risk” countries in the past six months.
At the crowded border crossing in Tijuana, where a special pedestrian walkway was opened to quickly clear Ukrainian refugees, customs and border protection officials first let a number of pets into the country, volunteers working at the border said. But recently pets from Ukraine are not allowed.
The Hrytsenko sisters took steps immediately after leaving Ukraine to ensure their dog was prepared for international travel.
Volunteer vets gave Eddie his first rabies shot in Poland and his second in Germany, where the vets also vaccinated him against parasites, implanted a microchip in his throat and gave him papers and an international ID card to ensure he could travel.
The sisters planned to travel to the United States via Mexico, a detour taken by thousands of refugees due to delays in establishing a legal pipeline for Ukrainians to enter the United States. Since Mexico does not require a visa, refugees could fly into Mexico and apply for humanitarian admission at the US land border.
The sisters easily boarded a flight from Lisbon to Mexico, their suitcases stuffed with cans of Newman’s Own organic chicken dog food. Eddie came along in a small portable van.
After landing in Cancun last week, a pet inspector at the airport checked her papers and examined Eddie from head to toe. He presented an official document with a stamp certifying the dog’s good health. The sisters flew to Tijuana on Sunday.
There they joined hundreds of Ukrainians waiting their turn to cross the border. In no time at all, Eddie was hopping happily across the mats that lined a large gymnasium that had been converted into a massive refugee dormitory.
“We were confident and trusted that everything was fine,” Ira recalled. “Then we suddenly heard that you can’t cross the border with your dog.”
After traveling more than 6,000 miles across four international borders, this barrier appeared to be the most formidable. They considered reversing their steps.
The temporary suspension of allowing animals from “high-risk” countries for rabies was posted on the CDC’s website in July, and the agency said in a statement Thursday that the regulation remained in effect. It said it issued a number of dog permits for people arriving from Ukraine with their pets. “We are working with NGOs in Mexico and the US along the border to ensure that people arriving with their dogs from Ukraine meet immigration requirements before entering the US or that they have a safe place to go which allows them to quarantine dogs when they arrive and do not meet CDC entry requirements,” the agency said.
updated
Apr 14, 2022 3:04pm ET
Among the Ukrainians who managed to cross the border with their pet before enforcement of the rabies ban appeared to be stepped up was Anastasiia Derezenko, who crossed the border after spending a few nights in Tijuana with her husband and two children. They entered the United States with their mini Maltese, Luka, last week, she said, after visiting a Mexican veterinarian who gave them the necessary paperwork.
“When the American immigration police took us away, we had Luka in our arms. Everything was very, very fine.” Ms. Derezenko said of Portland, Oregon, where her family lives with friends. Luka, she said, who is 6 months old, has become fast friends with her hosts’ puppies.
“He came with us all the way from Brovary, and it was a very difficult journey,” she said, referring to the Ukrainian city east of Kyiv.
More recent arrivals, like the Hrytsenko sisters, have been warned not to even try to enter the United States with their pets.
For the sisters, it seemed like an impossible barrier. Then they learned there was a temporary fix: Mexico isn’t on the CDC’s rabies list, and Americans bringing dogs from that country are unlikely to be screened at the US border. In fact, Americans traveling with dogs from a low-risk or rabies-free country are not even required to provide a rabies vaccination card or special permit.
A few days ago, American animal lovers started bringing dogs from Ukrainians across the border themselves. Several dozen Ukrainian pets, mainly dogs but also cats, have already made their way to California with American help. The Hrytsenko sisters were looking for someone willing to take Eddie with them.
On Tuesday night, they were informed that number 3748, their assigned number in line, was to join a group at the border checkpoint, where the sisters would be escorted to California for processing by US authorities.
At first they were excited. Her month-long odyssey was coming to an end.
Then they learned that there wasn’t an American to take Eddie over until the next day.
Russia-Ukraine War: Key Developments
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A blow to the Russian armed forces. The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet suffered catastrophic damage that forced the crew to abandon her. Russia said fire caused the damage, although Ukraine claimed missiles hit the ship.
A boost for NATO. Finland and Sweden are considering applying for membership of the alliance. Dmitry A. Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister, said Moscow would be forced to “seriously strengthen” its defenses in the Baltics if the two countries joined.
“We are torn to pieces,” said Natascha. “We didn’t want to leave Eddie alone overnight. We never left him alone. He’s really bonded to us.”
They postponed their passage to the United States until the following morning after being assured Eddie would be delivered to them shortly thereafter.
Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, they placed Eddie in his white and gray box near the gym, where they were told he would be picked up.
The dog started gnawing at the slots and the door of the box, Natasha recalled, saying that she was overcome with guilt. Both sisters started crying.
“You can’t explain to a dog that everything will be fine,” Natasha said.
After immigrating to the United States, the couple joined a fellow Kyiv resident, Liuba Pavlenko, another dog owner the sisters had bonded with in Tijuana. Ms. Pavlenko and her two children were waiting at a hotel in San Ysidro, near San Diego, for her Chihuahua, Maya, to be brought from Mexico.
“I’m sorry that Maya and Eddie are refugees and had to endure this journey,” Ira said when they met at the hotel.
Families became more restless as the day progressed.
“I’m getting impatient,” Natasha said. It was after 3 pm, more than five hours since they had left Eddie in the box.
Then her phone rang with live video from the border showing Eddie being carried to the port of entry into the United States. They peered at the screen, trying to see how their dog was holding up.
“Oh my god, he’s aged,” Natasha said.
“Look at him. He’s probably thirsty. He hasn’t eaten,” her sister said.
About 45 minutes later, both dogs were reunited with their owners, who smothered them with hugs and kisses.
Then it was bath time.
Natasha scrubbed Eddie clean in the tub with the special white-on-white shampoo she had packed in her one suitcase along with the organic pet food.
Only then were they ready for the last leg of their journey – to Virginia, where their friends were waiting for them.
What happens next for Ukrainian dog owners in Tijuana is unclear. Ms Pindrik, the Save Ukraine Relief Fund volunteer, said a local animal shelter agreed to look for a way to help pet owners. New immigration rules are expected in the coming days, allowing Ukrainians to fly direct to the United States, where they could face similar hurdles at airports until the CDC updates its guidelines.
All that mattered to the Hrytsenkos was that Eddie had made it. They ordered an Uber and made their way to the airport five hours before their flight departure.
Ira said it’s better to be early than to face problems that they don’t have time to solve. “We don’t want to take any chances if Eddie doesn’t get on the plane.”
Mark Abramson contributed reporting.