haggis88

Hello,

Although things are in the preliminary stages right now, I'm just putting the feelers out for some of the bigger expenses related to moving back to the UK.

I didn't come here with pets, but now have inherited the girlfriends cat and dog she had before we met, so I'm a total noob on animal transport.

Initially I thought that the cat could go as hand-luggage, so long as all his vaccinations were up to date (which they are, and he's microchipped), but it appears that's only for domestic flights

The dog is another story, as I've been led to believe that as a Boxer, they think he'll have some hereditary issues with regards to breathing because he's a snub-nose. According to their website Air Canada just flat out refuse them, but their international guidelines are a bit sparse, as with most of the airlines I've looked at.

Was hoping someone could weigh in as to whether it's possible to do everything yourself with paperwork and dropping them at the cargo desk at the airport, or if it's easiest and safest to use an agent

As I mentioned, they're up to date on pretty much every vaccine and are microchipped

Was hoping we could get them into somewhere like Edinburgh or Glasgow with United, but obviously that's not a direct flight from Calgary...is sending them via the USA an option, or is that a whole other minefield?

Editha

Talk to Petsaway. They specialize in facilitating transport of pets via Airtransat, which flies from Calgary to Gatwick. You might be able to arrange a connecting flight to Glasgow.

TrishP

If none of the airlines will take the pup internationally, you could take the QE2.

Editha

Air transat has a page on pet transport nowadays: Flying With Pets and Airline-Approved Pet Carriers | Air Transat

So, it looks as if you can DIY it. When we used Air Transat in '014, they would only book animals through an agent, and there were only two: Petsaway and an outfit in Vancouver.

Boxers aren't listed as a breed they won't carry.

Moosemug

Hi! We recently moved from Toronto to Edinburgh. We have two Persian cats so came across the issue of the snub nose breeds. Air Canada would not take them but Air Transat were extremely helpful. I called them up and they gave me the number of their carrier, Sea Air. I dealt with the same person throughout the process and he was very patient with all my questions over the different requirements and making sure all the paperwork was in order. I had to buy very large carriers that met the required specification, but the cats arrived safe and well. They flew from Toronto to Glasgow and were checked over by the airport vet when they arrived. It would probably be a good idea to speak to your vet now so they can get ahead with paperwork and vaccinations.

haggis88

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Airpets has quoted $4098CAD, not including whatever fees they have in the UK when they land, and they could only get them to LGW, which is shite...

Have a couple of other companies waiting to get back to us.


I thought this was a brilliant idea, but the QE2 or QM2 won't take pets

Are there any freighters that take public passengers with their cargo? If that was possible, I'd load up a cargo trailer and take the truck with us too

TrishP

They do:Pet Friendly Cruise Ships Queen Mary 2- PetTravel.com
I know others on here have travelled to the UK with their pets on board - maybe someone can pitch in who's been there done that?

haggis88

Yeah hopefully someone can chime in....the part i read said no animals onboard with the exception of guide dogs - point 9 on the below page

Legal Information |Booking Conditions | Terms of Use | Cunard

Editha

Try another page on the same site:
https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/fleet/kennel_info

haggis88

I guess you need to call them for one-way rates?

I see they show Southampton-New York-Southampton, which apparently calls at Halifax, but the website doesn't give you the ability to select Halifax as a starting port

QM2 could end up being more hassle than it's worth, as cool as it would be

Siouxie

Look for repositioning cruises - you can get one-way on most of them.

http://cs.cruise.com/cs/forms/Cruise...241968||USD||1

http://www.iglucruise.com/search-results

http://www.repositioningcruise.com

http://www.cruisecompete.com/special...epositioning/1

britoutofwater

I believe that the QM2 is the only vessel that allows pets. I just called them for our dog. All voyages have waiting lists for the kennels until late next year

The kennel master said that sometimes people do make it onto the ship from the waiting list, but I think you can only get on the waiting list if you're booked on the voyage and there is no way of knowing which voyage is going to be the one that suddenly has a space. I don't have enough disposable funds to hold tickets on all future voyages just in case a space pops up, even if I paid for the fully refundable one.

We took the QM2 from NYC to Southampton in 2012 and it was amazing. I was looking forward to it maybe working out for us to do it again, but it doesn't look like it's to be this time!

Siouxie

Unless you designate your pet as a "service animal" - in which case, it can travel on some of the cruiselines in your cabin.

Dogs Gone Cruising | Cruise Talk Central

AirTransat do transport pets - it's around $280 one way normally from Europe travelling as excess baggage - however, pets travelling to the UK have to go through AirTransat Cargo - you could give them a call: http://www.leisurecargo.com/

haggis88

Ended up going with Boomerang Pet Carriers out of Calgary

$3700 all in, covers all fees at both sides, all paperwork and she even got us a new carrier for the cat as the one we had wasn't suitable

They go directly to Manchester and we pick them up from there

Mike Gas

Maybe to late for you but we have just taken are Labrador To the UK via Holland for a nine month holiday and now back in Canada.