sarahlou145

Hi

I posted about this last year, but am now ready to choose a company to use. I would like to chat to a few people who have shipped their dogs, and ask some questions and get some personal recommendations if possible before I make my decision.

Thanks in advance
Sarah

buckers

Hi Sarah

We are going through the same process at the moment. Dependant on the size of your dog and carrier will depend on whether it goes in cargo or can go with you but under your seat. We are currently looking at PBS (shipyourpet.com) and waiting for some further info from them. I would suggest also looking at how many hops you have for your flight, what time of year you are looking at etc as there tends to be embargos by some carriers at certain times of the year on taking particular breeds of dogs in the hold - all down to the temperature etc outside i think. If your dog isnt chipped you will need this doing, and whilst i have found some conflicting info on the rabbies jab, it has been suggested by my vet to have this to ensure no issues when our dog gets into Dulles. You need a health cert aswell which has to be supplied no earlier than 10 days before you travel by a DEFRA certified vet - day 10 being the day of travel at the latest,(most vets are i think but dont take that as gospel).
There are some that will pick up from your own home, and some agents will ask you to take directly to the airport. We live up in the North West and there are no direct flights to Dulles so will drive down the night before to Gatwick where PBS take from and put her in there overnight to reduce her doing 2 flights.

If you get the cert, rabbies and chipped your dog wont need to go into any type of quarantine (unless the state you are going into require this but dont think this is the case coming from the UK) but more importantly you will ensure that the time spent waiting at customs in the US is reduced to the minimum (around 2-3 hours to clear apparently).

Hope this helps, although i am sure that there will be someone who can provide more info having gone through this rather than just embarking on it.

AmerLisa

5 years ago we shipped our dog through LadyHaye.....http://www.petravelagent.com/ladyhayeindex.html

From Gatwick to Seattle. Very good service.

jackar99

Yes I used Ladyhaye as well back in 2007 for a dog and a cat from London to Houston and everything went smoothly - although a little expensive. Just make sure you arrive at customs at the destination airport before they close so that you can get the paperwork stamped.

sarahlou145

Thanks for the advise, ive had quotes from 5 companies so far, and they are all around the same price.
Think im leaning towards PetAir at the moment, ive spoken to them and they were very helpful
Ill keep you posted, so if anyone else is looking to ship pets they can see all my feedback

kwilson

There's a great company in Tampa called Air Animal that ships animals all over the world. I've met the owner, Walter Woolf, personally and he's a phenomenal; gentleman - and a retired vet. Extremely reputable company.

http://www.airanimal.com/

Bob

that name, he had to have had that changed by deedpoll surely?

kwilson

I know! Too much of a coincidence.

megalaser

I worried about this for a year before emigrating, looked into every possible way of doing it and I am GLAD that I chose to take him on the same flight as me, Virgin from Gatwick to Orlando, everything was great, Virgin had 6 members of staff looking after him, I was kept informed on his progress most of the time and he was absolutely fine when I picked him up at the other end at Virgin cargo. I did not check any bags because I wanted to get to my dog as quickly as possible after landing. I would NOT use any of those pet cargo services because that would have extended the amount of time my dog and I were separated beyond the 12 hours that taking him on the same flight was. Those cargo services are for the convenience of the owner, not the well being of the dog unless the dog is happy being with strangers for a night before travelling. I would not choose any other method than than travelling on the same flight as my dog and not checking any bags. Virgin were so good and they even emailed me several weeks after I arrived to see how he was.

kwilson

Awwww..... that is such a cute story! I would be the same way about my little Jack Russell, Rosie. We rescued her from a shelter here in Clearwater but if I ever had to emigrate again I would want her on the plane with me too - I didn't know you could do that so good info. Thanks!