Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Pets always have to go in Cargo from the UK. No in cabin pets are allowed.

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Hi

We utilised Golden Arrow Pet exporters in shropshire to send our 2 cats to Fredericton.

The cats ( aged 15 and 16 ) flew from Heathrow with Air Canada via Halifax to Fred' and only needed to be microchipped ( which they were anyway) and have a vet health cert and of course the export paperwork. Customs in Fred met us at the airport to do the import paperwork and then the cats went to our local cattery until we were in our new house.

No Rabies jab was needed as they were coming from the UK - common misconception that one is needed - complete waste of money! The cattery in Fred' happy with no rabies jab too as from UK.

You dont need to use animal exporters as long as you are happy to do the paperwork yourself and have the proper transport box for the animal - air canada were more than helpful to accommodate at LHR and dont forget, if your animal needs an internal flight after international then as long as there is customs at the ultimate arrival destination, they can 'land' at the final destination, ours could have o/nighted in Halifax too if necessary! My friends here were so cheesed off I got my cats direct to Fred' as so many people had to get theirs from Halifax!

Its a learning curve! HTH

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

It does depend on the airline BA insist on a carrier which is a pain they also insist on a rabies shot

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Air Canada Cargo at Heathrow were happy to take my cats without the rabies shot though I do appreciate it depends upon the airline. It might even depend upon who you speak to and when!:unsure:

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

We brought our dog. He had to travel in a crate and was not at all happy about it. When he was 'rescued' in Toronto he was a nervous wreck until he saw us, then he was delighted to to discover that the world had not ended after all. We stayed overnight in Toronto with him and the next morning he marched back into the crate for the trip to Vancouver quite the ticket!
He lived another 10 years here, but he never applied for citizenship. :D

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Here's what I did to bring our cat over from the UK

• Get your pet microchiped.
• Get your pet vaccinated against rabies. This is an absolute must, unless you come from a country that has been rabies free for 6 months or more. The import regulations for Canada does not require a blood test.
• Contact DEFRA, get an export certificate. There is no charge for this.
• Get a decent sized kennel for your pet. It must comply with IATA regulations.
• Get a funnel to attach to the kennel to fill up the water dish. Air Canada sell these at check-in for £7.
• Your vet should contact you to arrange an appointment 12 days prior to your flight to give your pet a check-up and complete the DEFRA certificate.
• 24-48 hours before take off, your pet should be wormed and check for fleas and treated as necessary.

Air Canada will fly your pet from the UK in the cargo area on the same flight as you are on. For our cat it was £129 (not bad considering other more expensive options).

The cargo area will be pressurised and heated, your pet's kennel will be secured and raised off the floor to prevent vibration and to stop the kennel from getting cold. Remember to put something familiar in the kennel, like your cat's favorite blanket.

You cannot book your pet on Air Canada during high season or extreme temperatures. On some occasions your pet will not be allowed due to something else flying in the cargo area. That something else is usually human remains. Live animals and human remains cannot fly together, this is due to clean air regulations.

Hope that helps!

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Any tips on where to get an IATA approved kennel in the UK for a cat?

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

http://www.animalinstinct.co.uk/acat...rriers_20.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petmate-IATA.../dp/B000TBJ4J8

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

Thanks!!! I don't know why I couldn't find anything!

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

I just moved to Montreal with my dog and it was the easiest thing in the world. He was in the cabin with us, which was amazing, and all we had to do once we got here was show them the documents proving it was vacinated for rabies within the last year and pay a $45 inspection fee.

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

You are very lucky we are moving to San Francisco first and they make it about as hard as it could possibly be.

We have just been quoted £3500 for our two small dogs to go in cargo.

I asked a lot of questions and found out that we have to check them in 4 hours prior to the flight, that is a very long time for them to be shut in a little crate.

With everything we are going through trying to sell house, leave friends and family, going somewhere for two years then move again the thing that is stressing me out the most is how my very nervous Boston is going to cope

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

From speaking to Air Canada cargo I was told the dog wont be in the kennel for the 4 hrs. before the flight, they have a special room they keep them in, they put the pet in the crate/kennel just before they load the cargo. I believe this is pretty standard practice.

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

If there is a special room we were not aware of it when we left last year.

We arrived at Heathrow:

2 ES Spaniels
6 suitcases
Wife & I

Went to Air Canada check in went to the front of the que coz of dogs. They took the dogs away in the crates to be weighed and brought them back. We checked everything in.

The flight was at 1500 and the told us to be back with the dogs around 1400. We then kept the dogs with us inside and outside the terminal walking around with them with no problems. Had final wee wee and took them back to check in desk. We were escorted down into the baggage loading area with the dogs out of the crates. When we got there they did security checks on the dogs and crates, now approx 1410. They then took the dogs in the crates and loaded them onto aircraft.

Wife cried... :( we left them and legged it miles to the boarding gate not even time for DF shopping (bloody dogs wanted some new shades)

Got off at Montreal (had to go here as aircraft going to Halifax only took 1 dog) dogs were sat there waiting for us.

Totaly painless AC were fantastic from booking the flight to walking out of Montreal Airport.

Any questions please ask.

I have been told if you get the animal microchipped in N.America then take it back to UK then you will have to fork out for the chip scanner as the chips are not compatable with the UK scanners and DEFRA will want to have proof of chipping.

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

These are some questions and answers I got for the shipping company

When the dogs get delivered 4 ours prior to take off are they kept in the kennel for the entire time?

They have to check in four hours prior to export however if you wanted to stay with them after the check in process has been completed the handling agents normally allow you to take them out of the kennel and give them another walk prior to taking them into the holding area. If you choose not to do this then yes they would be in the kennel this whole time. Please note they will be checked on and staff will remove and replace bedding if required before pets make their way to the aircraft. Water will always be topped up during this waiting time also.



Are the staff on the plane notified that there are animals on the hold?

The pilot is made aware that there are pets on board as they are the ones in control of the air pressure in the hold of the aircraft. I do not know if other staff are made aware or not, however it will be on all manifests etc, and there are normally a few pets on these flights.

Does anyone know how far BA cargo is from terminal 3?

Re: taking pets with you when you move?
 

The air stewardesses knew that our dogs were on board and came and told us they had said hi to them before they took off!

Ours were in the cage from 4pm uk til 1am canadian pst - so about 15 hrs - a long time = but only 1 little wee!