doodlebug149

Hi Guys,
We are making our move from the UK to Nova Scotia in June. We will be bringing our Labrador with us who is 7 years old. I have contacted Airpets already and they seem to be well set up to handle the move and I am pleased with the service they have to offer.

They asked me on the phone if I wanted them to take care of Customs Clearance in Canada which sounded like a good idea at the time, until I received the quote. The price for this 'additional service' is £680.

From what I have read, the process is relatively simple as long as you have the documents you need which are a Health Certificate issued within 72 hours of arrival and proof of Rabies Vaccinations which Airpets will be pulling together anyway. The dog is then health checked again on landing and if all OK, he will be released for collection.

Has anyone done this before? Would you complete the customs clearance yourself or would you pay the extra and have them complete the process for you. With everything else to pay for £680 could be a big saving but if it could compromise his collection in Canada then its a price worth paying. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Former Lancastrian

Read this link and then make your decision

https://inspection.canada.ca/importi.../1326600500578

That is one hell of a lot of money just to clear a dog through Customs added on to the fees of using a service to transport them

Phaedru5

We brought our labrador over 5yrs ago. We spoke to our airline and they told us what we needed to do. We got a fit to fly certificate from our vet the day before we flew, he was already up to date on rabies jabs, and then essentially he went as 'oversized luggage' on our flight. We didnt need to involve any third party company. Dont waste your money, when you book your flights to travel just speak with the airline and they will tell you what you need to do. It is much much simpler than you imagine.
The link given above by Former Lancastrian should reinforce this as Government of Canada requirements - an older dog, from a commonwealth country, for personal accompaniement has no special requirements for customs clearance etc.
HTH

doodlebug149

Thank you so much for your response and also the link. I will have a look through the link and see what is involved. It appears to be fairly straightforward but of course Airpets have made it sounds a lot more complicated. Almost to the point I was in fear he wouldn't be granted entry and would either be sent back to the UK or denied boarding altogether. Thank you again.

doodlebug149

Thats fantastic and thank you for sharing your experience. I will call Air Canada and see what they tell me. It seems fairly straight forward from what I can see but was given the hard talk from Airpets. We've had our dog since he was 8 weeks old and he is 7 now. I am sure I can get a health check completed the day before travel.

When you arrived at the airport, (sounds like a silly question I know) but where did you collect your lab from? did they bring him out to you or did you go to excess baggage and have to claim him from there?

Thank you again, I really appreciate it.

puggirl

hi there we flew into halifax with two dogs and two cats a few years ago everything was straightforward we had all our paperwork and we paid a fee before we could go and get them released from the cargo unit at the time i believe it was around 50 dollars per animal good luck with the move

Phaedru5

Not a silly question at all, the crate literally comes out like a ski or snowboard bag at the oversize luggage pick-up!
Similarly we have had our Lab from 8 weeks and he was about 6yrs old when we flew. He was perfectly happy in his crate , even happily got back in the crate when we arrived at our destination before we had put it away.
Sounds like airpets are a bunch of jerks giving the hard sell and trying to upset or worry you, not the kind of business I would want to do business with. Steer clear and look after it yourself.

Pollyana

Airpets have had pretty good reviews on here over the years. Sounds more like they are just offering a quote and looking for business, like any other company. And if the cost is too high then of course the customer has the right to go elsewhere. Lots of people do their own importation with no issues, but for some of us it lessens the stress if we employ a third party!

glendem4

We brought 3 dogs to Toronto in 2018 from London Heathrow. Did all the paperwork ourselves and saved over $5000 CAD in fees. Speak with your vet to get the fit to fly certificate. Air Canada were great on the flight over.

Lichisadave

Hi we brought our 7 year old lab over 4 years ago. We didn’t use a service and like the previous poster said it’s very easy to do yourself. We paid $60 I think to clear customs with him. And $300 ish for him to go in the hold. They didn’t check any of our paper work apart from his rabies cert. We flew Airtransat we got his crate from an online store you need to make sure it’s got screws to join the 2 parts together not cable ties but you can cable tie the door for extra security. Each airline is different I think Air Canada you have to use a company but I could be wrong. Good luck with the move.

glendem4

We used Air Canada and did it all ourselves. No need to use a company. It costs us $1000 when adding up the cost of the crates and transporting 3 dogs in the hold. .

glendem4

Hi Doodlebug149, I wrote a diary of our move to Canada with 3 dogs back in 2018.