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Graebel reunites family and pet following evacuation from Libya
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Graebel reunites family and pet following evacuation from Libya

Chris Binding

The Client

Major manufacturer and distributor of wiring accessories

 

The Challenge

During an emergency evacuation of all US citizens from Libya, an expatriate family made the very difficult decision to leave their family pet, a Yorkie named Chivu, with a neighbouring family. However, just days later they learned that the neighbour had left the dog with a local vet. Since the employee was working with Graebel for their relocation, the family contacted their Graebel consultant to find out if it would be possible to rescue Chivu.

 

Even though the Graebel representative was at the same time handling the unexpected relocation of the family to Cancun, Mexico, he did not lose track of this very important assignment.

 

Project Summary

Find, retrieve and deliver a family pet left behind by a client’s employee when the family left Libya during an emergency evacuation.

 

The Solution

Fortunately, the family had the name of the vet where the neighbour had left Chivu. Armed with that information, the Graebel representative:

  • Found the vet’s contact information on the Internet. He could not contact them personally, though, because phone communication into the country was blocked by the US
  • Sent a letter to the vet containing a photo and other details about Chivu
  • Asked colleagues at the Graebel EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) office to send letters to that vet and others in the area

Remarkably, one week later the representative received a call from a woman in London whose daughter worked in the vet’s premises in Libya where the dog was being housed. An exchange of pictures confirmed that Chivu was indeed there, along with 50 other dogs scheduled to be evacuated to Malta, the US-sanctioned location.

After contacting his personal network and through social media to find someone in Malta who could help on that end, he connected with a former university classmate who was able to send Chivu on the next leg of his journey.

Knowing that Mexico law requires that an animal be accompanied by a person into that country, the representative contacted one of Graebel’s vetted animal carrier service providers, and the CEO of that company agreed to personally accompany Chivu to Cancun from Orlando.

 

The Results

Ultimately, Chivu travelled more than 7,000 miles (from Libya to Cancun, via Malta and Orlando) before being reunited with his family. During his month of travel, Chivu had no idea of the daily efforts made on his behalf by the Graebel representative — investigation, correspondence, late night calls and of course near daily communication with his owner. The remarkable story ended well and it’s a very good example of how Graebel employees are empowered and guided by our customer service theme: “What to do you need? How can we help?”

 

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Chris Binding