Elderly Belgian Tourist’s Morocco Trip Turns Disastrous: Dog Lost, Airline Complaint Filed

Jeannine Decaux’s last trip to Morocco, a regular destination for her, did not go as planned. While she had booked with TUI to treat herself to a trip to Agadir accompanied by her faithful companion, her dog Ouka, a bichon, and to join the Beach Club d’Agadir, a four-star hotel on the seafront, where Cathy and Alain, a Brussels couple, were waiting for her, she faced enormous difficulties. She left Dinant and reached Brussels-Zaventem airport on Wednesday, February 28 at 5 a.m. to board at 7:30 a.m. Arrived at the check-in counter, the octogenarian presented the papers to the check-in supervisor, including the dog’s health book. She was happy to spend 15 all-inclusive days in Morocco, away from the rainy spring. But this joy will be short-lived. At the TUI counter, the clerk "objects that the vaccination booklet alone is no longer enough". She explains to her that for Morocco, a handwritten certificate duly signed by a veterinarian certifying that the animal is up to date with vaccinations is now required, according to the new regulations.

"To my great surprise, the clerk was asking me for a handwritten certificate in addition to the health booklet which already contains this certificate," says the octogenarian to La Dernière Heure. The clerk remains inflexible. "The clerk, inflexible, told me that she would have to turn me away. I could not take flight TB2511. Continuing to discuss was useless. I could not board. When I finally left the counter and crossed the airport with my dog and suitcases to return to Dinant, a TUI supervisor ran after me waving a regulation where the passage requiring this handwritten certificate from a veterinarian had been highlighted, which, moreover, had not been mentioned to me at the time of booking the flight. It was in English and at the time, as angry as I was, I didn’t try to go into it further," continues the retired teacher and former school principal.

She returns to Dinant, goes to the veterinarian. "He was stunned when I told him the story." The veterinarian was not aware of the change in regulations. He therefore issues the document for her. Jeannine books another flight with the TUI agency in Ciney. On Friday, the octogenarian arrives at the airport, with the health booklet and the certificate. At the counter, nothing is asked of her. Stunned, she tells her misadventure to the clerk who receives her. "The clerk was stunned. She didn’t know and was really sorry for what had happened to me the other day when a colleague had denied me boarding."

Jeannine travels and arrives at the Beach Club d’Agadir. But misfortune strikes her: her dog suffers from severe diarrhea and dies three days later, probably from acute hepatitis. The Agadir veterinarian justifies the animal’s death by the stress and trips that would have weakened Ouka. The dog would have lost its natural immunity and "caught the first dirt that came along".

Jeannine buries Ouka in Morocco. After this episode, she sends emails to TUI. In the latest emails, the company apologizes if the customer "felt misunderstood despite the efforts we have made", considering that this file is "definitively closed". "We hope to serve you better next time," concludes the operator. Dissatisfied, the octogenarian files a complaint against TUI and demands reimbursement of the taxi fares - a round trip Dinant-Zaventem -, the second Bruxelles-Agadir flight and the 2 days of vacation lost at the Beach Club d’Agadir.