blackburn lass

We have decided to take the dog with us to NZ. I have had some quotes but they are all from London airports. Anyone got details of companies which carry pets from Manchester?

I am slightly concerned about how the dog will cope with the journey, hunger, the container it travels in, will it be noisy for her or too cold and sorry to say it but the toileting sitution and how sad is it when you leave them?

Anyone had any experiences to warn me or even better to put my mind at rest, because at the minute this is distracting me from thinking of anything else about moving.

I know non-dog lovers will think I'm crazy.........I don't care, this is my baby.

Thanks
Dawn X

pixi-dust

hi there, we used a company called Golden Arrow, if you do a search you'll find lot about them. There are also other pet courier companies - I think Air Pets is one.
GA were brilliant. We took our dog over with us and like you I was a nervous wreck about it. But it was all totally fine. He had a very large crate, there are restrictions that say they must be able to stand up, move around etc. GA make the crates especially for your dog. They are lined in a lot of newspaper and they have a wee drinking thing. They have to be sealed but there's a tube that allows it to be filled up.

Bob ( our dog) arrived clean and happy. He hadn't pooped in the crate ( I think they arent allowed food a certain amount of time before the flight) He was incredibly happy to see us and did have a wee bit of jet lag for a couple of days but he was absolutely fine.

GA keep them with them for ( I think) a week before they fly as there are last tests to do. They are based in Shropshire, but they will transport your dog to them if need be. We drove ours down from Glasgow the day we flew as we also had 2 cats and it seemed the easiest way to do it.

Good luck, and you wont regret taking your dog for a second! Ours absolutely loves life here.

ps you're not daft! If our dog couldn't have come with us we wouldn't be here now - thats how soft we are.

Oh and there's no getting around it - I found it incredibly hard when we left him there - I was blubbing like a baby but I got the impression it was nothing they hadn't seen already.

kimberleyclarke2

Hi

We are planning to bring our 2 dogs over when we hopefully come to Auckland in September. Friends of ours used Animal Couriers and said they were fab, but i have a feeling they only fly out from London. They have a website so have a look on there. www.animalcouriers.com.

Best of luck with everything, Lindsay

Am Loolah

Hi Dawn,

Have a look through this recent thread as it may mention some that fly from Manchester or at least give you a few names to try.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...t=pet+carriers

We bought our 2 dobermans with us so know how you feel!

Foxesecho

I believe all animals leave and enter via Heathrow.

I suppose it is easier to control what is coming into the country, if only one airport has authority to deal with them.

We shall be using Golden Arrow to send our two dogs in June.

Foxy.

julesnye

I totally agree with pixi_dust, GA are definitely fantastic.
They met me at the ARK in heathrow to pick up my dog as they were dropping some animals off.
I got talking to the chap who happened to be the owners son and he said that his father used to look after the dogs on the queens estate in scotland and that they were made up of some 140 chocolate brown labradors, so I knew she'd be looked after really well.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Julian

Bermudashorts

I took my two cats with me to Bermuda and will be taking them to Australia with me next year. I don't think you are at all soft, we would not have moved without our cats. End of, we took them on for life.

We used Airpets when we move to Bermuda, they picked the cats up from our home and took them to their kennels where they stayed for about a month as we didn't have a rental to move into when we first went over. They then did all the paperwork and put them on the plane once we were ready. Of course it is a much shorter journey, but they arrived clean and well, although a bit puzzled at first.

Somebody on here has told me they used Golden Arrow to move their dog to Australia and were very happy with the service and said dog was just fine.

blackburn lass

Thanks for the replies, I've found a company who are based near to Mnachester Airport - PBS specialist Pet Travel. Anybody used them/heared of them?

Dawn X

zummerzet_lou

Just wanted to add another vote for Golden Arrow.

They took fabulous care of our golden retriever, whom arrived as fresh as a daisy at Auckland Airport (apart from the worlds largest wee).

GA had her for a few days prior to being shipped, and phoned me a few times during that time, just to let me know she was OK, and really was being well cared for. They were also fab in guiding us through the vet tests, and what we had to do etc, and always more than happy to answer any calls.

Jill and Rob Stanton

We used Airpets for our 12yr old moggie, and all I can say is they were fantastic......due to unforeseen circumstances our beloved cat had to stay at Airpets for 12weeks whilst we waited for our visa's that had been held up. We were allowed to visit, they kept in contact regarding our cats welfare and put my mind at rest.

When our cat eventually arrived, he was rather subdued, but once out of his container, he didnt stop yelling. It took him a few days to get his appetite back (most unlike our cat). He didnt smell, and was really clean after his long journey with no toilet facilities.

A friend of mine also used airpets for her dog, and though he needed a bath when he arrived, he was absolutley fine.

You will have your worries and doubts, but if you love your dog/cat enough then you will do whats best for them. For us we just couldnt leave him behind, as we had had him since he was a kitten, and he really didnt like strangers.

hope this helps

Jill

blackburn lass

I have since contacted Golden Arrow.....and feel sooooo much better. The website alone made me feel good, I called them and they sent me some info.
Didn't realise that it only takes 30 days to go through the whole process. And the best thing is that I can drop her off at their place myself as it is only a couple of hours drive from me

On the leaflet it mentions about getting a pet passport just in case we come back.....it makes sense.....anyone got any experience?

pixi-dust

we got our dog and cats pet passports. It's really just getting the vaccinations against rabies. It involves an injection and ( I think 20 days later) getting a blood test to make sure it's good.
There is a period of 6 months you have to wait ie 6 months after the initial vaccination before you could take the dog back into the country with no quarantine but after that so long as you keep up with the boosters it's fine. ( this was how it was when we did it )
TBH it was pretty expensive and we've obviously not come back!
BUT we thought that if for some reason we did have to move back it would be devastating to have to have Bob go into quarantine so that's why we did it.
Since being here we've also had our new dogs pet passported too just in case.

I'm really happy for you that GA managed to put your mind at rest.

BEVS

Golden Arrow website .

Frenchy

Hi Dawn
My 2 lovelies spent 36 hours in their crates and were fantastic when we picked them up (thanks to Golden Arrow) and not even a wee in the crate!!!!!

The were desperate for a wee when we picked them up!!!

They LOVE NZ 2 years on!!!!

Good luck!!!

sparkie down under

Ours came out with air NZ. They were fine. Very happy to see us, but fine.