Hutch

I'm in the process of sorting this out (don't leave until next year, but it's one less thing to sort). Have found out loads of info so I thought I'd bung it all in a thread. I'll update it as and when the quotes and stuff arrive and also when we've decided who we're going with.

Pet Export

We are exporting our pets – a dog called Cally (Collie/Springer cross) and a cat called Mukka (flat-coated persian cross) to Australia in 2006 and I thought I’d post the stuff we found out, in case it was more up-to-date than the older threads we turned up on the site.

We first phoned Defra (www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine who sent us a very useful pack regarding exporting animals to Australia. The pack explains exactly what you need to do so if you’ve got a bit of time and energy on your hands you could probably take care of everything yourself. Given how crap I am at form-filling we’re going to use a company for most of the stuff, but the option is there. Also had a read of the stuff on the AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service ) about importing cats and dogs. There’s a PDF available on the site which explains the process and also the costs involved – very handy document.

To give you some idea of what’s involved – some of the things on the A4 list include:
• Import permit from the Australian Vetinary Authorities
• Export health certificate from Defra
• Examination carried out not more than four days prior to export
• Written declaration by the owner/exporter stating whether or not the dog has been neutered.
• Dog must be micro-chipped, resident of the UK for more than 6 months and tested and vaccinated for a vast array of viruses included parvo, hep and lepto.

Par Air (www.parair.co.uk - 01206 330332) – sound a bit low rent – don’t answer the phone as Par Air for instance, but as ‘Colchester 330332’. Need to know the length (tip of nose to tip of tail) and height (ground to top of ears or head whichever is highest) of the dog. After the unpromising start the lady did sound pretty clued up and came up with an initial quote of £1742 which simply covered the actual shipping of the dog, not the vaccinations before-hand or things like the import certificate ($200) or indeed the cost of keeping the dog in quarantine in Australia. So, kind of a hybrid service then – probably useful if you don’t mind taking on the paperwork and want to save yourself a few quid.

Bristol Vale Vets (01275 832489) – this was the number recommended to us by Defra. These ones are local to us – no doubt you’ll get a similar recommendation for the area you live in. Hell of a lot more impressed by these guys. Lady was friendly and informative – wanted a different measurement of the dog (reckoned she’d saved us £500 by getting a lying-down measurement). They can take care of the whole process from start to end including all the Australia-side stuff. If you sign up with them, they produce a time-sheet for you which lays out exactly what you’ve got to get done and when – blood tests and the like. Prior to export you can either drop the animal off yourself or get it/them picked up. Obviously since they’re a vets they have the necessary bods on hand to do the final tests, something the lady said was preferable because “the Australians like to see just one vet’s signature on the test sheets�.

Lady Hayes (www.ladyhaye.co.uk - 01342 832161)– didn’t bother contacting these guys after reading this http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ght=pet+export post on the subject and because they’ve got a really shite web-site.

Animal Airlines (www.animalairlines.co.uk – 01625 827414). Wouldn’t give me a quote over the phone – pointed me towards the website – promised a quote by return of email (whatever that is). Website wouldn’t work with Firefox (there goes 10% of their potential customers) had to use crappy old Internet Explorer – at least the website looked semi-competent. Yet another variation on the measurements required – this time excluding the tail. Cat took food trap, but buggered off sharpish before we could weigh/measure her. Trapped cat later with promise of fish (sucker). Awaiting the ‘return of email’ response.

Golden Arrow (01588 680240) lots of positive stuff about this company on the site, so I Googled for ‘em but couldn’t find a damned thing – eventually found the phone number in someone else’s post. Gave ‘em a ring, asked why they had no web site and he proudly(!) said ‘no computers here’. Hmm – traditional is great, but he could save himself a shitload of time and effort by having a simple website. Anyway – he sounded nice enough and promised to wang a pack in the post for us. Didn’t ask for any measurements, so it looks like being a fairly drawn-out process even at the start.

Airpets (www.airpets.com - 01753 685571 or 0800 371554) – otherwise known as Airpets Oceanic. Mixed experiences people have had with this company judging by the posts on the site. Having read all such posts though I think they were probably unfairly tarnished (down to pre-flight dog walks) and so I gave ‘em a chance. Web site the most professional by far – although whoever had the bright idea of putting the ‘Pet Crematorium’ link right on the front page directly underneath ‘Departures from the UK, deserves a slap. Gave ‘em a ring – spoke to a pleasant lady who asked the usual details (length, height, width etc). She said that since we weren’t in a massive hurry (we plan to emigrate July 06) – would we mind if the quote came in about 10 days, as they were very busy at the moment. I said that was fine. She asked if we wanted to include pick-up from our home to Heathrow and I said to go ahead. She said that quotes were only valid for six months, so we’d have to ge re-quoted nearer the time.

Derek Clarke

Excellent info. Thanks

DollyDaydream

Yep, ditto that!! Well done.

Another one for my subscription.....

D D

Dexter

We have just been through the pet export thing. We used par air and found them to be very good. Saying that the whole process of exporting our two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels was more stressful than our visa application, but they are here now and will be out of quarantine next Thursday.

If there is anything you want to know just ask.

Craig

SunshineGirl

Thank you very much for that, it will help us when we have to ship our two cats.

farrierswife

We are in Cheddar also looking to take 2 dogs next year,how does the Bristol thing work with a cheap lying down quote,I take it they loose the head room for the journey?!(wonder how thay releive themselves?)
Would be interested in price comparison though.

loidy

great info, just one thing though that i have found out very recently, and which might delay us and has delayed others, dogs shouldn't have their lepto jab up to 6 months before their pre flight blood test as it can show up. It is a really good idea to get it as far before as is possible but it is in quantum 7 which is the vaccination most vets use, so check.
another thing, read a heartbreaking story today about the 7 year old collie who died of dehydration on the flight from heathrow to sydney . he chewed his water bowl and had no water. the rspca are investigating BA.
as if i wasn't dreading the whole process enough... x loidy

Bella Donna

Our GSD has to have a lepto antibody test not more than 28 days before being shipped. Thankfully it's not an issue for us as we don't normally vaccinate so our dog has never had the lepto shot. He had to have the other bucketful though, just to go....

I heard about the collie on the regional news back at the beginning of June. It really saddened me and I could have done without hearing it right then. We are having to use BA and our GSD will follow the exact same flight path. Bit I guess after all the adverse publicity with this dog, they will be a lot more careful about checking the pets in transit in future. Even so, I will not be happy until I know our dog and cats have arrived safely. :scared:

Hutch

What the lady was saying was that with the pure flight-only crowd, they tend to over-charge you by asking for measurements from tip of nose to end of tail. With them, they say to get your dog to lie down in a relaxed way, with their paws out in front of them and then to measure from the front of their paws to the root of their tail. It was a good eight inches less in our dog's case. Doesn't mean she'll be any less comfortable, just that you're not paying for space that isn't needed. They certainly don't get any less leg-room or head-room - she said they make absolutely certain that the dog has the optimum amount of space. By all accounts the animals tend to sleep for most of the flight anyway, so it's important that the cages are specced according to how they sleep, not how they stand.

Hutch

Yep - we were told about the lepto by the Bristol Vale lady (can't over-emphasise how much information she offered up) and you're right.

As to the collie - yep - remember reading about it too. But as sad as it is, consider how many animals are shipped out without a hitch everyday of the year.

farrierswife

Thanks Hutch,makes more sense now although I'm not sure it will work for us as we have a weimaraner and when he lies down his legs really stretch out,will cetainly gine them a call though,many thanks and look forward to hearing how it all goes.

ballyhoo

I have heard / read somewhere that from 1 July 2005 the Import Permit is no longer required. That may bring the price down a bit! Has anyone heard this?

Good thread - thanks a lot.

Hutch

Hmmm - seems there's a time-limit on editing your posts, so I can't update my original content. Strange system, but there you go.

Right - Golden Arrow update. Have now received their pack, as promised. Consists of a red booklet of testimonials (that pretty much back-up the nice words people on this forum have to say about them), booklets giving a concise low-down on importing a dog and a cat and a little pamplet about the company. There's a form inside that you fill in for each pet detailing the age, breed, size etc of your pets. Fair enough, but this stuff could have been done in five minutes on the phone or a web-site and we'd have all been two days further down the line with this. I realise the welfare of the pet is paramount and I'm sure they're a great company and all, but anyone emigrating to Australia soon tires of form-filling and I really don't appreciate having to complete some more. At least they've enclosed a (hand-typed) SAE to send everything back in. Anyway, filled in and posted off. Will await the response which I fully expect to be delivered by carrier pigeon.

loidy

golden arrow are great, you will get a reply by the next post, we always have. it's nice to deal with a company who don't take 4 weeks to process simple info x loidy

Professional Princess

As a veterinary nurse, I thought I would warn you to those exporting their dogs DIY.

Make sure you take accurate measurements. I think the dog must be able to stand up comfortably.

At Heathrow when I was waiting to check in, this woman exporting her dog had made the little dog lie down in his basket and had taken those measurements.

He tried but couldnt stand up and she kept telling him to lie down. She and her pets were refused travel, animal Quarantine were called and the dogs taken from her and put in larger boxes.

If your dog doesnt have enough room, they wont let him fly.

So take time and get the measurements accurate to safe you hassle in the long run.