Pets on the Go: 'Transpetation' Launched in Northern Westchester

Maybe your dog needs an MRI or your lizard is limping and you really can’t make it to the veterinarian. Perhaps you no longer drive and can’t easily use public transportation to get your pet where it needs to go.

A new service that began last September is here to help. Chappaqua resident Stephanie Krawchick, a lifelong animal lover, saw this need and started “Transpetation,” which she calls the most safe, reliable way to meet a pet’s transportation needs.

The 43-year-old mother of two teenaged daughters had spent 17 years as a special education teacher, dedicating herself to teaching young children with a variety of special needs including speech and language delays, mental retardation, and autistic spectrum disorders.

When she left that career, she and a close friend who is a veterinarian noticed a demand for a service that would help people transport their pets, and Krawchick believed her nurturing skills would come in handy.

“I have always had a passion for animals and know what important members of the family pets are,” she said.  “I am a working mother and pet owner and I understand how tough it is to juggle all of life’s responsibilities.”

Krawchick said that the mission of the company is to get her customer’s pets where they need to go—and be attended to with the love and care she would give her own family.

Animals travel in a custom-made van that Krawchick designed herself—and for which she contracted an iron-worker to install a grid-locked system that holds and straps in multiple animals in their carriers.

“This is a very specialized service,” she said. “I am working with vet hospitals, pet owners and groomers who agree there is a real need in the area for this type of service."

Transpetation provides one-way or round-trip transport for a pet, large or small—the pilot hospital for her service was the—and will pick up and deliver food or medicine. The owner added that she would also pick-up a deceased animal and hopes to be a comfort for those dealing with a difficult loss or with a sick animal.

“I was very happy that I could call Stephanie when my dog Charlie was having trouble walking and I had to take him to a hospital in Yonkers,” said Leslie Ross, a Harrison resident.

“I have a bad back and needed a hand—she was extremely reassuring and helped carry Charlie, and we all went together in the dog-friendly van.”

The cost for the ride is based on distance, and the owner said fees are comparable to human taxi and limo services in the area.

The difference, Krawchick said, is that her service is solely focused on providing safe, comfortable transportation for a pet from the moment she picks the animal up to the moment she delivers it home. 

“I care deeply about your animal and it is in the best of hands with me.”