cluedweasel

Sorry for the late reply. Been busy with doing the ToR and stuff. It's Starwood who I believe quoted you $4k from a later post. It looks like they vary a lot in cost.

joleah

I tried that stopped at customs and was asked why a 68 year old man was wearing a bra with a cat stuffed in it.Got away with it used the ........old and confused routine....works every time................

Lion in Winter

Just to update - yes, it can be done, at least from the US to the UK and in a major centre like Chicago.

I read all the instructions (carefully!) and managed all the paperwork and health check and certifications myself on the US end, with the help of my vet who is a USDA certified vet and understood the process. It isn't difficult, just quite detailed and you must absolutely get those details 100% right, and a little nervy on timelines. I used IAG, the BA cargo group, who put our cat on the same flight as us but we had to book a slot at the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC) about 8 weeks in advance (although you cannot book the animal's flight until 13 days out). There are limited flights they will put the animal on. For example, the one after ours was not suitable since they were carrying dry ice as cargo and that would not have been safe for the pets. I delivered the cat to the cargo area at O'Hare (having scoped it out the week before so I knew where to go) and then we went to the passenger terminal. The IAG guy doing the loading kindly called me to confirm that he had personally put our cat on the plane, which was reassuring. The HARC were very responsive, and when I emailed them a while after landing they responded quickly that they had our cat, he was fine, and was in the waiting area with food and water while they did his paperwork. You do need an agent to clear customs and pay VAT on the UK side, but the cost was quite modest. I also paid them to deliver the cat to our Air BnB in Essex, which was well worth doing since it takes them a few hours to clear customs. The cat's ticket (freight?) cost about 1,000 USD, but on the bright side that was about 3k less than paying an agent to do it on the US side. There were some modest costs for the vet check and health certificate, too, on the US side.

Stelly

What is this rule, please? Maybe I didn't drink enough tea yet this morning, but can't even think what I'd type into a search engine to discover this, lol.

We sent our dog over to my parents years ago and obviously didn't follow her within 5 days. If we send the cat over it's likely I will already be in UK and the cat will be put on the plane by my husband here. I did all the paperwork myself here for the dog, so I guess I'd do that again for the cat.

Just wondering what the rule was. Thanks.

Lion in Winter

All I know is from US to UK, but it's a UK requirement. You can bring your animal in as a personal pet as long as the owner will also arrive in the UK within 5 days of the animal's flight. If you do not, you can still import the animal but it's a different and more complex procedure. I don't know if it's possible to designate somebody else as the "owner" for the purposes of the trip. Things may well have changed since you sent the dog.

https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain

I think it's all in here, a few paragraphs down.

Stelly

Thanks! Trust them to make it more complex! Were they really losing that much money each year on imported pets?!?

Lion in Winter

Unclear.

It isn't a difficult process, just a bit complicated and everything has to be exactly right.

Also, allow time for whoever is flying your animal to book a slot at Heathrow (Heathrow Animal Reception Centre). They do not have unlimited spots and I had to book several weeks ahead so don't get caught out. And if it's too hot they won't fly them at all

Lion in Winter

Also, here are the details on the Health Certificate. You must get the pen and ink signed version. The ASDA certified vet can use the online application, but you have to send a prepaid FedEx or UPS label, addressed to yourself, for them to send the paper certificate back, and this bit has to happen within a 10-day window before the animal flies. We got our cat's back the day before we flew This certificate application must be filled out exactly right, down to the smallest detail, so read the instructions very carefully and double-check your vet's work so your animal doesn't miss his/her flight.

I tried to get the precheck of docs done, but never heard back from HARC. It was all fine anyway.


https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet...-treatments-uk

Stelly

I did the whole thing with my dog in 2012 and I did the APHIS stuff myself, luckily they aren't that far away in my state. If we go back it's likely we will go into Dublin, so that's less of an issue too. Fingers crossed.

I'm just fascinated by them adding in a compulsory layer of expense and hassle. Requiring people to show up within 5 days or charging them as if they were importing pets is interesting. My dog went to my parents while we moved house (I didn't see her again for 6 months), and then of course, they wouldn't give her back, but as an import she was essentially worthless (priceless to me!!). Yet under new rules they would have considered her an imported animal. Weird.