Flying a dog to Australia

[MissBurrill]

Hello everyone

Does anyone have experience flying a dog to Australia?

I'm assuming vet papers would be needed. That is achieveable.

Do we need a passenger on the plane to have the dog as their checked luggage or can we just check the doggie in as unaccompanied luggage? I know, not quite the correct terminology.

Then obviously the dog would need quarantine and the fees associated with that.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Karen

 

[Evan]

They have to checked-in so to speak. Actually they get dropped off at a special place not 'check-in'. There was a thread about this a while ago but i cant find it either ! I hope somebody else can and link it here because it has all the info.

Anyway i happened to see a truck from this company at the airport the other day...
Jet Pets Animal Transport - Pet Transportation Specialists

Funny the name stuck in my mind because it was nice and catchy.

 

[munitalP]

In 2001 I flew my Malamute from NZ to MEL. we used an Auckland based pet transport company - we shopped around for the company who seemed to offer the best service.

That service was...

• Vacination help - -ensuing all the correct vacinations were done but importantly, the correct vacination paperwork was completed, the card from the vet wont cut the mustard!
• Help with request to move pets and livestock paperwork and payment of fees
• They built a custom made transport box (a 35kg Malamute is a big dog) and supplied water feeders and food feeders
• Picked doggy! up in Auckland and took her to overnight holding followed by air transport to MEL - (Mrs! was on the flight and swore she could hear doggy! howling - doggy! could have travelled unaccompanied
• clearance in MEL

All in all a great service. Coming from NZ also, no quarantine issues - after doggy! was unloaded and checked by the airport vet, out she came!

I will look up the name of the company we used, but I am just about sure that Evan's company was the same one...

Mr!

:mrgreen:

 

[simongr]

I flew my dog from the UK to Oz in 2000. Overall it was a good experience.

Dog was checked into the transporters a few days before we flew to Oz, spent 30 days in quarantine on arrival and got out "ok" - he then lived a further 6 years over here (he was 10 when we shipped him over) and the great weather in Sydney and single storey buildings helped his arthritis.

I would check www.aqis.gov.au for the latest info though as things do change.

Where are you coming from?

 

[MissBurrill]

Thank you for the quick replies.

There are 2 dogs and they'd be coming from the Solomon Islands which I expect would need a decent length quarantine. I've been potentially exposed to all sorts of things so imagine what 2 dogs could have...... :shock:

Efforts are being made to rehome the dogs in the expat community here so hopefully the flight won't be necessary. Was curious just in case though.

Karen

 

[sammy]

We brought our dog to Australia last year.
Its perhaps a little more involved than you may realise. The veterinary work needs to start some months out. There are specific tests that need to be done by the government vet of your current country, not by your private vet. We had a holdup when the Australian govt introduced a new test that wasn't recognised or carried out by the govt where we were, and it took months arguing with Canberra to be allowed to have the govt vet draw blood there and have it tested by the govt vet in a third country...
We were in a non rabies country but our dog still had to go through the full series of injections (over a few months).
Also, you need to have the dog microchipped in an Australian recognised manner, at the beginning of the whole process (or you will have to go back and re test/vaccinate again....)
Only when approval is finally given can you make a reservation at one of the quarantine stations for your dog's stay, and there is often a waiting list.
You do not need to fly with your dog and you cannot transport it from airport to quarantine yourself (its in their custody until out of quarantine).
Its truly a major process.
Our dog (now 11) came through it ok, but hated the quarantine place, which was rather bleak.

 

[simongr]

Its truly a major process.

Whilst I agree that it is not simple - it really depends where you are coming from - coming from the UK was a very simple process - other countries (such as SOuth Africa) are much more involved. I wouldnt want people to search he site and get put off if they are coming from one of the "easier" countries.

 

[sammy]

Simongr, you mean you didn't have to go through what I outlined above?
We certainly didn't come from South Africa. We came from Japan which is grouped in with the "safest" countries requiring the least testing/quarantine etc. (which includes the UK) Perhaps they have tightened up requirements in recent years?
We had a specialist agency take care of it all for us, especially the paperwork - but we still had to keep taking the dog here and there, and necessarily became quite involved when this new test drama came in. No dogs were able to travel from Japan to Australia for months!
I was not trying to put people off, but to let them know they need to start the process earlier than they may think, lest they get caught out (I have seen it happen).

 

[simongr]

Our dog was microchipped already I think. Basically I called the "dog shippers" , dropped him off at the airport and picked him up 32 days later. I dont recall it being too much of a drama.

I know going the other way is a six month planning process now though...

 

[docjames]

In response to Evan, we have used JetPets and only have praise for them.

Admittedly not international, we flew our labrador MEL-BNE and he was collected from my sister's work (could have been any metro address), transported to airport, collected in BNE and transported to us at residential address. He arrived in great shape, didnt seem too distressed at all, wasnt dehydrated which we were told is the major problem (and i imagine an even bigger problem for overseas etc). Note he travelled alone, not on the flights with us (we'd been in BNE for a month prior).


I'd suggest to karens to contact JetPets and see if they can offer you any help /advice.

 

[tuapekastar]

When I saw the thread title I thought, yep, I've flown UA to Australia!

Back sort of on-topic, and going in the reverse direction, back in the mid 90s my father was returning (again) to live in the US, and was taking his little yapper with him. He had it all teed up to fly the dog via AKL, till at the (relatively) last minute he was told (by whom I do not know) if the dog arrived in AKL, transit or otherwise, it stood a very good chance of being destroyed (something to do with quarantine)!

He very quickly rearranged things so that the dog flew non-stop to the US.

I don't recall it in any more detail than that, and can only go on what I recall my father telling me.

 

[oz_mark]

In response to Evan, we have used JetPets and only have praise for them.

Agree. I have used JetPets and it all went pretty smoothly.

 

[Flashback]

So what ended up happening?

 

[MissBurrill]

So what ended up happening?

The owner of one of the cafes we frequented in town took in Patches and Charlie.

 

[markjb]

We have been looking into this for a dog coming from San Francisco to Melbourne and it is a very costly and long process.

we have been quoted as high as about $8000 with all fess vet checks and test's.

they have to be booked as cargo you can not use your baggage allowance on them. they have to be direct flights into place where you want to be put into quarantine.

we are now tossing up to bring the dog or not as minimum $5000 odd is alot of money.