Editha

The pet mover company I'm using has asked for documentation in addition to the forms. The first is a letter from the vet for each cat confirming that it has been vaccinated and giving the make and type of vaccine and period of immunisation. The second letter is after the examination confirming that the animal is fit to fly (within 10 days of travel). It might be a good idea to get your vet to do similar letters for yours.

And also have the documentation for the chip. My vet was putting the wrong microchip number on the forms -- so check it.

windsong

Thanks, Editha. Those letters are a good idea. I have the rabies vaccination certificates and I have the paper cover that the chips were in - it states they are ISO compliant, but that's all I have for the chips. I will ask him if there is anything else I should have for the chips.

rebeccajo

You have to allow time after the 21 days for the APHIS office to sign off on your paperwork.

You must travel within 10 days of the date of that signature.

Your local vet must also tapeworm treat the dogs within five days of your departure.

So it is most unlikely you can fly out on the 23rd day.

rebeccajo

Isn't the Health Certificate a Canadian requirment?

windsong

It might be possible . . . let's see if this will work:

- 20th or 21st day - vet does tapeworm treatment and same day gives me the paperwork to take to APHIS

- 22nd day - APHIS signs paperwork

- Fly out on 23rd or 24th day

This all assumes there is no weekend in between which I need to check.

Or am I missing something here?

windsong

The APHIS site talks about a health certificate here:

USDA - APHIS - Regulations and Assessments

Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to where it says "Pet Dogs/Cats/ Ferrets - Health Certificate (Movement of 5 or less non-commercial animals) "

lgabriel73

The microchip number must be on the rabies certificate, and you should get your vet to write a letter that states that the chips were implanted prior to the rabies vaccination.

lgabriel73

You can get APHIS to sign the paperwork before the tapeworm treatment, its much easier that way. Get the paperwork from your vet take it to APHIS then have your vet do the tapeworm and sign on the certificate between 1-5 days before travel. APHIS don't need to see that the tapeworm was done in order to sign the health certificate.

windsong

I have the rabies certificates for both dogs but there are no microchip numbers on them. I wonder why it is necessary for these numbers to be on the rabies certificates.

I will have him write a letter to say the chips were implanted prior to the vaccination. I assume this is a "just in case" letter and not so much a DEFRA/APHIS requirement. Right?

lgabriel73

they won't give you the health certificate until 21 days has passed so you could get the health certificate on day 22 and then you have 10 days during which you can fly. Have you checked about whether they have appointments for the health certificate signing or if they only accept them by mail? Each office does it differently and this could actually affect when you are able to fly.

lgabriel73

Its to prove that the rabies shot was actually given to the dog with the microchip number. The chip number is the ID for your dog and all documentation has to prove that the dog with this number was given the required treatment. If it is not on your rabies certificate then you WILL have to have the letter proving that the microchip was implanted before the rabies shot was given. If you don't get this letter they will not fly your dogs.

windsong

So if I get the health certificate signed on day 22 and let's say the vet does the tapeworm treatment on day 21 or 23, then I have four days AFTER the tapeworm treatment in which to fly - and within 10 days of the certificate being signed by APHIS.

Is this correct?

I should buy ticklets tomorrow so I need to get these dates correct.

lgabriel73

why bother having the tapeworm done before the certificate is signed? Get the cert signed then do the tapeworm a couple of days before you leave. You really need to get the flights booked before you can plan it out. Much easier when you can do it by calendar date. If you are planning to leave within 3 weeks and don't have flights for the dogs or yourself you may find that your plans have to change. Get the flights booked and then work out from there what needs to be done on what date.

Oh and don't forget that your airline will have paperwork requirements too that need to be completed separate to the DEFRA paperwork.

Bluegrass Lass

Do you an option of using the airlines' boarding facility windsong? When I flew over to the UK last Sept with our 2 cats, this is what I had to do.

I used United, and was flying into Edinburgh, so the cats had to go through Newark as the 'gateway' city per DEFRA requirements. So I had to drive about 4 hours to another domestic city in order to get them on a pet friendly flight to Newark (apparently my local airport did not have any flights that would/could handle pets). They then stayed overnight in boarding facilities coordinated through United. The following day, my flight left my local airport and I joined them in Newark. So I was on the same transatlantic flight to Edinburgh as them. Hope that explanation made sense. There was an additional fee for the boarding of course.

The other options were as you said, that I would have to coordinate a hotel room, and stay overnight in a gateway city and then drive them to that airport's cargo facility. There was no way I could have handled that.

We were pretty worried about their well-being with being boarded, but felt we didn't have a choice. They turned out just fine when we arrived in Edinburgh.

windsong

Well, this entire gateway city issue arose when I talked to Delta. Initially, they said I could use their boarding facilities because the pets would be there for abut 10 hours before the international departure. Then, they came back and corrected themselves, saying I had to use a pet transport company instead. The city I would have been flying out of is not a gateway city but Delta would have been connecting in Atlanta which is one of their gateway cities. The problem, they said, is that I would be flying on a domestic flight that connects with an international flight. It's still Greek to me! I do plan to call them back to see if I can talk to someone else but this has got me a little nervous about using Delta.

Lufthansa seems to have it together, though. They also have flights that leave early in the morning and in the evening when it is much cooler here.