Guest GemandDavid Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Hi Everyone. We are in the very early stages of planning our emigration to Oz and before making the final decision to move to the other side of the globe we really could do with some help and advice regarding the shipping of our 2 Dalmations. If all goes to plan they will both be 10 years old when we manage to make the move and we plan to be in Melbourne. We've been to the vets this morning and given the all clear for them health wise plus Dalmations can live until around 14/15 yrs however our concern is that we have heard some horror stories about the conditions for pets whilst being transported on the flight (extreme temperature differences etc.). There is no way that we would consider rehoming them, they are our family and we feel that emigrating is not a good enough reason to rehome family members. Has anyone had a simlar experience to what we are going through and if so how were your dogs upon their arrival to Australia? Were they visibly stressed? Are you able to visit them regularly whilst in quarantine? What type of crates are best? In fact any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, D&G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I think your best bet is to chat with a reputable pet shipping agent (Pet Air are great, and we used Jets4Pets who were fab too) - any of the questions you have they'll have heard before (no matter how silly you think they are). We shipped Satch over (she was about 6 ish at the time) and she coped fine - and she's the biggest sooky-la-la you can imagine!! I, however, was a wreck, totally panicking and worried the whole time. The quarantine people @ Spotswood were great, really fussed over her when Satch refused to eat (we know this is a normal stress reaction for her) and tried all different sorts of food, called us for advice etc - they even hand-fed her at times!!! (Satch of course had realised that if she didn't eat she got more attention...... lol!) You can visit them twice a week (you might get 4 visits if you've got the two dogs!) and take them out into the grassed exercise yards for a run around. We had a custom-made crate for her (included in the cost from our travel agent) which was wood and metal grids. We arranged for this to be delivered early to us so she could get used to the smell and look of it before travelling. Then we lined it with our old, very stinky dressing gowns that were otherwise going in the bin so she could smell us. Plus we sprayed some DAP inside the crate as well. We actually shipped her about 10 days before we flew out, and the time really did go quite quick. The day we collected her was absolutely amazing though She's happily settled in here and is loving it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjmason Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Pet Air are fantastic. We used them to ship our two labradors and two cats in December 2011 to Melbourne. One of our dogs is a very nervous character and we were very worried she'd get over stressed by the whole thing. I can't praise the Pet Air staff enough for their support and caring manner with the pets, they took individual cloths with our scent rubbed on them for the crates and sprayed the crates with calming pheremones too. Quarantine staff here at Spotswood with great, they called us when one of the cats stopped eating and we sent food she likes in for her, they kept us updated. The facilities were clean and comfortable with cooling water misted into the kennel area on hot days. The pets were in excellent shape after their 30 day stay there, didn't smell or look shabby or thin as I'd expected. All in all an expensive undertaking but really no need for the anxiety we experienced prior to their shipping. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobPetairUK Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Dear GemaandDavid If you are right at the start of the process then you are very welcome to give us a call and we will help you lots and you can ask all the questions you like. 2 really important things are to planning the rabies work early so your dogs just has to spend the minimum 30 days in quarantine and, secondly, it is the humans who fair worse than the pets throughout this process! Interestingly, there are a few posts like your asking how the dogs were and i cant find a negative one. All the pet shippers in UK are nice, so you will get lots of help from everyone. Give us a shout if you would like a chat. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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