Moving Pets (And Baby) To The Uk

[JusticeFT96]

HI there,

Visa permitting I want to move back with my wife to the UK this year, I know for the baby will be pretty straight forward. Do I just need to go to the british embassay with my passport, my wifes ID card, marrige paper and babies birth certificate maybe a translated version? Apply for a passport and then let them send it to my house and obviously get him a thai passport too?

What I am more worried about as its going to be more difficult and complicated I guess are my 2 labrador dogs, 1 small parrot, 2 love birds, 2 tiny hanging parrots and my 4 budgies. DOes anyone know where I need to look or what I have to do in order to take them home? What the waiting time will be and will they have to stay in quarrentine etc?

Any advice on this or links elsewere would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Al

[Guest jonzboy]

Al

here's the website

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/pet-owners/

dogs, cats and ferrets ONLY

it's a very expensive process and time consuming process

given the breed type, each dog will cost about £2,000 to ship

Jon

[ludditeman]

Do I just need to go to the british embassay with my passport, my wifes ID card, marrige paper and babies birth certificate maybe a translated version? Apply for a passport and then let them send it to my house

yes

Translations of Birth Certificate, Marriage certificate, her ID card.

Check the spelling of the kids name on the translation VERY carefully, that's the way it gets spelt on the passport and once it's done, that's the kids name.

[bobrussell]

Just had this reply from Animal Health regarding the importation of birds from Thailand:

Thank you for your Telephone call enquiry of the 31/01/2012, regarding the import of pet birds from Thailand to the UK.

I can confirm that, as Thailand is an OIE member it is possible to import pet birds. Please note pet birds must be accompanied by their owner or a responsible person on their journey to the UK. For the full list of OIE members please see the link below:

http://www.oie.int/index.php?L=3&id=103

Guidance Notes to assist in this process can be found in the attachments to this email. Please read all the information carefully and ensure that the bird is able to fully satisfy all the conditions and requirements. Also attached are the Application Form and the Owner's Declaration.

<<Guidance Notes for Prospective Importers (4th January 2011).doc>> <<Owner's Declaration (10th January 2011).doc>> <<Pet Bird Application Template (10th December 2010).doc>>

The required Health Certificate can be obtained by clicking on the following link

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:316:0010:0016:EN:PDF

This information only relates to imports into England. Should you wish to import animals/products into Scotland or Wales you will need to contact the relevant devolved authority.

I hope this information proves helpful.

Regards

I am not sure if I can attach files but if you PM me with an email address I can send you a copy of these documents (guidance notes, owners declaration and application template) to let you see what you are letting yourselves in for! A health certificate will be required confirming fitness to fly and freedom from disease.

Dogs - more straight forward. Microchip (if not done already), rabies vaccination, blood test usually 30 days later and a passport should be issued as long as the blood test is OK. Three months after the blood test they can enter the UK without quarantine. You will need to get a vet locally to advise you and sort the paperwork out. They will need to be treated by a vet with a tapewormer containing praziquantel before travelling - again certified by the vet.

Best thing is to speak to the airline to get contact details for an approved transport company. They will generally talk you through the paperwork.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask for more information! I am a vet in the UK!

[JusticeFT96]

This doesnt look too exciting lol and £2000 per dog? Is that quote correct? Surely they cannot cost more than people as they are just stuck in a cage and left in with the cargo for 13 hours or so?

I will pm you my email address, I am not looking forward to sorting all of this out

[bobrussell]

Generally the cost is more for the dogs than for you. I have no idea what the cost is but any of the airlines will give you an idea. It can make quite a difference because the hold has to be heated, carefully pressurised etc. I assume there are costs associated with the Animal Reception Centres at airports as well. Overall not a cheap enterprise!

There are very strict rules that airlines need to followed as well.

[Guest jonzboy]

£2000 per dog? Is that quote correct? Surely they cannot cost more than people as they are just stuck in a cage and left in with the cargo for 13 hours or so?

Al, I'm giving you a ball-park figure based on my experience of shipping a Golden Retriever from Hong Kong to UK about 16 months ago. The dogs will travel as air freight at cargo rates based on the volumetric weight of the shipping container. I suggest you contact Thai Cargo in Thailand for some details/quote, www.thaicargo.com

[JusticeFT96]

Going to cost me a small fortune this

[cheekyweasel]

Hey - no way will it cost you 2 grand a dog with the new regulations!!

For example - we're on Samui - our cats have cost:

Microchip: £20

Rabies Jabs: £8

Blood sent to European Lab: £40

There are other costs involved to send them to Bangkok etc as we are on Samui - this is prob about another 50/100 quid

The cost of flights is cheaper as they go in Cargo - you are looking at cost of weight. Dogs can fly to via air berlin (to Berlin) for example for 150 euro... You will have an import tax when they hit the UK of about 200 per dog. Don't give up hope - after the change in laws it very very do-able.

[bobrussell]

Hey - no way will it cost you 2 grand a dog with the new regulations!!

For example - we're on Samui - our cats have cost:

Microchip: £20

Rabies Jabs: £8

Blood sent to European Lab: £40

There are other costs involved to send them to Bangkok etc as we are on Samui - this is prob about another 50/100 quid

The cost of flights is cheaper as they go in Cargo - you are looking at cost of weight. Dogs can fly to via air berlin (to Berlin) for example for 150 euro... You will have an import tax when they hit the UK of about 200 per dog. Don't give up hope - after the change in laws it very very do-able.

Check again! Pets are not transported on weight! There are lots of hoops for airlines to jump through when they transport pets and they make you pay for it!

If you doubt me contact Thai or another carrier. The following link is an example:

http://mountainbloss...ogs-in-Thailand

I know this was transporting two dogs the other way but the costs will be similar.

If you can get a pet transported for 150 euro please let us all know how you managed it!

Edited March 21, 2012 by bobrussell

[Louie77]

Air France and KLM offered us the most reasonable deal to fly our pets to Europe. They charge per crate and not per kilo. We paid $250 per crate and were allowed to put 2 animals per crate. Be sure to remind the staff on the plane that there are animals on board so that oxygen is turned on. (It never hurts to remind them)

We found the American helpline for KLM the most helpful.

It is a time consuming process so best get this process started asap. You may need an export permit as well to leave Thailand.

[Louie77]

Air France and KLM offered us the most reasonable deal to fly our pets to Europe. They charge per crate and not per kilo. We paid $250 per crate and were allowed to put 2 animals per crate. Be sure to remind the staff on the plane that there are animals on board so that oxygen is turned on. (It never hurts to remind them)

We found the American helpline for KLM the most helpful.

It is a time consuming process so best get this process started asap. You may need an export permit as well to leave Thailand.

[Guest jonzboy]

Some misleading advice from the weasel and louie

It seems neither can tell the difference between a cat and a labrador!!!

Firstly, the "new" procedures at UK end only affect the time it takes to get your pet into UK and ends the need for quarantine for pets arriving from certain countries. In my earlier post I mentioned a ballpark £2,000 for one labrador sized dog with no need for quarantine and this did not include any of the fees I paid to the vet for vaccinations, health checks and blood tests, and for the cages

You cannot use Air France or even Thai Airways to fly pets into UK, see http://www.defra.gov.uk/files/pets-air-routes.pdf

About volumetric weight. This is a calculation used by airlines to convert a box into weight based on its dimensions. If air cargo were priced on weight alone, a whole plane load of feathers would cost very little!!!

See http://www.baworldcargo.com/biztools/pcst.shtml for calculating cage sizes

Here are the calculations for volumetric weight for my Golden Retriever and two small cats

Dog weighs about 27 Kg, cage weight is 20 Kg, gross wight is 57 Kg

Two cats weigh about 9 Kg, travel together in one cage, cage weight is 3 Kg, gross weight is 12 Kg

Total weight for shipment is 69 Kg

Volumetric weight for the two cages is approx 147 Kg + 13 Kg = 160 Kg

Two years ago these were the charges levied by BA for the trip from HKG to LHR, in HKD, so times by 4 for THB

Freight charge: HKD133.46 per kg, Minimum charge: HKD1746.80

Terminal charge: HKD1.477 per kg, Minimum charge: HKD40.00

Document charge: HKD13.00 per consignment

Fuel surcharge: HKD4.80 per kg

Security charge: HKD1.20 per kg

X-ray charge: HKD0.50 per kg, Minimum HKD20.00

For the OP, it will not be possible to put two large dogs in one cage, like my cats, because it would then exceed the 75Kg max limit for one animal container (actual weight limit for elf 'n safety)

I'm now in the process of doing the reverse trip from LHR to HKG with the dog and the remaining one cat. I've been quoted £2,200 by airpets.com

Hope this helps. If anyone wants any more info I'd be glad to help, just PM me.

[Guest jonzboy]

Bob

sorry, just read the story in the link you provided, some really good info and advice!!!

it prompts me to add a point

when we flew from HKG to LHR we were able to fly on the same flight and went to the Airport reception Centre to retrieve the pets about 4 hours after landing, picking up a good sized hire car in the interim, for our drive down to the west country

this may not be possible heading to Thailand, or HKG for that matter, so for our return journey we will drop off the pets at the pet cargo agency near LHR on the day we fly, they then will stay as boarders (they also look after pets when owners are away on holiday) for one night and fly the day after us, that way we can be in good shape to meet them on arrival (or you can have an agent do this for you - assuming there are pet cargo agents in BKK)

[cheekyweasel]

Just to ask where the orginal poster is based so I can give them some info on who to talk to in their area. best people to speak to will be the local animal charity in your area - for example we are on Koh Samui and are using the dog and cat rescue people here - I say this as they help get strays back to the UK all the time (dogs and cats) so are experts in the field, have great connections and will help you for the prices it actually costs rather than whacking a shed load on top.

Jonzboy - you say this is the quote from airpets.com and hereby lies the answer of your costs - their pet transfer services cost and arm and a leg - the lady at the centre told us anything up to 4 or 6x as much, rather than if you do the research and do it yourself with help from your local animal charity.

Re the air routes on: http://www.defra.gov...-air-routes.pdf if you call them rather than look at this list they will tell you that Air France and KLM are fine to the UK - Air Berlin is around the same price. This is a new process for everyone and that list hasn't been updated yet (I know this as I called them to ask this exact thing last week)

There also is another solution (and this information comes from the animal charity who do this many times a month and this information is based on a DOG not a cat) you can fly the animal to berlin for 150Euro and then transport the dog from Berlin to the UK - this wont cost much. Here is her breakdown on this route:

Flight to Bangkok (from Samui): 50 Euro

Flight with Airberlin: 150 Euro

chip: 25 Euro

Rabies AntibodyTest: 50 Euro

Handling in Bangkok: 100 Euro (our helper picks the dog up at the airport and brings her to the airport vet the following day in order to get the export declaration and the health certificate. One day later our helper hands the dog over to the flight companions).

Animal charities will be your best bet - they are very helpful as have the animals best interest at heart and want you to get them home so they can be happy, rather than doing it just to line their pockets like these animal transport companies. Worth thinking about - contact me if you need anymore info...

[cheekyweasel]

Here's the page on the dog and cat rescue place here with more details:

http://www.samuidog.org/dogtransport.htm

[Guest jonzboy]

weasel

regarding the costs I provided above, that was from 2010 when I transported the pets from HKG to LHR via British Airways. I did all the arrangements myself as the agent adds to the expenses as you so rightly point out, but not in my experience as much as you claim. I have a pet transport agency quote somewhere. As I recall they would charge about 10-15% on top.

Flying out of LHR I'm afraid that DEFRA and all airlines have a mandatory requirement to use an authorised shipping agent otherwise again I would DIY. Members of the public have no access to the cargo facilities at LHR or LGW.

It is mindboggling that an airline can fly a pet and cage weighing 100+Kg 8000 KM for 150 Euro

You don't mention what kind of arrangements would be required for the pet to transit in Berlin? and how long the flight and transit time would be in total, i.e. from Samui to London, throughout which your pet would be stuck in its cage?