indigogirl1976

Hi there...i'm awaiting my greencard but am beginning to look into how to move my pet to Florida. My husband is going ahead to establish domicile so we were thinking of sending our cat (who we brought over here to the UK from the USA) home with him.

I've been doing some googleing but I can't seem to get a clear answer for the paperwork we would need for Florida. We are going to use Aer Lingus...but when I called them to ask what paperwork we would need (vet certificate...fitness to fly certificate etc) the helpful lady told me it was my responsibility to check out the states laws on the importation of animals. However...when I looked at Florida's department of agriculture website it really didn't make sense to me.

Has anyone moved a pet to florida recently and could share their experience?

1chumly

Check with USDA and CDC and the Florida State Veterinarian offices

Try these

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_wel...t_travel.shtml

http://www.usaha.org/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/animalimportation...nimalToUs.html

I am not sure about cats but you may have to have a rabies cert and Health cert both of which can be stamped into a pet passport if you have one. Airlines have their own rules too.

I ended up calling the offices but be sure you get a name of who you spoke to and I called at least twice as you often get a different answer depending who you talked to the next time. Then it is who to believe and do you call a third time?!

Good luck

indigogirl1976

I had a read through all those websites...i'm still none the wiser on where I get a health certificate...do I just get my vet here in the UK to make one up?

1chumly

Yes, but he has to have government credentials of some sort to do that (most of them do). I can't remember what its called but your vet will know. Have you also looked at DEFRA's site? Does your cat have a pet passport?

meshwill

if you use someone like petair they can advise you what to do and they also do a lot of the paperwork, the health check is carried out by the vet and then stamped into the pet passport, it is a check to say weight, vaccines, blood tests etc re rabies vaccines etc etc.
I would strongly recommend a pet passport and rabies jabs, even if you don't think you need them it is better to be safe than sorry.
Also check re the "fit to fly" certificate, this needs to be done within 7-10 days of flight depending on the airline you use, they all vary.
I called DEFRA, even called the US Embassy and the agriculture import dept and everyone told me different things, it is also different per state so best to cover all options!.
Good luck with it all, I was very worried about bringing my cat over (she's 16yrs old) but it all went really smoothly and she is happy in her new home!.

cowtowntaff

I've just imported my pet rabbit into the USA. I followed the information here...

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_exp...rts_pets.shtml

Crucially for you...

A good Vet in the UK should be down with all this. The Vet for my rabbit in Amsterdam prepared a simple letter on headed notepaper confirming...

Animal is a domestic animal in good health.
Animal fit to travel.
List of recent innoculations.

When I got to customs at Dulles Airport they didn't even inspect the paperwork. They had a quick look at the rabbit, removed the hay from his kennel and happily sent us on our way.

I got way more hassle from the airline (United). I would definitely print out that USDA page because they tried to refuse my rabbit travel because he did not have a rabies jab, which is extremely uncommon for a rabbit and not a USDA requirement.

Florida does have a rabies jab requirement for cats which contradicts the USDA. At an airport you'll be dealing with USDA though so you still shouldn't need it. No idea if Cats get a rabies jab as a matter of course, if they do just get that done less than 30 days before you travel, keep proof of it and you're sorted. Better to be safe than sorry.

indigogirl1976

Thank-you....this really helps!

Richmark

Hi,
We emigrated out to Lakewood ranch (Florida) in September 2010 from near Leeds in West Yorkshire and we brought out little dog with us at the same time. She actually flew out on the same plane as us so she was there ready for collecting when we arrived.
It all went very well for our little dog and us, although she was the only pet on the flight out.