Sending your dog over to Australia
Discussion
Well, I've done 'shipping a car to Aus', but we're a bit light on 'shipping a dog to Aus', but having just completed the process on the weekend I thought I would add a few words in a simple format
Firstly - quarantine. Your furry friend needs to have a bunch of jabs (including anti-rabies), and a sample of blood taken to ensure it's clear. 180 days after the sample is taken, he/she can enter the country. Of those 180 days, at least 30 of them HAVE to be in the Aussie government's quarantine centre. Ie. 5 months in Blighty, 1 month in a cage in Aus.
The quarantine centres have limited space so get your booking in early. (The NSW one is massive). You need to have a certificate of the blood being clear (Rabies Neutralising Antibody Titre Test) to apply for an import certificate. You need to have the import certificate to book the quarantine kennels and you need to have booked those before the airline will confirm a flight booking.
Don't believe your vet when he says "yep, the test came back clear" and leave it a while before getting him to fill in the (legal declaration) forms... it might be that he's a lying arse and the sample was lost on the way to the lab, hence there was no test, no results, and.. you have to start the process from the start!
The company who do the transportation will collate the paperwork, apply for an import licence and book the plane ticket. (You have to do the quarantine booking.) They will construct a crate, look after the dog for a few days before he flies, put him in the crate and deliver him to the airline. If you use the same company as we did, the last you'll hear from them is once you've paid the invoice. You hope he's on the plane, you hope he's landed and you hope he's ok... but you won't know until the quarantine centre is open and you can ask them, which is not ideal when he lands at 4pm Friday and you can't speak to them until 10am Monday.
The quarantine centre has visiting hours of 1 to 3 on Tuesdays & Thursdays inside his cage, and two pre-booked 30 minute slots (a week) outside his cage. We chose not to visit him as it would upset him when we left.
Our dog is a 5 year old lab. He was dropped off at the centre 2 days before he flew, was in quarantine for 5 weeks and within an hour of picking him up he was esactly as he was before; completely relaxed, friendly and happy. Quite bizarre as I was expecting a few weeks before he got over his ordeal. Dogs are awesome: "dunno what that 5 weeks was about but look - family, look - beach, look - biscuits. Woo Hoo!"
Also, when we collected him they asked if we wanted to take the crate, we didn't so had to sign a declaration that we would "forfeit it to the Commonwealth"! They are a strange bunch!
It cost about 2,500 GBP for the transportation, and about 1,300 AUD for the Aussie Quarantine.
Firstly - quarantine. Your furry friend needs to have a bunch of jabs (including anti-rabies), and a sample of blood taken to ensure it's clear. 180 days after the sample is taken, he/she can enter the country. Of those 180 days, at least 30 of them HAVE to be in the Aussie government's quarantine centre. Ie. 5 months in Blighty, 1 month in a cage in Aus.
The quarantine centres have limited space so get your booking in early. (The NSW one is massive). You need to have a certificate of the blood being clear (Rabies Neutralising Antibody Titre Test) to apply for an import certificate. You need to have the import certificate to book the quarantine kennels and you need to have booked those before the airline will confirm a flight booking.
Don't believe your vet when he says "yep, the test came back clear" and leave it a while before getting him to fill in the (legal declaration) forms... it might be that he's a lying arse and the sample was lost on the way to the lab, hence there was no test, no results, and.. you have to start the process from the start!
The company who do the transportation will collate the paperwork, apply for an import licence and book the plane ticket. (You have to do the quarantine booking.) They will construct a crate, look after the dog for a few days before he flies, put him in the crate and deliver him to the airline. If you use the same company as we did, the last you'll hear from them is once you've paid the invoice. You hope he's on the plane, you hope he's landed and you hope he's ok... but you won't know until the quarantine centre is open and you can ask them, which is not ideal when he lands at 4pm Friday and you can't speak to them until 10am Monday.
The quarantine centre has visiting hours of 1 to 3 on Tuesdays & Thursdays inside his cage, and two pre-booked 30 minute slots (a week) outside his cage. We chose not to visit him as it would upset him when we left.
Our dog is a 5 year old lab. He was dropped off at the centre 2 days before he flew, was in quarantine for 5 weeks and within an hour of picking him up he was esactly as he was before; completely relaxed, friendly and happy. Quite bizarre as I was expecting a few weeks before he got over his ordeal. Dogs are awesome: "dunno what that 5 weeks was about but look - family, look - beach, look - biscuits. Woo Hoo!"
Also, when we collected him they asked if we wanted to take the crate, we didn't so had to sign a declaration that we would "forfeit it to the Commonwealth"! They are a strange bunch!
It cost about 2,500 GBP for the transportation, and about 1,300 AUD for the Aussie Quarantine.
ariddell said:
Did you have to own the dog for 12mths before exporting him, check he was a breed not sold here and crash test him, or find a really old dog born before 1st Jan 1989?
Some times I find this little corner of PH forums distintly un-PH for good or bad! Thanks for restoring some PH-ness! You made me laugh out loud!We collected ours last week and after a couple of days he's back to normal - Well, as normal as he was before he left the UK!
For us, everything worked out brilliantly. He stayed with my in-laws for 3 months whilst we got settled and was booked on a flight out of Heathrow in January. He flew just 48 hrs before the snow fell which, would have prevented him making the journey from Staffordshire to the airport!
We diddnt visit him in Quarantine. Instead we used a dog walking service who send us photo updates during each visit - Cost for this was $380 and was the only option as we live over an hour from the quarantine station and have to go to work. Really I think its the best option anyway because having not seen us in 3 months, the poor chap would be a bit confused if we kept going to see him and left him there each time.
48 hrs after we collected him, there was a bush fire in the area and the area went into lock-down - Another bit of perfect timing there!
We used Jets4Pets for the whole thing and they were excellent. They phoned my in-laws regularly to keep them up to speed and guide them through the process of vet appointments etc.
Total UK vet bills for the process came to approx 800 pounds.
For us, everything worked out brilliantly. He stayed with my in-laws for 3 months whilst we got settled and was booked on a flight out of Heathrow in January. He flew just 48 hrs before the snow fell which, would have prevented him making the journey from Staffordshire to the airport!
We diddnt visit him in Quarantine. Instead we used a dog walking service who send us photo updates during each visit - Cost for this was $380 and was the only option as we live over an hour from the quarantine station and have to go to work. Really I think its the best option anyway because having not seen us in 3 months, the poor chap would be a bit confused if we kept going to see him and left him there each time.
48 hrs after we collected him, there was a bush fire in the area and the area went into lock-down - Another bit of perfect timing there!
We used Jets4Pets for the whole thing and they were excellent. They phoned my in-laws regularly to keep them up to speed and guide them through the process of vet appointments etc.
Total UK vet bills for the process came to approx 800 pounds.
james280779 said:
does anyone know the process for taking an Australian dog back to the UK (much easier) but then bringing them back in future??
I presume its standard practice for all dogs whether they are originally Australian or not.
It's easy from what I've read, the only issue is with snub nosed dogs as most airlines wont fly them (Air France is the only one I've heard of). I presume its standard practice for all dogs whether they are originally Australian or not.
You may need to book a cruise.
Hi there, the DEFRA site will tell you all that you need to know to take your dog back to the UK, Australia is classed as a "listed non EU country" for pet travel - see link below. Only certain vets are approved to give Rabies vaccinations and deal with the paperwork in Australia and the DAFF/AQIS link will give you a list of them. My dog had a rabies booster last week and it cost approx $100. Ring your chosen vet in advance as they may need to order the vaccine.
To transport my dogs out to Australia I used PetAir UK, http://www.petairuk.com/ and I really cannot praise them highly enough. I have been recommended Pet Carriers International for any return travel to Europe but have not read any reviews about them.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/...
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/export/live-animals/ve...
Hope this helps.
To transport my dogs out to Australia I used PetAir UK, http://www.petairuk.com/ and I really cannot praise them highly enough. I have been recommended Pet Carriers International for any return travel to Europe but have not read any reviews about them.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/...
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/export/live-animals/ve...
Hope this helps.
I have done some research and it appears that due to Australia being super strict- if coming from here and had relevant jabs- you can pick your dog straight up from the airport the other end. Its coming back that creates the issues so was wondering if its different if the dog originated here.
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