Welsh Heart

We will be returning to the UK mid next year with our 2 year old labrador who weighs about 35Kgs. We are still at the early stages of looking in to pet shipping and am wondering if anyone has moved a dog recently and who you used and what type of dog/price etc.

Our vet who is administering the rabies shot tells us we must use Qantas and must fly into Heathrow, is this accurate?

Roll on landing back in the UK next summer.

reeni

I don't know about Qantas, but heathrow IS the only airport taking pets. I hear Air Canada does pets too.

poppycat

By air, pets can also enter the UK via Manchester.

zednought

I'm assuming that you're taking your dog back under the PETS scheme. If this is the case there are only certain routes and carriers you can use. DEFRA controls where and who these are, you can find the list here. This document is pretty up to date and was last revised on 14 October 2010.

Based on this list and assuming, for example, you are departing from Sydney and destined for Gatwick the only airline you can use currently is Emirates Skycargo.

john5655

just a couple of points to consider

firstly, the list posted by Z0 is the list of DEFRA approved routes, but bear in mind sometimes the routes do not actually accept pets on board even if they appear on this list (example is Virgin from Hong Kong to LHR, they have been approved but don't have the infrastructure in place to deal with pets), also, avoid any airline that "changes planes" en route as this can add to journey times as transit times can be lengthy, so best to use an airline where the aircraft completes the whole route, e.g. QF or BA. After all, your pet will be inside its crate from about 5 hours before takeoff until about two hours after landing.

secondly, LHR deals with pets more often so work extended hours, I believe LGW closes at weekends

don't worry about your 35Kg dog, he doesn't need to slim down to save you money as the cost of shipping is based on the volume size of the crate you use

just so you know, I flew BA into LHR last week with our dog and two cats
happy to help out with any further questions

reeni

well i am a plonker ...teaches me to reply before i have coffee in my system! I looked into it awhile ago and obviously committed the wrong stuff to memory.

Sorry about that

reeni

zednought

Good call john. Also some approved airlines have an embargo at certain times during the year, e.g. Air Canada won't transport animals between 7th December and 15 January. My advice, plan ahead and double check everything.

postman62

Hi

I'm in the process of getting my dog back to the UK, she actually flies back with Air Canada on Saturday. I decided to do it myself rather than go through a pet travel company because it worked out cheaper, it has cost us $1,700 CAD, that includes the price of the flight and 310 pound DEFRA charge when she lands, we already had a crate from when we brought her over to Canada. The only headache with doing it yourself is making sure all the paperwork is correct, but DEFRA have been really helpful going through what we need and also the cargo company have answered all my questions. Have a look at the DEFRA site.

john5655

agreed

DEFRA are really nice people (at LHR at least), very understanding and happy to field queries by phone or email. I visited the LHR animal reception centre ahead of our move as I was in UK, they suggested emailing copies of my documentation for them to check if all was OK

To expand on Z0's remarks, yes, please check individual airline requirements. Some will NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES carry dogs of certain breeds, e.g. dangerous breeds or dogs with inherent breathing problems, usually those with snub noses, others will impose seasonal restrictions because of the heat, or will demand extra sized crates to compensate. Pets may also need airline mandated "fit to fly" health certificates on top of the DEFRA requirements

brits1

We used our local Kennel who also exported overseas....our pet flew direct to London...put on another plane and was checked in at Manchester...it cost us $2,700.....not sure which airline was used.......but our pet was fine.....the Kennels did not medicate her as such, they gave her herbal chews.....this was all done from Perth.W.A

Welsh Heart

Just a quick one but.....

Do we the family have to travel on the same flight as our dog or not?

Jerseygirl

Usually no but it's best to check with the airline or the company handling the transportation of your pet.

brits1

No, you can go months before if you want to....you do not have to use the same Airline either...you can fly with whoever you choose.....

Pomster

We used All Creatures to move our cat over from Melbourne.

They had a really competitive quote and were excellent. They organised everything and checked all paperwork was correct before sending our cat.

We left her with friends (to allow the 6 month rabies blood test period to pass) and Wayne from AC spoke to them regularly and emailed me (in UK at that point).

Puss arrived in good shape- think she arrived via BA into Heathrow.
Pet clearance takes several hours (5ish hours) so it is almost better if they arrive on a different flight to you unless you are happy to loiter at the airport for that long.

CazYaz

Don't suppose you could name drop? That is 50% of my best quote.........