Not any more - the UK now requires you to ship dogs as "cargo", even if you are on the same flight. It used to be if you were on the same flight they could be loaded as "extra baggage" - same place and conditions as dogs flying "cargo", but at a cost of about $100. This hasn't applied for several years, though.

Re: Some of the comments in other posts, lots of people rehome pets for lots of reasons, some trivial (too much bother to take care of), others more substantial (personal illness, inability to care for the pet any more). I think too many people (several of my neighbours included) don't realise the responsibility of owning a pet when they adopt a dog, or just see them as a status symbol, personal property, or a plaything for their kids.

Flying a dog (or more) between countries is a HUGE undertaking, for financial and logistical reasons. Sometimes rehoming the dog (or cat) is simply the most responsible thing to do, and is not just a case of taking the easy option. As per my earlier comment, if you aren't particularly attached to your pet, leaving them behind is probably better for them as well as you. At least you gave them a home for a time, which is more than some dogs get.

'Next time' - I simply mean another time where having a a dog or cat has become inconvenient whether it is because of money, space or care. i.e. moving house, changes in income, growing/bigger family etc life throws us lots of changes.
And before you think that is an attack, it really isn't, you've said it yourself that it will cost too much, and the LL issue and then the care issue and I am not surprised as you have so many pets.

There are good reasons to rehome pets, as long as you rehome them with people that you know and trust (i.e. family members, friends etc) who will take good care of them, then everyone is happy and seeing as the dogs are 'tolerable' at best, then they could find a home that absolutely adores them like part of the family so really they might be happier than now...cats... well they mostly just don't care ha!

But on the other end of that happy story, there are LOADS of pets in shelters who have been abandoned because of inconvenience, some get rehomed and happy endings, some get rehomed for a while before the cycle repeats itself (and you won't know if you home it with a stranger) and a lot end up being put down, that is the hard truth.

I'm really NOT attacking the OP, I would do the exact same thing in her situation (I would probably ship 2 pets mind) but my point is, is to NOT get into THAT situation again because it looks like she is the one that ends up becoming the 'bad guy' when really she is being the realistic and practical one.
I'm simply saying it is better to not have so many pets in general so that they are more manageable and transferable to life changes and if that still makes you feel bad, then you have to ask yourself why and be honest with the answer.

Dunroving - One way to escape the excessive cargo charges, and fly them as 'excess baggage' is to fly to somewhere like France and then get the ferry etc. This is what I've been told anyway.

I completely agreed with "Mummy in the foothills" and my own suggestion is giving her away to another family.......

We just travelled with our 4 dogs from LA to the UK via NYC on the QM2 - it wasn't that expensive (I think it worked out to be $2400) Yes it might seem a lot to some but at the end of the day it wasn't even a question of "should we bring them or not?" There was no way I could re-home my dogs. I made the decision to bring them into the family and they are not disposable.

The ability to bring that many pets back to the UK with you not only depends on your ability to pay, but also what your living situation is on the other side. If you already own a home, you know it won't be a problem finding a place to live that will allow them. If you do not own a home to return to, then you will have to rent. From my brief research, finding pet-friendly rentals is no easy task even if you have 1 pet, more or less 4.

Better to re-home before you leave the US, than to find yourselves in the UK with no place to live because they won't take pets, and then having to dump the animals off at shelters instead of new loving home...especially after you just paid all that money to bring them back with you.

I didn't consider our dogs disposable either. Which is why we worked with the breeder to help us find a new home for our pure-bred, and worked with the adoption shelter we adopted our other dog from to find a new home for her. We met the 2 families the dogs were going to, to make sure we felt comfy with them. We didn't just drop them off at nearest animal shelter and leave them there.

When a situation arises in your life that you won't allow you to keep your pets, whether its because you lost your job or have gotten sick or have to move for a job (etc), the responsible thing to do, IMHO, is to find your pets new homes if you can no longer care for them. There is no shame in that. Its not like you are simply dumping them on the side of the road.

Thank you for clarifying that. I just felt a little sensitive, like people think I am such a bad person for thinking my pets are "disposable"- which I don't by the way. Our pets are all a part of our family. When I said the dogs were tolerable- I meant in my eyes they are not like my children (how could they be- no offense to people who consider their pets their children- but to me I have 4 children and I have pets- there's a huge distinction between the two!) but also not evil awful beasts that I can't wait to part with. If it's a matter of having housing for my human family and making sure my children have what they need or bringing the pets with us I would of course pick the first option.
Yes, we have a ton of pets, yes, I have been a sucker for "can I please have a (insert whatever animals- the snake, hamster, rabbit and fish are all my children's)" and yes I own up to taking responsibility for all of them. My thing is what to do next.

Thanks for letting me know it's been done and has not been too horribly expensive. I have been under the impression that a trip for a dog would cost more than a trip for a human and that just blows me away.
I don't know your situation, I don't know how you managed to find housing for 4 animals but in my researching I see very clearly how incredibly hard it is to find a place (rental) that will allow so many. I have 3 small dogs (Maltese/ShihTzu's) and they are noisy, even if we did manage to find a place that would allow them we would still have the dilemma of trying to keep them quiet being that mostly likely we would end up in a semi or partial. Right now we have space and room, put us all in a small semi rental with 3 loud dogs and our neighbors would be lining up to offer their displeasure. Oh and on top of all of that we are wanting to find either a partial or fully furnished place.

That's another aspect of dog ownership in the UK vs. US that I don't see mentioned very often. In the US, after the morning walk and feed, Suzy was left out all day in a nice yard with squirrels, sunshine, and a view (chain link fences may be ugly, but at least you can see through them). I didn't need to worry when I went to work or when I got home, she was fine outside and had plenty to entertain her. She was always bouncy and happywhen I got home, ready for her evening walk and dinner/snooze overnight in the house.

Here, I no longer have a "single family" (detached) home, the weather is awful more often than not, the garden isn't especially big and the fence is a high, solid wood fence. I therefore had to arrange (and pay for) dog-walking and keep her in the house during the day. I did try leaving her in the garden but she a) started barking through boredom/unable to see anything outside the garden (the neighbours let me know soon enough!) and b) was soaking wet and muddy by the time I came home (despite having a shed to shelter in, she seemed to want to lie in the mud).

None of this occurred to me before I brought her back. If I had known, it wouldn't have changed my decision, but if I had 4 kids and 3 dogs, I definitely would have thought twice, knowing the additional challenges of dog ownership in the UK.

I think if you get some quotes for taking the pets back, it might help convince your husband.

We flew our 20 lb Jack Russell for Manchester to Las Vegas only last year and it cost $1300.

The size of the dog and the flight distance changes the price alot.

The QE2 is a lot cheaper.

We got quotes from United airways for around $600 a pet. Flying from Dallas to London. Filling in the forms the correct way are proving to be impossible. No vets around here have dealt with this, and i thought that I was being Pro-active about filling them in at the time of the new rabies and chip , buta apparently I did it too early . If I could I would re-home the pets here . We too have no where to live at the moment and are renting , and most houses that are nice are not pet friendly. Its the kids hearts that i am trying not to break , but i am having a hard time doing it all and moving 5 people. i still dont know ANYTHING about what I am doing.

You are doing the right thing.

Thank you for saying that.
I totally get what you're saying about not wanting to break your kids' hearts, I have had those very same struggles. It's really hard- just moving across the planet is hard, add extra people, all the technicalities of everything and then top it with trying to sort pets... well, I really don't know how people manage. As far as not knowing anything about what you're doing, I'm in the same boat.

Beccarose, I'm a latecomer to this thread. I understand your situation perfectly well, as we are in exactly the same pickle. It is NOT a pleasant decision to make. I have 2 rescue dogs that our family has loved for 4 years now. I'm currently desperately looking for good homes. We are moving back to London in about 6 months' time, we will most probably be able to afford a flat, and one of my dogs is an uncurable wall-jumper, which makes it almost impossible to even consider taking her along. My little dachshound is 10, he is super cute, but as a rescue dog he has never been properly house trained, which again makes it so difficult for me to find him a good home. To tell you the truth, I don't really know what I'm going to do. My 7-year old daughter is distraught, but I thought it best to tell her the truth from early on.

Don't let anyone judge you. This is a very personal and probably heartbreaking decision to make. No-one else knows your exact circumstances.

Thank you for what you said MagsB. I really for you and the situation you're in. It is really tough and I hope you're able to find wonderful homes for your doggies.
This may be out of place but I've seen a lot of people list their pets on Craigslist and then weed out any inquiries from there. If we can't find another way we will be doing this ourselves. You can meet with the prospective new owners as much as you need to to make sure they are the right family.
Again, thanks for the kind words and support.

I also suggest contacting rescue foundations to see if they could help you. They could list your pet on their website, or though petfinder.org. When we had to rehome our dog, we contacted the animal foundation we adopted her from, and they helped us find a new home. They charged an adoption fee, and required an application. So they were basically doing a background check on the person. That helped to know the mother and child we eventually went with were legit, as they really had to want our doggie.

And more importantly, the animals won't be put in a situation that ends up with them being broken-hearted and frightened.