Week 38, Animals: Dina the Immigrant Dog

"Animals" is the topic for Week 38 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. This is the story of my husband's dog who immigrated with him to America.

By the time the Holmansky family learned the US approved them for alien status, Dina the dog was a firmly established and beloved member of the family. Leaving her behind in Russia wasn’t an option, though bringing her along presented a few challenges. 

Dina the dog

 A quick trip to the veterinarian for vaccinations and a health certificate was all she needed to get into America. Taking her out of Russia was another matter. Anything considered valuable to the Russian government wasn’t allowed out of the country. That mandate extended to certain animals. The vet had to issue Dina a certificate, proclaiming she was a worthless mutt who held no breeding value to the country. “This certificate is given to Holmansky, Alexander Evgenevich, citizen of Russia, departing from Russia to United States with the purpose of permanent residency and that accompanying him is a dog. Breed: mixed, Sex: female, Age 2.6 years, Color: tri-color --black/white/orange, average height, upright ears. Does not have any pedigree. Average market value: 500 rubles. Conclusion based on my expertise, the dog does not represent breeding value and may be exported abroad. Her departure from Russia is authorized.”

Dina's paperwork clearing her to immigrate to America

The next hurdle was figuring out how to bring a dog on an airplane. As Alex said, “It’s not like here where you go to a pet store and just pick up a crate.” Evgeny and Alex went to the Finnair office at the airport to inquire about their options. “They told us we had to have our dog in a crate, and we were like, ‘What’s a crate?’” he chuckled. “So, they brought out one of those big plastic crates to show us. My dad asked how much it cost, but it was too expensive, and my dad being my dad said, ‘There’s no way I’m paying for this. I’ll build one myself.’”

And Evgeny did exactly that. He made it out of plywood on two sides, and wooden slats on the third side. One critical side still remained. “We needed a door. In Soviet bathrooms everyone had a wooden seat that fit over the bathtub. My dad being the resourceful engineer that he was said, ‘We can probably use that in America,’ and made the door out of it. When he was finished, he put it in the hallway in our apartment and when my mom came home and saw it, she almost burst into tears. She crawled into the crate with the dog – that’s how big he built it!”

For weeks leading up to the trip, they trained Dina to go into the crate. On the big day, the family brought all their belongings, Dina, and her crate to the airport. They coaxed her into the wooden box and gave her a tranquilizer. A sleeping dog is a calm dog, and they wanted to keep the normally rambunctious Dina calm for as long as possible. Left to her own devices, she often got into trouble. 

When they landed in Helsinki and spied the airline moving Dina’s crate from one plane to another, they asked for an update. The ground crew reported that Dina was still sleeping comfortably. The relieved family hoped the tranquilizer would keep her sleeping -- or at least groggy -- until they arrived in America.

It took about seven hours to fly from Helsinki to JFK in New York City, and then another couple of hours to clear immigration. By that time, only the few families on the flight who were new immigrants were left, and their baggage had been brought to a special area. “We walked in and saw all our boxes, but no dog crate, so of course we panicked. ‘We had a dog with us! Where is the dog crate?’” 

An employee pointed over to a wall. The crate was shoved in a corner with the plywood sides facing out. “They told us the dog woke up and decided that she no longer wanted to be in that crate! Because it was wood, she chewed through the door my dad made out of the bathtub seat. They had no choice but to shove it in the corner with the slat parts facing the wall so she wouldn’t escape.”

Evgeny moved the crate enough so Alex could leash Dina and let her out. When she saw her family, she leapt around in happiness, and slobbered her humans with kisses. 

That was the first of Dina’s many American adventures.