TimandRae

Hi all,

We've just moved to the US with our 40lb Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Leo, and I thought I'd share some of our thoughts for anyone looking at a similar move.

First off, there are a number of agencies out there that will arrange for pets to be flown more or less anywhere in the world and in all honesty, if I were to do this all again, I'd probably use one of them. I think once everything was taken into account we probably saved about £100 doing it ourselves and looking back I'd gladly spend that for the convenience of having him collected from home and delivered to our final destination. Airpets (airpets.com) is one operator that has been recommended a number of times on this site.

We got Leo's travel crate online from Doggie Solutions and it's great. Since we've been in the US it's served as his bed as well as keeping him contained on a recent trip up to Canada. Leo's crate is very sturdy plastic and I think I'd prefer that to the wooden ones that many of the pet transport companies will make (although they are tailored to the size of the animal so there's no worries about them being refused transit).

We flew him with Virgin Atlantic Cargo from Heathrow and they were very helpful, talking us through what was required. They were one of the few airlines that will actually accept cargo from members of the public. Most of the others (such as BA, KLM and Delta) require you to use a pet transport company.

Leo seemed to take the flight in his stride and was happy to see us when we collected him at Boston airport. I'm told that for a dog that's used to travelling in a crate, flying is just like a long car journey and Leo certainly didn't seem stressed when we got him. He did need a big pee, but I can understand that!

Importing pets into the US is much easier than bring them to the UK. All that's needed is a letter from a vet saying that the animal is fit to travel. It doesn't even need to have rabies vaccinations, although they're strongly advised. Although the vaccination Leo received in the UK is valid for three years, under US law it's only counted as effective for the first year. He then has to go for another shot which, for some reason, they then see as valid for three years. I don't know why, but I guess it's their country so they can make the rules...

Ticks are a big issue here - particularly in New England where we are. As they also carry Lyme Disease we were keen to make sure Leo didn't get too many of them so we bought a tick collar as quickly as we could and it's been invaluable. Since he's been wearing it I think I've pulled one tick off him and that didn't need much persuasion.

To give you an indication of the costs involved in transporting a pet to the US, Leo's flight cost £950 and his crate was £105. We (well, my father) also had to drive him down to Heathrow and we collected him from Boston Logan airport (about an hour and a half from where we live). The cheapest quote I received from a pet transport company was £1,100 so we really didn't save much doing it ourselves.

Leo seems to be settling in here and is having a ball exploring all the space he now has. In the four weeks since we arrived he's been having great fun getting to know the local wildlife. So far we've played with chipmunks, wild turkeys and rabbits. We've also bumped into a coyote but that was less entertaining!

I hope that help. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer!

Nutmegger

You should also get him vaccinated against Lyme, and hopefully he is also on heartworm preventative meds. If he isn't on a product like Heartguard, he will need a blood test before starting the regimen.

Please be very careful about "playing" with wildlife -- rabies is prevalent and contact could be deadly for your pet and unpleasant for you.

yukichon

Great review, very helpful, we will be transporting to cats so hope it doesn't cost much more