Tollywood star Payal Rajput made heads turn at the Hyderabad airport on Saturday, when she boarded a flight to Delhi along with her furry friend, Candy. A one-month-old pomchi (mixed breed Pomeranian and Chihuahua), the pup was the cynosure of attention of her fellow passengers. Speaking to Hyderabad Times, the actress says travelling with a pet isn’t as big a hassle as one would expect, provided you choose a pet-friendly airline.
“Most airlines are pet-friendly, but they have restrictions on some breeds of dogs. So as long as you are conscious of that, there should not be any problem. I travel with pets a lot. It’s just that you need to be prepared for some extra paperwork as you will have to fill a lot of forms,”says Payal.
In the wake of the coronavirus scare though, pet owners will have to be prepared to face some extra scrutiny as Payal found out. “Initially, the airport officials did not allow me to take her inside. However, as per the airline’s pet guidelines, Candy is allowed to travel as she meets the required criteria. I showed them all her valid health and rabies vaccination certificates. After verifying them, they allowed me to take her inside the flight,” shares the RX 100 star, adding, “I had to pay an additional charge of ` 1500 to take Candy and her luggage basket inside the flight. She weighs just 700 gm, almost like a tiny little ball. She did not trouble me at all and the co-passengers too were not inconvenienced in any way.”
A huge dog lover, Payal already has a four-year-old Chihuahua, Bunny and even has a social media page in his name. “For a while now, I’ve been wanting to get another pet for Bunny to play with. I got Candy just two days ago. He’s adorable and extremely naughty,” shares the Delhi girl, adding that she plans to start a social media page for her as well. Payal has been feeling under the weather for the last few days but the actress says that it won’t deter her from celebrating Holi with her family. “Holi is a special festival, especially for us in the North. I love cooking so this year, I’ll be making Holi delicacies like gujiya and barfi. My mom is a wonderful cook and after playing Holi we always feast on Punjabi food, it’s absolutely gobsmacking,” she says.
With the rise in coronavirus cases, many Holi parties across the country have been called off. Payal however, is gearing up to celebrate the festival of colours. “Holi is incomplete without playing with colours, I will be playing just like every year, and the hangover will stay for at least a couple of days,” she adds.