The dog?
 

My wife and I are currently going through the visa application for a 475 Visa. We have started to look into everything including taking the dog with us. he is a big dog, a french mastiff and we are just wondering if anyone else has successfully migrated with their pooch? One of the companies we have spoken to say that it is going to cost us £4000 to take him with us.
Someone please tell us that they've massively inflated the costs as that seems extorsionate. it's not costing that much for the 2 of us!!!

Also, we don't want to offend anyone in Australia. Will we need to change his name? His name is "Ozzy" and was named after Ozzy osbourne....

Cheers

Re: The dog?
 

We are going in June and taking our Lurcher (Greyhound Cross). He is going to cost us 2700 quid to ship, $330 import permit, 165 quid for blood tests, approx $800 quarantine. This is more than our flights and shipping our stuff (a few boxes) but we couldnt leave without him.

Only hope he doesnt chase a croc or bite a snake.

Who have you asked for quotes? We are going with Par Air

Re: The dog?
 

snap we are using par air to take our german shorthaired pointer with us. It has cost a great deal more for him to fly out that for the four of us, but he is one of the family and I wouldn't dream of leaving him behind. I would ring round quite a few places and compare prices as they seem to vary as much as booking a normal airline ticket.

Goodluck with it all
Gill

Re: The dog?
 

Try Bob Ghandour at PetAir UK

Re: The dog?
 

we brought our golden lab yes it was expensive but worth every penny. We went with Golden Arrow they were excellent, and have only heard good reports about others using them as well.:D

Re: The dog?
 

Hey
As far as i know the main cost in importing animals is quarantine - which I'm sure you've realised is fairly full on - and it will take a fair bit of time too.
From the amount I know (which is admittedly sparse) the size of the animal determines the cost to a great extent - so a cat is cheap compared to a Horse. Another, cheaper (in Vic anyway) cost is that the animal will be registered once it's cleared into the country, so you're lucky you're bringing a dog not a cat (there's a lot of rules about cats because of native wildlife).
As to the name - i'm Australian born and it's definately not offensive, I know of no less than three pets named Ozzy - after Osbourne and a cultural icon - Ozzy Ostrich so don't worry about renaming yours.
Another thing you might want to check out in order to get an idea of a base cost is the Aust. government site
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs.../govt-stations
Hope that was helpful

Re: The dog?
 

actually its law in Australia that all dogs must be called Bruce and bitches must be called Sheila.....................

Re: The dog?
 

:ohmy:

Re: The dog?
 

We have a GSP as well and had no problems bringing him over.We used Golden Arrow to Perth and then Dogtainers from Perth to Karratha and both journeys he was fine although when he arrived at the quarantine kennels in Byford they said he was a bit grumpy!
We're moving down to Perth soon so will need to have him flown down too.I asked for a quote from Dogtainers and they said if he's going on the same flight as us we can send him as excess baggage! Don't know if he'll fit in the overhead locker tho :thumbsup:

Re: The dog?
 

$4000 to take him....

the unconditional love he offers - priceless.

Nice dog by the way...I have wanted one of those ever since I saw turner and hooch when I was a kid.

Re: The dog?
 

We brought our two dogs with us from Ireland. It cost more to fly them here than us. The quarantine was the cheapest part, around $700 for two dogs, much cheaper than if we had to put them in kennels for a month. They were in Spotswood in Melbourne and treated really well.

Re: The dog?
 

Dolly, did you have your dog flown from Dublin or did you have him flown from London?
Has anyone used Animal Airlines we received a quote from them which is much cheaper than the other quotes we have received and wonder why.
Any information on transporting our little fella a cocker spaniel to Oz/Sydney would be appreciated as we couldn't bare to leave him at home!
Thanks

Re: The dog?
 

www.airpets.co.uk to ship your dog to Australia from the UK.

www.dogtainers.com.au to have your dog collected from quarantine and flown anywhere in Australia cheaply. Excellent service.

Re: The dog?
 

We used Animal Airlines for our two cats. They organised the containers and the flights, but we did virtually everything else - the export and import permits, vet checks, quarantine, etc. All fairly straightforward. We left before the cats, so they spent a week in a cattery near to Manchester sirport, and they sorted the final vet checks, de-flea, etc with a local vet. Would highly recommend the Melbourne quarantine station when you get here.

Re: The dog?
 

We brought our 8 yr old Weimaraner with us....
Did the paperwork ourselves it's not hard...

costs were
$330 import permit
£200 Vet tests, worming and flee treatment (has to be done by vet)
Microchip (we already had her chipped)
£2400 Airfare with crate
$808.45 Quarantine fees
Round trip from Adelaide to Sydney to pick her up.... Note to self.. Next time put dog on internal flight and pick up from airport!!!!

Yes, it is expensive and we were umming and ahhing about whether to bring her, but in the end it's absolutely the best decision we made.