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Pomsinoz are delighted to welcome Bob from Petair as our latest partner. This forum, is for any questions you would like to ask Bob about shipping your pets to Australia or New Zealand. Please feel free to visit the Pet Air website at: http://www.petairuk.com ABOUT PETAIR The founders Chris Field, Luke Gamble and Bob Ghandour offer combined experience of 34 years as veterinary surgeons. They are all members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and are qualified DEFRA Local Veterinary Inspectors (LVI). ABOUT BOB Bob worked with Luke in Bournemouth for several years before joining the PetAir directorship. Having been the senior Veterinary assistant in a busy animal practice, Bob is used to pressure environments, dealing with frightened pets and reassuring worried and concerned owners on a daily basis. Bob’s compassion and care are second to none and his easy going nature and careful diligence help ensure that the PetAir team can take care of any export to any country in the world, irrespective of stringent import permit regulations or veterinary tests

Bob at PetAir http://www.petairuk.com/ has teamed up with Pomsinoz to bring you all the ins and outs on shipping your loved ones to the other side of the world. As Bob is a qualified vet I am sure he will also be happy to answer any other worries or concerns you may have during this process. Bob can also explain all the latest updates in regards to the rabies vaccination etc. To ask Bob a question please visit his forum at http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/shipping-pets-ask-pet-air/

Hi, Sorry to ask such a ridiculous question, but I have always wanted a pet tortoise! Can anyone tell me - are tortoises allowed as domestic pets in Australia and would it be easy to get one once we are settled? Thanks in advance! x

Hi All I'm new to this site and this is my first post, I've scrolled through some of the previous posts about cats, and gained some information, but I've still got some questions if anyone knows the answers or could advise that would be greatly appreciated. I have a male neutered Persian cat, who is almost 6 years old, he is indoors approximately 70% of the time and outdoors the rest but he doesn't go very far and always checks back every half hour to an hour. He's a giant softie and isn't confrontational towards other cats, or animals (he likes to relax with my rabbits). He is on a special diet (Royal Canin) for urinary problems, which is managed fine with diet. I was wondering if people have taken their cats to the Brisbane area, I'll be looking at the suburban area's not city. and how their cats have adapted, do you let them out? I've heard various things and I'm not sure what to believe, one side of people say "oh no you cannot let them out, because of snakes, spiders, ticks etc", and the others say " yes its fine mine lived to ripe old age etc." Also wondering if anyone else's cat has a special diet? as I've read you cannot bring food due to the laws etc. So was worrying about sourcing suitable food. Which transport companies would you recommend? And do you pick your pets up at Melbourne and then fly with them to Brisbane or just meet them at Brisbane after the quarantine period? Many Thanks

Hi! I am looking for more information, I am married to an Australian citizen with dual citizenship to the U.K and we are planning on moving to Australia. We are due to have our baby in November and would like to get the visa application ball rolling sooner rather than later. Has anyone else done this? We have been married for 2 years had a house together for 4 years and we also have a dog to bring with us. Any Advice or tips we would be very grateful for. Thanks, Corrinna

Hi guys! I am a Nursing student and I am planning to apply for skilled visa as soon as I finish my studies. In order to secure visa process I would like to get superior English result. Can you please tell me if anyone succeeded to gain all "A" in OET? Is it possible? I prefer this one as it is specific to nursing, but I have some doubts if it is possible to get all As. Or maybe PET is a better choice as it is needed to get more than 79 in all parts which sounds a bit more realistic. Can you please share your experience about these two tests? Thanks!

Hello I’m looking for people to share their experiences of their pet pooch in Oz quarantine. How did they find it? Were they well treated? How did they adjust to life in Oz? We are making arrangements to take our 9 year old Shihtzu over at the end of the year. She’s quite timid and scared of other dogs especially, so I’m feeling quite anxious about how she’d cope with the whole ordeal

Does anyone know if it is possible to ship pet parrots home? I really want to bring them with me if I have to leave. Any advices would be highly appriciated.

my pet hate is people who don't listen.......... :arghh:..........took my little maltese cross [dog] for a clip to day...............just trim him as its getting cold I asked............................picked up a skinned rabbit....... :wideeyed:..........thought i'd take it all off as it will last a bit longer says she waveing the shears....... :jiggy:.........i had to buy him a little coat he was freezing..................................whats your pet hate?..........

Pomsinoz are delighted to welcome Bob from Petair as our latest partner. This forum, is for any questions you would like to ask Bob about shipping your pets to Australia or New Zealand. Please feel free to visit the Pet Air website at: http://www.petairuk.com ABOUT PETAIR The founders Chris Field, Luke Gamble and Bob Ghandour offer combined experience of 34 years as veterinary surgeons. They are all members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and are qualified DEFRA Local Veterinary Inspectors (LVI). ABOUT BOB Bob worked with Luke in Bournemouth for several years before joining the PetAir directorship. Having been the senior Veterinary assistant in a busy animal practice, Bob is used to pressure environments, dealing with frightened pets and reassuring worried and concerned owners on a daily basis. Bob’s compassion and care are second to none and his easy going nature and careful diligence help ensure that the PetAir team can take care of any export to any country in the world, irrespective of stringent import permit regulations or veterinary tests

Hi, I am new to the forum and we are moving to Adelaide in June/July. I have already done the following: rabies/titers/RNATT and import permit to Australia and was just wondering if I really need to pay all the extra money for a pet shipping company. We have two medium sized dogs we will be bringing with us. I am a veterinarian with a pretty good handle on importation requirements but would love anyone's experiences good/bad with doing it themselves. Don't mind paying the money if it is really necessary - they are our fur babies after all!

Two pet crates complete with water bottles etc in good clean condition £20 each jet pets and dogtainers crates pp40 size collect from cannock junction 12 m6 or Telford shropshire

I know how hard pet friendly accommodation is to find. We have a piece of software that shows us all the pet friendly properties in the area and thought I would put the link to this if anyone is interested, it is in Lyndhurst, a lovely suburb close to the beach, the highway and the rainforests: LOT 923 SILVERWATTLE PLACE, LYNDHURST, Victoria 3975 - House to Lease #404304261 - realestate.com.au

Hello Does anyone have any recommendations on how we can get our dog Lola to Sydney? If anyone has done this on a limited budget, then this would be good, as we are on a limited budget! Value is key! Thanks The Roberts family.

We are returning back to the UK in August and are in process of looking at relocating pet options. Has anyone done this themselves or only gone through an agent? thank you in Advance :animal-cat::animal-cat:

Hi everyone. I'm current;y getting quotes to take my cat from Perth to London in Feb next year. I've received prices from JetPets and also the Pet Travel Specialists - I've heard of JetPets and can find out info and reviews for them, but I can't seem to find anything for the Pet Travel Specialists, who are based in Willeton in Perth. Their quote has come in a little cheaper than JetPets, and they also come out to your home to do the rabies vaccination, which I quite like. Apparently both recommended Thai Airways as their preferred choice for my cat's route, but as of next year, Thai Air will only be doing one flight out of Perth, so they are a no go. And Emirates / Qantas charge and extra $300 on top of the $2500 already quotes to hold my cat in Dubai for six hours transit, as that is their policy there. Singapore Air and Malaysian Air don't charge, but I'm not sure how good they are for transporting pets... So may worries and questions!

Hi there. I would appreciate help here! I plan to bring my dog Wally to Perth with me in April/May next year, he is 16kg and will be almost two at that time. Can anyone recommend a good pet shipper? I have got quotes of €3500 from K international and two quotes form Multi-Cargo for €3500 for a PVC box and €2500 for a wooden box a little smaller than the PVC. Would Wally be ok in a wooden box to Perth? Is quarantine open in Byford in April/May 2014? Any help, or tips or ANYTHING will be gratefully accepted. Lost and confused.

Hey. Has anyone flown their cat or pet back to the UK from Australia, specifically Perth, and if so, did you use a pet service or organise it yourself? I feel awful for my cat (she's three), but the alternative is to re-home her to a stranger, and Perth is overrun with cats needing homes. I hope she will just curl up and sleep... the good thing is there is no quarantine needed in the UK. I'd love to hear some positive stories of people flying with their pets and everything being fine.

We will move to Australia in Oct. 2012 and our beloved horses will come with us. Since I found it very difficult to gather information on this slightly exotic topic, I want to share my findings with everyone who is interested at PIO and the Internet. How to transport your horse or horses to OZ/ FAQ on horse transportation Formalities / Transportation / Vaccination and Health Requirements / Quarantine guidelines and rules based on current regulation 03/2012: 1. Your horse can only be transported to Australia from one the following countries: Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, UK, USA 2. If your horse originally came from a country not on this list, it must have stayed in one of the authorized countries for approx. 180 days (variations exist depending on origin and export country) before starting of pre quarantine. 3. Horses can only be imported via Sydney airport where they have to stay in post quarantine for approx. 2 weeks (based on horses gender and agent procedures), so you have to arrange transport via landroute to your final destination afterwards. There are a couple of vendors which offer scheduled weekly land transports from Sydney to all major cities. Costs are aprox. 1000 AUD per horse. These are easy to find via google. 4. It is very important to have a valid EU horse passport with complete identification for every horse. Furthermore you need a vaccination pass, if this is not integrated in your EU horse passport 5. You horse has to spent approx. 14 - 28 days (depending on if it is a stallion, mare or gelding and on agent procedures) in pre-quarantine within an authorized quarantine stable in your home country. You can´t do it yourself :-( 6. Here you can find all the horse health requirements and pre + post quarantine + transportation procedures of AQIS, the relevant OZ goverment authority: http://apps.daff.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_QueryResults.asp?Commodity=Live+horses&Area=All+Countries&EndUse=All+End+Uses 7. It is terrible to read, but the most important ones for horses in the EU are the test for Equine Infectious Anemia (Coggins) + Equine Piroplasmosis (B. Caballi, T. Equi) (ELISA or IFAT Test). I would do them upfront as soon as possible, as a positive result will rule out any transportation... :-( It is important to understand that your horse could have this disease and NOT show symptoms. The tests are approx. 100 € per horse and your VET can help you with them. The remaining procedures deal with rather standard health requirements and deal with the exact transport and transit procedures. This will all be handled by your transportation agent during pre and post-quarantine and during transport. 8. If you own a mare or a stallion or a young foal together with its mother, additional tests for sexually transferable diseases apply. These can also be found in the above document. Since we have geldings I did not bother reading them... As far as I can see a couple of further tests are neccessary in these cases. In the special case of a pregnant mare, she has to stay in quarantine until giving birth. 9. Furthermore you need to vaccinate your horse with the ProTeq Flu vaccine against Equine Influenca. The intervals for vaccination must be 100% matched from the beginning. The base vaccination (2 shots with interval) has to be done before the pre-quarantine starts. The horse has to be given an additional booster shot of this vaccine approx. 90 - 21 days before the pre quarantine period, no matter if it would be neccessary based on the normal intervals. It is VERY IMPORTANT not to take shortcuts on this vaccination, as this disease is the main reason for the strict OZ quarantine regulation for horses. If anything is not done by the book with this one, your horse will not be allowed to board its flight! How are horses transported? / What agents are there? / How do horses cope with flying? / Can my horse be put down during flight? / Can I visit my horse during quarantine? / Can I accompany my horse during flight? 1. Normally you will not be able to visit your horse during pre and post quarantine due to strict sanitation procedures. All agents offer full care based on your specifications for your horses during pre and post-quarantine and the actual transport. 2. Horses are transported in IATA pallets during flight and ground movement, which are similar to horse floats.There is a video showing how horses are shipped around the world: http://www.cavallo.de/videos/video/first-class-wenn-pferde-fliegen.290745.233219.htm It is in German, but should still be interesting to watch for everyone. I have also found a couple of pictures: http://www.cavallo.de/know-how/animal-lounge-frankfurt.288587.233219.htm 3. Horses normally cope well with flying, and all agents very rarely encounter problems. If they encounter them, horses are given a mild sedative and will be fine then. There are a lot of stories on the net that horses have to be put down during flight due to panic, but these are just rumours and there is nothing true about them. No need to worry! Even cases of colic are very rare and are avoided by feeding special feed before the flight. You also do not need to sign an authorization that agents are allowed to put down your horse in flight. These are dumb rumours as well. When you compare a horse float to a plane, the plane is actually much less noisy and far more stable than a standard float. Only the take off and landing is more stressfull. 4. Horses are transported on cargo flights and mixed cargo / passenger flights. Normally pilots take special care during take off and landing and choose very flat landing and starting vectors. Furthermore they try to fly routes with as little turbulence as possible in order to reduce stress for their live cargo. 5. Your horse will be accompanied by professional horse grooms during the flight. I have heard that some agents offer the possibility to take owners as grooms on horse flights. I have read that often these owners are very nervous and are not much of help... :-) We will fully trust our agent with this. 6. There are not many companies who specialize in International horse shipments to OZ. I know of the following ones for UK and Germany: IRT (International Racehorse Transport) http://www.irt.com Peden Bloodstock http://www.peden-bloodstock.com/ Guido Klatte International Equine Services http://www.gklatte.de/ Crispin Bennett International http://www.crispinbennett.com/ 7. Horses will be fed hay during flight and have access to water. Due to quarantine regulations you should only send the bare neccessities together with the horse. As far as I have understood these items will be destroyed at the end of quarantine. So you have to bring new ones when picking up your horse in Sydney. 8. Taking horse items: All other stuff such as tack and saddlery has to be cleaned (do not get me wrong on this one... cleaned means it has to look brandnew :-) ) and shipped with your other household goods. If customs / quarantine agents will encounter any fur or dirt on them, it will get very expensive as they will "professionally" clean them for you. I have read of charges exceeding 100 AUD per item. 9. GST / As long as you own the horses for more than 1 year before export, you will not be charged any import GST as they are regarded as personal belongings. 10. Insurance / You can insure your horses for quarantine risks and standard health issues / death. This will help if any horse on a consignment fails quarantine, in this case you will be covered for the additional quarantine costs until the consignment gets released (200 AUD per day) and standard vet costs if they get sick during quarantine. In the past if somthing like this happended quarantine clearance for the consignment partially took more than 8 weeks (over 11000 AUD additional cost!!!). So this insurance makes a lot of sense and is very affordable. 11. Our agent supplied us with a contact number of the Sydney quarantine grooms, so that we could call them if we wanted an update on our horses. They have been very nice and I trusted them 100%. Prices 1. The cost of transporting 1 horse to Australia is approx. 16K € / 13K GBP per horse. This price includes everything (pre-quarantine, post-quarantine, transport, all grooming activities, feed etc.). Keep in mind that 3 horses can share a container, which will bring down costs to approx. 14K per horse when you have 3 horses in an own container. Furthermore I would set aside approx. 500 € for tests and other stuff. I hope that all this information proves to be useful for you, it took me months and countless phonecalls to gather it :-) Wishing all horse owners the best of luck! CU all in OZ! UPDATE: Our horses have arrived in Sydney safely in October. Everything has worked out just as described above. They have both settled in rather easily and really enjoy the good weather. We had to clip one of them since he already had a full winter coat, but that is the only thing that did not work out to plan. :-) The whole experience of transporting our horses was really excellent and I would not be worried of doing it again! I have been asked how they cope with the heat and until now I have not noticed that they have been struggling. A lot of the more expensive Oz horses are actually imported from Europe (warm bloods) and they all seem to be doing fine as well. I also did some research on this topic and most of the sources claim that horses can adjust easily to temperature and normally feel fine in a large variety of climate zones. Nevertheless if you ship horses from EUR winter to OZ summer, I would make sure that they are clipped prior to boarding their flight and rugging them for the remainder of their time in EUR... :-)

Just a quick one. Are there any pet exporters that fly direct from Scotland (Glasgow) to Perth. Might consider if they could pick up the dog. Any recommendations for particular companies would be appreciated. Thanks Tony

Hi all Just thought I would give an update on where we stand but still some frustrations ahead... Our 175 application was on hold while we waited for a passport from South Africa for our baby, born in May. We finally got it on Thursday and have now been given the go ahead to get the medicals done - yay! We got the police checks done a few months ago. The frustration now is for our cat. She had to have all the rabies shots and blood tests to come to the UK from South Africa and now we are trying to find out if she has to have them all again to go down under. She is still within the timelines, but we have been tasked by the AHVLA to ask our vet if what she had in SA complies with this huge long document they provided. Our vet is not really keen to give an opinion:( It would be great if she doesn't have to have all the tests again as we can get down under sooner... Well, hopefully doing medical tests in the next 2 weeks - does anyone know if the forms can be filled in online or must be printed and filled in? Thanks all :biggrin:

Hi, Thanks to everyone who has added info in these threads about pet insurance. It's really helpful to have names of a few companies to look at to cover my 2 lakeland terriers when they get to Oz next month. I've taken out cover with petmigration.co.uk for the journey and on arrival. There are a few mentions of insuring pets while in quarantine kennels but I'm not sure if anyone has actually managed to find cover for this? I'd be really grateful for any information. Fiona

anyone took their dog or cat back to uk, if so who did you use? , all the sites i have found seem to be uk to oz. thanks

Just for info. Anyone bringing a pet into Oz will have had it microchipped. The uk personal details won't show up on the Aussie database if your pet is found and handed to a vet, ranger or RSPCA etc over here. You will need to reregister your microchip no and personal details over here in order for them to contact you if your pet is found. (You don't need a new microchip). We just did this through our vet and it cost $25 per pet.

Hi all, Some of you may have seen my previous posts about the problems I had with my pets when they arrived. To make a very long story short the agency made a mess with the paperwork and ours very nearly had to be sent back and re-imported at our expense. I have been in touch with 2 other people through a dog forum that this carrier has done the same thing too in the last month alone! PLEASE PM me if you want to know who NOT to use.