Could someone explain why some airlines won't ship short nosed dogs please?

Probably something to do with insurance I imagine.... short nosed dogs are more likely to have breathing difficulties... and the last thing an airline company wants on it's hands is a dog that's died whilst in transit. I'm just guessing...

Moving back to the UK, from Pattaya, next year. We decided to take 1 dog back in March as a test for the remaining 3.

For the blood serum to be sent for rabies check, we were quoted 12,000 baht from our vet, 5,000 baht from another source but did it ourselves for less than a 1,000 baht.

The vet took the blood and got the serum for 400 baht. Followed the suggestion from the lab in the UK and took it to DHL, labelled 'diagnostic sample'. At first they accepted it and charged 1,900 baht. An hour later they called and said 'no can do'.

Didn't bother trying any other carrier company as sure they would say the same thing.

Packed all the paperwork, cheque and sample in a padded envelope, put it in a slightly bigger padded envelope and sent it registered post to mum in the UK. She received it yesterday, after a week, and she has sent it on to the lab. The registered parcel from here was 250 baht.

Possibly the reason they will not accept the parcel at courier companys is the sendee address! Anything going to the animal diagnostic, rabies samples section is a bit of a giveaway!

Just hope the sample reaches the lab in the not too distant future, being Christmas and UK postal service!

Useful website......

https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners#routes-and-transport-companies

Also email the lab direct on here, they have a lot of useful advice...

[email protected]

This is just the start of our journey/adventure so we will continue with updates on how it's going both this side of the world and t'other, watch this space!!!!

Hi,

We're heading to the UK in October and have just been to the vet and had the microchip inserted and then the dog had his rabies vaccine afterwards. We asked for the Third Country Veterinary Certificate and the vet said we need to get it from the official vet at Sawarnbhumi when we leave. After looking at the DEFRA website I'm sure we should have it now and the vet needs to add the microchip and rabies information on to it. Can anyone clarify the correct procedure and also where we get the form if we do need it now, many thanks.

Also, when we send the serum back to the UK, do we have to send any documents with it? When it returns from the lab, is the vet or the official vet supposed to write anything on the Third Country Certificate?

It's all very confusing and don't want to make any mistakes so thanks in advance for any help.

Hi All,

Just thought I would give you all an update of our journey back to the UK with our two dogs!

Both my shihtzus are now snuggled up safe with us in England, and we are delighted! The process may seem daunting at first but I can honestly say it is so worth it to have them home with us. The climate, allthough a tad colder is really suiting them, they are both much lively and have so much energy to run about.

We actually managed to fly the dogs with Thai Airways Cargo even though this airline does not allowsnub nosed dogs...I dont know how they allowed us to but they did. It may be due to the fact that we flew them from Chiang Mai, and they only had 3 hours transit in bangkok, then off to heathrow.

A few things we found out:

1. Make sure that each page of the Annex 2 certificate is stamped by the official body in Bangkok (in our case it wasthe office at chiang mai as the dogs were only transiting in bangkok with the same airline) this is differenat to the stamp your vet will give you which also needs to be puton there.

2. Make sure that you have the pets vaccine books, with the original rabies vaccine sticker, and dogs id details on the book - ie their name/ mircochipo chip number etc. The customs office at Heathrow must have the originals of all documents before they will release them.

cost for flights with thai airways cargho (total weight was 20kg for both dogs inc. cages) for 16,000 thb.

cost forusing the services of james cargo (who were fab) including customs/import fees was 460 gbp

good luck all!

Good to hear you have them safe and sound at home. I am doing research into if we could get a boxer dog home in a few years, or if we will have to put off buying one out here

Can I ask why you used thai airways cargo and james cargo? Are they 2 different services?

I, too, am hitting this problem.

I got the serum taken on 4 Sept, but DHL refused to ship it unless I had an account. We shuffled around for a week trying to get an account, but they eventually refused because I would not be making regular shipments (!).

UPS refused point blank, and refused to discuss the matter.

Thailand Post rejected the package, and gave me my money back, after initially taking it.

I was advised of an organisation called World Courier (www.worldcourier.com), but they have not responded to any communication.

I emailed FedEx, and they replied enthusiastically, but I suspect they will change their tune when they see the package.

Does anyone know if this situation has improved?

- Roger -