Morgan MacAllister-Robb has been a truck driver for over 30 years - and lately he's had some cute company along for the ride.
Since last March, Morgan has transported around 200 dogs - and the odd cat - to their new homes on his Christchurch-to-Palmerston North driving route.
Photo: Facebook / Very Important Paws Chauffeur
Morgan's chauffering began during the first lockdown last year when regular pet couriers had to stop work.
A friend of a friend asked Morgan to chauffeur a German Shepherd puppy down from Wellington, and afterwards, he put up a picture on the Facebook group he created - New Zealand Show us your Pets ( Nothing But Ya Pets)
Soon word got out and Morgan was inundated with requests to move animals around the country, along with his usual truckload of frozen food.
"Puppies need to be with their families by 12 weeks old and at that stage, no one knew how long the animal couriers would be parked up for.
"Because I can still travel and I'm an essential worker, I can get puppies from the breeders or the rescue down to their new homes at the right age."
If the puppy is travelling out of Christchurch, Morgan quite often picks it up the night before for a sleepover at his home before they head north.
He says the chauffering gives him a good feeling.
"If someone is willing to rescue an animal, I'm willing to get it to them as comfortably and as easily as I can."
Along with his passion for animals, Morgan is a "born and bred truck driver" who loves the independence his job allows.
"Basically, I'm on my own doing my own thing. I can listen to music, just see the sights."
He first set up the group New Zealand Show us your Pets ( Nothing But Ya Pets) as a tribute to his cat Colin who died suddenly in 2013.
"I wanted somewhere to post pictures of Colin where I wouldn't annoy all my friends who weren't really animal lovers."
Now the group has just under 10,000 members - and five new animals have replaced Colin in the MacAllister-Robb home.
Morgan shares pictures of his passengers on the Facebook page Very Important Paws 🐾 Chauffeur
