Fereshteh Farahani’s desperate plea to save her dog’s deportation back to Estonia

A couple is desperately fighting to save their dog from being deported in what has been described as a false “non-compliance issue” after relocating back down under. See why here.

Fereshteh Farahani and her husband Amir are fighting to prevent their German Spitz dog Sugar from being deported back to Estonia.

A couple are desperately fighting to save their dog from being deported back to Estonia in what has been described as a false “non-compliance issue” after relocating back down under after a stint overseas.

Fereshteh Farahani and her husband Amir, both 29, and now residing in the northern beaches, sold their car, and spent $13,000 over eight months in order to follow “every single step” to import their precious seven-year-old German Spitz dog Sugar as they couldn’t possibly “leave him behind”.

But their lives turned “upside down” days after Sugar arrived in Australia on December 14 and taken to Victoria’s Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ).

Seven-year-old Sugar was expected to be released on Christmas Eve.

He was due to be reunited with the Farahani’s as an early present on Christmas Eve, however, Ms Farahani said the PEQ found Sugar had a “non-compliance issue” regarding the multi-systemic disease Leishmania Infantum, which she claims “is not true”.

“They assessed all the documents including the Leishmania Infantum test, which needs to be done within 30-45 days before the flight using ELISA or IFAT method,” she said.

“PEQ didn’t accept our Leishmania test from Laboklin, Germany using [the] ELISA method because the lab report didn’t mention the word ‘Infantum’, just Leishmania.”

As a result, Sugar is expected to be deported back to Estonia on Friday and Ms Farahani has pulled out all the stops to resolve the issue.

“However, I feel like my voice is not heard … they (PEQ) ignored all my requests,” she said.

Animal Justice NSW MP Emma Hurst. Picture: Tim Hunter.

It saw Ms Farahani reach out to Animal Justice NSW MP Emma Hurst who sent an urgent request for Sugar to be retested.

“Ms Farahani has told me that tests on Sugar … have shown a weak positive result … using the IFAT method, despite previous tests using the ELISA method producing a negative result,” Ms Hurst said in her letter.

“Our understanding is that an IFAT test can lead to false positives … and the results may not be reliable.”

Fereshteh Farahani taking Sugar for a walk.

Despite Ms Hurst acknowledging the “importance of robust quarantine procedures”, she said Ms Farahani’s request was to ensure the best method of testing was performed to prevent Sugar from being sent back to Estonia due to “an inaccurate result”.

“I therefore fully support such a request and urge the PEQ and the Australasian Veterinary Board Council to allow this request to take place, or at the very least, that a general retesting occurs,” she said.

A Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry spokeswoman said “an animal in our PEQ facility” had tested positive for the “exotic disease”.

While unable to answer specific questions about Sugar’s importation, the spokeswoman said the department has “strict” conditions based on rigorous scientific analyses to manage biosecurity risks and it is “carefully considering the matter and … working closely with the owners”.

If Sugar’s deportation is confirmed, Ms Farahani said she can’t afford to go back to Estonia and has no support there.