Costa Rican couple desperate to reunite with dogs stranded in Edmonton

Gordothe Chihuahua mix nervously yaps and paces around an exercise yard.Nearby is Shadow, a Husky mix. She'sindulging on a strip of bacon offered by caretakers at Country KennelsBed and Biscuit.

The pair arerecovering at the kennel south of Edmonton after a harrowing series of flights to Costa Rica and back this week, during which they were left in their crates for three days with little food or water.

It started on Tuesday, when the dogs were loaded onto an Air Canada flight to be reunited with their humans after an unexpected 10 week separation.

Just before Christmas, temporary CanadiansHernanDuran and his wife, GabrielaGarro, were denied an extension of their visas, so they voluntarily left Edmonton to return to Costa Rica.

A travel ban on animals at the time prevented the couple from taking Shadow andGordowith them, but they assumed they'd be back soon.

"We had moments of anguish because we could not bring our animals,"Garrosaid in an email toCBCNews.

They left their dogs in the care of BelindaBrunnenkant, the owner of Country Kennels.

When the winter travel ban was finally lifted in February, the couple began to look for ways to bring the dogs south.

It was too expensive to fly themunaccompanied, so they posted a message on the local Facebook page "LatinosUnidosen Edmonton"asking for a volunteer to escort the pair in exchange for a free ticket.

Freddy Ruiz stepped up and agreed to fly from Edmonton to Toronto and on to San Jose with the dogs, who were in the cargo hold.

The family would finally be reunited,Garrosaid.

"Since having no children all our affection and love is for these two living beings," she said.

Ruiz filled out the necessary travel documents at the airport and said he had no issues getting the dogs on the flight.

Everything went fine until they landed in the Central American country later that day, Ruiz said. That's whenthe dogs were turned away at customs for not having the proper paperwork.

"The agent, she told me, 'You are not able to go out with those dogs because you don't have this paper,'" Ruiz said.

Before leaving Edmonton, Duran andGarrohad arranged veterinary checks for the dogs. They ensured they had health certificates in preparation for their trip, but it it turned out they were missing health certificates from the Government of Canada.

Garroofferedto have the forms couriered the next day, but saidthe official at the airport refused to wait.

Shadow andGordowere left in their kennels and ordered back to Edmonton the next day.

Ruiz called the couple, who were waiting just outside customs. They were devastated by the news and begged to see their pups before losing them again.

Garrosaid she was given five minutes.

"When I saw them I could not contain my tears.Gordo,the little puppy, started to cry and begged me to open the door of the cage and take him out of that prison,"she said.

"Shadow ... did not answer when I talked to her. She was totally tired and just raised her head and looked at me with eyes that told me'Mom help me.'"

Despite begging officials to keep the dogs in the country because of their lengthy ordeal,Garrosaid her dogs were deported anyway and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Flight to nowhere

Hours later, whenDuran andGarrotried to track their dogs, they said Air Canada could nottell them where they were, or when they'd be landing in Edmonton.

"It was hours of terror,"Garrosaid.

Brunnenkantsaid she was willing to pick up the dogs from the airport in Edmonton, but they were nowhere to be found.

"They couldn't track down their flight, nobody knew where they were. So now you're worrying. These poor animals, where are they? Have they been out of their crates?" she said.

The animals were eventually found Thursdayat a veterinary clinic in Leduc, near the Edmonton International Airport. They were sent there by Air Canada when they were not claimed at the airport.

Brunnenkantpicked them up and by this time, Shadow andGordohad been in their crates for three days with little food or water.

"Their bedding was soaked and they were smelly and quite stressed,"Brunnenkantsaid.

"Shadow is about nineor 10 years old and she's now peeing blood."

In a statement toCBCNews on Friday, Air Canada said the animals were never lost and staff knew where they were the entire time they were flying.

However, they did confirm the airline didn't have the proper contact information for the owners to let them know their dogs were on the ground in Edmonton. The number they had was for Ruiz and he was in transit.

"All I know is the whole night they were just trying to find out any kind of information on them. And anytime they got a bit of information, it seemed to be wrong,"Brunnenkantsaid.

Doggy charity

Despite missing a vital government form,Garrofirmly believes her dogs should never have been sentback to Edmonton at all. She wants those responsible to be held accountable for the series of events that left her dogs in such poor condition.

"It is a violation of animal rights,"Garrosaid."They take advantage because they cannot defend themselves and speak."

How would you feel if you were locked in a cage for 40 hours with little water and you had to sleep between your urine and your stool?- Gabriela Garro

"How would you feel if you were locked in a cage for 40 hours with little water and you had to sleep between your urine and your stool?"

Brunnenkantsays she wonders why thelovable dogs now under her care had to go through this at all.

"It's shocking, because you would think for the animal's concern, you would just quarantine them a day or two, get the vet to look at them and say everything is fine because they did have vet papers with them," she said.

"So I don't understand why they would just turn them around not thinking of their welfare and ship them right back."

Shadow andGordoare now doing better, although Shadow is very thin.

The pair will stay at the kennel for now. It's unclear if another flight to Costa Rica is in their future.

Meantime, Brunnenkantsays she wants to help as much as possible. Her business is waiving the daily boarding charge of more than $30 dollars per dog.

"We've volunteered our services so the dogs can stay with us," she said. "We'll care for them and their food and so on, and hopefully they can raise the funds to get the vet certificate signed and get all the paperwork back in order again."

"For now, they're safe."