Transporting pets to Ireland

woof woof

Hi,

Has anybody transported their pets from overseas, ie Australia to Ireland in the last year or couple of months?

Any info on this would be great, paperwork, procedure and cost, etc, etc

Thanks.

The Sweeper

Where are you?

It's not cheap, for starters, but it's being done more and more. It depends on the breed of animal, the country of origin and the destination country. There are ways and means around what used to be the requirement for long periods of time in quarantine, but if you let us know where you are, what you're shipping and where to, it may help with information.

woof woof

Has anybody brought their pet dogs from Australia to Ireland as a permanet move??

What is involved and how complicated is it or has it gotten easier in the last couple of years?? What are the costs involved?

andreac

I would advise you to contact your local vets and the airline companies too and get prices and info from them, as they would be the best people toa dvise you on costs but id imagine you are talking into the thousands to transport an animal from Australia to ireland.

mymo

I met a lady at a dog show who had travelled for Australia with her 2 Borzoi dogs, I didn't ask the cost but she said it was easy enough to do with pet passports and was doing the rounds of Irish and UK shows to make it worthwhile, so I'd imagine its pretty expensive. I would contact dept of agriculture or someone and ask about transport rules(pet pasport etc) and a vet for costs involved. Also as andreac said the airlines too.

Xiney

We brought our cat from Canada to Ireland in September 2007.

First thing that needed to be done was a rabies vaccination. Six weeks later the vet took blood for a rabies titre test - and sent off to the only lab in North America that does such tests. Test was approximately $300 CAD.

It takes a few months for the titre test results to come back, but assuming they are good you can come into Ireland/UK (common travel area) 6 months after the vet takes blood for the titre test. If the titre test comes back failed, it means the vaccine didn't take and you have to redo the vaccination & titre test. Very rare for this to happen though, I'd imagine.

That takes care of the quarantine aspect. Next is shipping.


Only certain airlines take animals on board. From Canada I found that my only options were Air Canada and British Airways. Also, the Animal Reception Centre is in Heathrow, so we had to fly there before Dublin. Once you are allowed into the UK you can travel to Ireland.

So I booked with British Airways because Air Canada are a great load of assholes. haha. Anyway, you don't just go to the check in desk with your cat - you have to go to the special cargo shipping area in your departing airport. They were not very efficient in Toronto - I nearly missed my flight because although I arrived an hour before they suggested I bring the cat to cargo, they didn't seem to know what they were doing and kept ignoring me to eat lunch or something. Even though they were in the office and I was basically getting near bursting into tears. Very stressful.

Handed my cat over to these people who at this stage I believed were likely incompetent.

Another note: they charge you by weight. Damn overweight cat.

Anyway, flight over went fine, worried a little about how kitty was doing in cargo but figured he was ok. Got to Heathrow.


Once you arrive in Heathrow you go to the Animal Reception Centre - the cat is brought there for you, you go on your own, you don't get to see your pet until they are finished clearing him. There is a bus from the Airport but you have to bring all your luggage or find a locker. This can take up to 4 or 5 or even 6 hours for them to clear your animal. I had a flight booked 3 hours later. Crap. They were LOVELY though and rushed my cat through - and a very nice lady from the centre gave me a lift somewhere so I could take GBP out of an ATM in order to take a taxi back to the airport - I had all my luggage with me, the stop for the bus back was a fair bit away, plus carrying the cat (who at the time was quite heavy!) in his carrier. Anyway, would be best if you had about 20 GBP with you for the taxi back, I forget how much it cost me.

Once I got the cat back, got into a taxi and headed back to the airport. Booking him onto the BMI flight to Dublin was much easier - the desk was actually in the airport next to the check in area this time as opposed to an entirely seperate part of the airport, but again, had to pay per kilo - at the time it was 10 GBP per kilo. Damn fatass cat. (I accidentally forgot to include the weight of his crate when I put "weight" though and they took me at my word so I actually saved 30 GBP accidentally. Wouldn't suggest doing this on purpose, but after the day I'd had I was completely out of it)

Arrived in Dublin, I think the cat was brought out to me in the baggage area (I forget exactly since by this stage I was exhausted from the stress of it all), met up with my husband (who'd travelled over a week before-hand to sort out accomodation) and we took the train to Sligo. Busses will not allow a cat on board, the train does.

Anyway, that's what I remember from the ordeal 3 years ago. It was mental and I wouldn't be looking forward to doing it ever again, but it had to be done and it's over now!

lorebringer

Xiney wrote: »

Busses will not allow a cat on board, the train does.

I don't think they do anymore - would need to check but think it is only guide dogs and police dogs that are allowed on trains now.

Your ordeal sounds terrible - the stress! At least it had a happy ending

The Sweeper

In Australia, a lot of the breeders I know like JetPets - www.jetpets.com.au

These guys appear to be very good managing agents and they have nice little touches - for instance instead of keeping your pet in the van all day after they collect them, as they drive from place to place to get certs and final vet clearance, they'll house them in a kennels at their offices so they don't have to suffer the additional journey time in the van.

They also give you a transport consultant and they can tell you everything about what you need to do, the shots, the vaccinations, the passports, the freight, the crate to ship your pet in, so on.