Midsomer

Hi

We are planning our move to France, from Perth, Western Australia, and one of the really important factors for us is transporting our pets. We have 4 dogs and a cat, none of whom we could bear to be separated from.

We have enquired of one company, Jetpets, about the issue, and they only use Thai Airlines, who they claim are very good, but the total flight time is nearly 24 hours (assuming no delays), with NO food allowed to be provided, and they provide no guarantees, and admit that there have been deaths en route. Short of winning the lottery and being able to charter our own jet (we're still trying! ), we look like we are stuck with a commercial airline.

We would be very interested to know of anyone else's experiences, good or bad, with transport of pets over long distances, and any advice you may have.

Thanks for any suggestions - Jeremy and Debra

val50

we moved to France from Namibia, with 2 dogs (labrador and Maltese poodle) and 3 cats. As there are no direct flights from Windhoek to Paris, they had to go via Germany, so took 2 days for them to get there. They were all fine, had no problems and picking them up from the airport was hastle free.
There are a number of companies based in France that handle pet relocation - if you do a search on Google you will find them


http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid...ation%2bFrance

it might also be worth contacting Air France as they have offices in Australia, to see what options they offer.

beigey

we moved our big dog and 2 cats from Dubai in December - we went via Paris to Marseille - total time including delays was 24hours - they were a bit stressed when the arrived but settled in quickly.

We flew with Air France and everything was straight forward - we did use a pet relocation company to get our pets out of Dubai which was really worth the money.

Just make sure all your vaccines and certificates are up to date (pack for yourselves early - the paperwork for your four legged family is a little time consuming!)

Good luck!

hkenee

Hi
We are in the same position as you , moving from Bunbury to France , hopefully March 2010. We are just starting to look into how to get our two dogs over with us, They are both Microchipped and tattooed . We were very interested to know that Jetpets used Thai airlines and that it is 24 hr trip. One dog is a greyhound and I think 24 hours in a crate might be too much for him. Any info as to what direction to point us would be great.
Cheers
Hazel & Jeff

beigey

strongly advise you contact a professional who handles pet relocation - they are the best to advise you on your options if there are any! My pets were in their boxes for 24hrs ... they were ok, stressed when then got to the other end. The youngest cat was ok in 12 hrs and the 5 year old dog took 3 days to eat he was so freaked out from the experience but they all bounced back and really have never been happier. I think mum (me) was more stressed out before, during and after!!!

Tweedpipe

I should imagine that Bunbury to France would be a nice little trip for a greyhound, although the hare would be a bit the worse for wear on arrival......
But seriously, I hope you eventually get things sorted out ok.

may09041944

Hi

Sorry my distance would not help as we are driving down to our property with our pets.

Maureen

scaredycat

Bunbury's a wonderful place.. why are you moving? But then, so is France

Ade100

We just brought our Golden Retriever to Nice from Singapore using Air France. Changing at Paris we got to see Madame and gave her some food so it was only about 12 hours of fasting. And of course they are allowed to have water.

She was very glad to get out of her cage and have a romp around the gardens at Nice airport but all in all I don’t think it was too traumatic for her. It was just great to take her straight home (when we took her to Singapore, she had to go into quarantine for 30 days).

may09041944

Thank you for getting back to me, did you have to contact an organisation in France to say you were bringing a dog in the country, as my vet said I need to contact someone in France, if so do you still have a contact address/ e-mail.
Thank you
May

Ade100

We had an agent in Singapore to handle the paperwork but I know they were in touch with the French Ministry of Agriculture at (+33 1 4862 2322). I think there was an import license involved too but I am not clear where that came from – probably the French customs.

may09041944

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly, I will contact them, both pets have had rabies injections, micro chipped, we have been told we need to get back to the vet for their passports within 30 days prior to leaving England.

May

may09041944

Thank you for your advise, our pets ages in human terms are the cat is 85 and the dog is 75, but we will be taking our pets with us in the car, we intend to drive down we can not depend on someone else knowing what is good for our pets and us, I get stressed thinking about it.