Taking your pet with you...
 

Hi

Has anyone had experience taking their pet/pets with them to NZ for the UK?
How did they find this process? Was this pretty straight forward?

Any comments or advise on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks:)

Kezzar

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

You have to be quite organised and get all the jabs and tablets in time...your vet will advise you.

Then it's a question of picking a pet travel service. Search the forum for recommendations but tbh I think most of the big ones seem very good. However it will cost you...reckon on 1000 pounds for a cat and 1500 plus for a dog.

Finally you mention pets. Cats and dogs are OK from UK to NZ BUT many others pets are banned. Check the MAF web site.

Finally finally .... DO IT. There are some people who beacuse of the cost or age of the animals leave their pets at home. We brought our 6 year old cat with us and he settled very quickly and helped my wife and children settle enormously.

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

If you do a search on this forum on "Golden Arrow",who are a very good pet exporter, it should help you find everything you need :thumbsup:

You can't export them privately, you will need a pet agent.

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

we brought our two ragdolls aged 9 with golden arrow and they were fine. cost 2000 pounds which included 17 days board. would definately recommend them.

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

yes twice and would do it again we picked our beloved dog up on Saturday the worst part was the proces at Auckland Airport at 6am! (another story)

I would recommend that they come after you so you can get over jet lag find feet etc. as we have found out our pet does not seem to have any jet lag and is raring to go upon arrival!:)

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

Hi we are taking our two boxer dogs to new zealand next month we knew it would cost a lot, and it does, dont be fooled in to thinking its not to expensive.

For our two dogs we are also getting pet passports just so if we have to come back there will be be no 6 months quaranteen which is very costly too.

our dogs have to be on the same flight as us as well as they wont hold them at AUK so we had to book everything carefully. we are using Airpets at heathrow as we have used them before to move dogs about.

the cost is about £5k for both dogs + the vets fees, which include jabs, worming, Po* sample testing, all this has to be done on the exact dates before travel or they dont go:frown:

All in all if you want to take your pet, its about the same cost as a first class seat for yourself :thumbup:

One other thing for dogs, they hold them in kennels for a few days before flight to check they are OK to travel and reduce their food intake so they dont need a No 2 on the flight.

apart from that Airpets have the documents all sorted you just follow the directions and take it to your vet for them to follow and understand and its pretty simple..
Dont be fooled into thinking a move to NZ is cheap, :frown: it can be if you take nothing with you, or someone else pays for it :thumbup:

I'd estimate that with all the hidden costs and costs from conception to moving in to your new NZ house, with 2 kids and 2 dogs and all our stuff is in the region of £20K

Good Luck:fingerscrossed:

Cliff

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

Hi

I'd be interested in the process at AUK, we arrive early AM too

Cliff

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

We were instructed to turn up 40 mins after flight landed, go to airline Cargo and pick up bill wayfare, then go to MAF and pay $35 then go to Customs with all paper work, out of hours this is on the mezanine floor of the international terminal and a short walk, (remember your passport or driving licence) fill in more forms and wait to see if a fee! go back to cargo pay a further $33 to airline and then wait for the beloved pet to be released
all in all on Saturday this whole process took 2 hours we finaly met our dog at 8am after him landing at 5.30am and al he wanted was to go for a walk no jet lag or anything!

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

We brought our two cats with Golden Arrow. So glad we did, no ill effects whatsoever and the process was all pretty straightforward.

The cats are having a great time here - before NZ they lived in South Leeds and had never seen grass, trees or mice!!

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

Hi
thanks for that, we land on a monday am about 6.30. I guess we need to have some $ cash on us, it seems they have you by the short and curlys and know they have your pet so you'll pay the fees, oh well its all part of the process...

thanks

Cliff

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

Hi,

We did things abit differently...we shipped ur 2 cats and household a month BEFORE we flew:eek: We had our rental here sorted so used that has a NZ address and they got picked up by a Cattery/boarding kennels on the day of their arrival....we had worked out that boarding the 2 cats in NZ for a whole month plus airport pick up was actually CHEAPER then boarding them in the UK for the same amount of time...the cattery owners where very good about the whole thing and kept me updated with their progress via e-mail. They even held on to them until my container arrived and our things were unpacked...it was the best decision i made because once the cats did get home they were completely settled having their own things/smells around them.:thumbup:

We used Ladyhaye to transport them who were very helpful. :thumbup: and the cheapest quote...alot cheaper then Golden Arrow and more willing to get them on the prefered flight that suited us (we flew them out just before Christmas and Golden Arrow refused to get them on the 23rd Dec flight saying it was to sort notice, even though i was trying to book Novemeber time yet Ladyhaye got them on the same flight saying it wasn't an issue?)...they use Air New Zealand via LA (night flight) so that the animals arent left on hot tarmac whilst the plane gets re-fueled and re-loaded:thumbup::thumbsup:

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

One more thing, I Know you have to get the dogs registered, is this something that is done at the airport or am I going to have to do that at the local city council of where I live?

Cliff

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

we brought our 2 year old dalmatian out with us 5 months ago and she flew in the day after we did :)
We used Golden arrow, they were not the cheapest quote but i read all the feedback on here and i must say they were excellent :thumbsup:
We are still only 5 months in to our nz lifestyle so it has had its ups and downs emotionally but it would have been far worse if we had not brought 'Rubie' with us.
Since being here we have made sooo many friends through her!!!! whilst walking on the beach which has made life alot easier in the initial months.
She cost around 3400 ( pounds) to send out ( she is a very tall supermodel dalmatian and initially golden arrow thought we had the size wrong) hence the expense but worth every penny and more!:wub:

Golden arrow took out all the hassel and gave us clear instrusctions of what samples were needed when! infact it was quite painfree apart from saying good bye and knowing you were not going to see her until you were on the other side of the world!:(

She is now living the doggy dream and loving it:thumbsup:
worth every stress free penny:thumbsup:

Re: Taking your pet with you...
 

It's a local council thing.