Tips for transporting your dog to Australia

Dogs travelling to Australia will need:

• An import permit from Australia Quarantine to allow them to enter Australia
• DEFRA export paperwork to allow them to leave UK (different for other countries)
• Vaccinations
• Blood samples
• Final health check

Import permit:

This is required in order to reserve quarantine for your dog. The quarantine must be booked and reserved before your dog will be allowed onto the plane. Sydney availability is very good and often immediate. Melbourne quarantine usually has a waiting list of around 2 months and Perth quarantine has a waiting list of around 4 months. If you are planning to move elsewhere in Australia, then your dog will have to land and do the 30 days quarantine in one of these places. Your pet transportation company can arrange for your dog to be collected from one of the quarantine stations and flown to wherever you are in Australia – just request a cost for this. Quarantine fees have to be paid in Australia and are not usually included in pet transportation fees, they are usually around $600-700 AUD per pet.

DEFRA export paperwork (if departing from the UK):

This must be applied for from a local DEFRA office and should be sent to your vet around 7 days before the flight. Your nominated vet will fill this out at the final check stage and this paperwork will be checked and completed by the airport vet to ensure that it is correct before your dog lands in Australia.

Vaccinations:

You dog will have to have vaccinations within 12 months and 14 days of the flight. Please be careful as some vets only do certain parts of this every other year, but for entry into Australia all fractions of this must be done within the 12 months before travel.

Blood sample:

Within 30 days of the flight date, your dog will have a blood sample for 4 different diseases (all of which are rare in UK). At this time the vet taking the blood sample must apply an anti-tick treatment – Frontline or Advantix. This blood sample is best done on day 26-28 before the flight rather than right on the 30 day margin, just in case there is any delay with the plane.

Final check:

This must be done within 4 days of the flight date and is a check to ensure that your pet is fit to travel and is not got any obvious contagious diseases which may be taken into Australia. The vet doing this check must also worm your dog at this point. At the final check stage, the vet will complete the DEFRA (or other relevant) export paperwork.

Pet transportation companies will either meet your and your pet at the airport or collect your dog from your home. There are different levels of service available depending on your needs.

Moving country can be a very stressful process for our for families and your pets safe and comfortable relocation is an important part of the process.

Thank you to the Petair UK Team for the details for this article. Please contact them for further information:

PetAir UK
5-7 Castle Street
Cranborne
Dorset
BH21 5PZ
Tel: +44 (0)1725 551124
Fax: +44 (0)1725 551125
Web: http://www.petairuk.com