Cost of shipping pets shocked to see costs per pet we have 2 dogs and a cat

[The Smith Clan]

Saw a thread where p[rice quoted for a **** zu was £4000, we have a **** zu cavalier king Charles and a cat. Plus there are fees to pay in Oz for quarantine of $139 a day for 10 days for each pet!

 

If anyone else has moved there pet over and got a more reasonable price please let me know.

 

Not sure we can afford this on top of all the other costs involved.

 

Feeling heartbroken, in fact not sure I could go and leave them

[JEM44]

Hi we are using golden arrow this summer and for 2 bichons including quarantine is only £4000 (just short) so not sure who your prices are from? They have been so great also very knowledgable and the only ones over the phone who were interested in talking about the dogs rather than just providing information.

[Bound4Tassie]

Shih tzu! If you spell it properly it won't get blanked out as a swear word! Lol!

[Guest]

Have you actually had quotes direct from pet shippers? I'd get a price direct from them instead of scaring yourself from something you've read for someone elses dog.

 

FWIW, I don't think it will be £4,000 to ship such a small dog. Probably the ballpark price for them both.

 

But please, talk to some pet shippers and get a better idea before you start making other plans.

 

If it comes down to costs and not being able to ship all 3, I'd probably say rehome the cat and ship the dogs. But that is me.

[Major Tom]

It's costing us all in including quarantine costs and UK vets around £4000 for two miniature dachshunds.

[Nickhep1]

I have just been quoted £4114.32 for a springer spaniel and a chihuahua that not including $130 per pet per night for quarantine. Also they will be flying from Heathrow to Melbourne so there will an extra charge on top of that to get them to Brisbane. Sadly we have decided to leave our cat at home with family

[The Smith Clan]

I have just been quoted £4114.32 for a springer spaniel and a chihuahua that not including $130 per pet per night for quarantine. Also they will be flying from Heathrow to Melbourne so there will an extra charge on top of that to get them to Brisbane. Sadly we have decided to leave our cat at home with family

Can I ask who this is with?

Thanks for getting back to me

[The Smith Clan]

It's costing us all in including quarantine costs and UK vets around £4000 for two miniature dachshunds.

 

Yes this is what I was thinking it would cost for 2 dogs, who are you using please?

 

 

maria

[The Smith Clan]

Have you actually had quotes direct from pet shippers? I'd get a price direct from them instead of scaring yourself from something you've read for someone elses dog.

 

FWIW, I don't think it will be £4,000 to ship such a small dog. Probably the ballpark price for them both.

 

But please, talk to some pet shippers and get a better idea before you start making other plans.

 

If it comes down to costs and not being able to ship all 3, I'd probably say rehome the cat and ship the dogs. But that is me.

 

Thanks for your response, we also have a rabbit but we have agreed we cant afford to take him and will be finding him a very loving home.

[Major Tom]

Yes this is what I was thinking it would cost for 2 dogs, who are you using please?

 

 

maria

 

We are using Golden Arrow.

 

Cheers MT

[Guest]

Thanks for your response, we also have a rabbit but we have agreed we cant afford to take him and will be finding him a very loving home.

 

That's good re the rabbit as you cannot ship rabbits into Australia and iirc in some states its illegal to keep them as pets.

 

Golden Arrow and Pet Air are the ones I'd be getting quotes from. Also depending on where you are living, there are probably others. Whitehouse kennels near Bristol if you are down that way.

[BobPetairUK]

Hi

I think rough price for flight ticket, crates, permit, vet work, export docs, and flight to Melbourne would be around £3000-£3250 depending on where you are based in UK and the size of your dog. Then you need to add on $1500 AUD per pet (around £700) plus whatever it will cost to get your pets from Melbourne to where your final destination is, so genuinely you are not going to have much change from £4500. Sorry.

Please if you are thinking about doing this, then get the rabies work started early as that needs starting at least 7 months before the pets fly and if you leave that late then you may incur kenneling/cattery costs in UK which will bump up your price more.

Regarding which pet shipper to use, UK has no "bad" or "dodgy" pet shippers. We all offers different things. Petair offers an all in one service which is the easiest (but sometimes the expensive) way to get your pets to Australia. Others will offer you some of the process, but then you need to add vets costs and road transport costs to the final price. Also, just have a think about where your pet shipper is based. A local one to you is great, but the shippers based closer to London Heathrow mean that your pets' time in their crates is significantly shorter.

I hope that helps and am sorry that it is not cheaper.

[maryannen]

Saw a thread where p[rice quoted for a **** zu was £4000, we have a **** zu cavalier king Charles and a cat. Plus there are fees to pay in Oz for quarantine of $139 a day for 10 days for each pet!

 

If anyone else has moved there pet over and got a more reasonable price please let me know.

 

Not sure we can afford this on top of all the other costs involved.

 

Feeling heartbroken, in fact not sure I could go and leave them

 

I really do understand your angst. Years back when I moved to the Uk I'd just spent a year having cancer treatment and my beloved cat was my constant companion through it all. In my mind there was no question whatsoever about whether he would come with me to the UK. He did come, and yes it was expensive to bring him all the way from Perth to north west England, however I had many good years with him over here. He passed on a couple of years back now. He coped with it pretty well albeit I had a bit of a blip just after he arrived when he refused to eat for the quarantine people. They asked me to go visit him and of course I did ...as soon as he'd seen me he chowed on down and was fine after for the duration of his stay. Funnily enough the people who looked after him still remember him as he was a pretty memorable cat lol I feel very much the same about my 3 Siberian Husky dogs who I am bringing home with me to Australia in May...in my case I have mum, dad, and one of their pups ...they are my kids and my 'grandpup' and although yes again it is expensive to bring them they are totally worth it. On the scale of things, for me at least, the cost of transporting them, especially them being larger breed of dogs, is by far outweighed by having them with me in my life. It just wasn't an option for me or my family not to take them as they are part of me. I hope you are able to find a way to take your beloved pets with you too.

Edited January 18, 2016 by maryannen

[The Smith Clan]

I really do understand your angst. Years back when I moved to the Uk I'd just spent a year having cancer treatment and my beloved cat was my constant companion through it all. In my mind there was no question whatsoever about whether he would come with me to the UK. He did come, and yes it was expensive to bring him all the way from Perth to north west England, however I had many good years with him over here. He passed on a couple of years back now. He coped with it pretty well albeit I had a bit of a blip just after he arrived when he refused to eat for the quarantine people. They asked me to go visit him and of course I did ...as soon as he'd seen me he chowed on down and was fine after for the duration of his stay. Funnily enough the people who looked after him still remember him as he was a pretty memorable cat lol I feel very much the same about my 3 Siberian Husky dogs who I am bringing home with me to Australia in May...in my case I have mum, dad, and one of their pups ...they are my kids and my 'grandpup' and although yes again it is expensive to bring them they are totally worth it. On the scale of things, for me at least, the cost of transporting them, especially them being larger breed of dogs, is by far outweighed by having them with me in my life. It just wasn't an option for me or my family not to take them as they are part of me. I hope you are able to find a way to take your beloved pets with you too.

 

Yes I feel the same and its the thought of leaving part of your life behind, as they are part of the family. It will be hard enough at first with such a move and harder to not have hem with us.

[The Smith Clan]

Hi

I think rough price for flight ticket, crates, permit, vet work, export docs, and flight to Melbourne would be around £3000-£3250 depending on where you are based in UK and the size of your dog. Then you need to add on $1500 AUD per pet (around £700) plus whatever it will cost to get your pets from Melbourne to where your final destination is, so genuinely you are not going to have much change from £4500. Sorry.

Please if you are thinking about doing this, then get the rabies work started early as that needs starting at least 7 months before the pets fly and if you leave that late then you may incur kenneling/cattery costs in UK which will bump up your price more.

Regarding which pet shipper to use, UK has no "bad" or "dodgy" pet shippers. We all offers different things. Petair offers an all in one service which is the easiest (but sometimes the expensive) way to get your pets to Australia. Others will offer you some of the process, but then you need to add vets costs and road transport costs to the final price. Also, just have a think about where your pet shipper is based. A local one to you is great, but the shippers based closer to London Heathrow mean that your pets' time in their crates is significantly shorter.

I hope that helps and am sorry that it is not cheaper.

 

I spoke to someone on Monday and still awaiting quote, I was told this would be via email.

 

Can this be looked into, in case they have my email wrong.

[FamilyHughes]

Hi , our standard Labradoodle has just been released (last Sunday) from quarantine and we used Golden Arrow to manage the process for us. He's arrived safely and is very healthy too. He's a large dog, standard poodle/Lab cross, and very energetic. We had to leave him in the UK for 4 weeks over Xmas and New Year to complete his final blood tests and parasite treatments before he was 'ready' to ship.

 

I've given a bit of detail below as to who we chose, why we chose them and why it was a good choice for us. I know that when researching myself I wanted to know detail of OP's actual experience and thought it might help some here!

 

We wanted to find somewhere that we believed would look after him really well and also give him special attention to get used to the crate for his trip. Due to an early puppy experience of a tummy upset whilst crated overnight he has had a massive aversion to them ever since. After his castration the vets had to take him out of his pen until we arrived to collect as he had attacked it within a few minutes! So you can imagine our concern.

 

When searching for a company we obviously were concerned to get a competitive quote ( as it is so expensive) but also really needed what we hoped would be the best care and prep for him before travel. Golden Arrow had good recommendations on this forum and in communicating with them before hand they were so reassuring. They have decades of experience. Their quote was indeed very competitive also. I took a trip from our home just North of London ( so you can see how much the care of the dog was important for me not to use a London based company) to their kennels and I'm glad I did. It is lovely. The whole team there are lovely. It is as if the dogs/cats are their family. The facilities for exercising the dog I would suggest are second to none. The onsite handyman skills of their carpenter are a big bonus as they custom make on site to the exact size of your pet which is very robust indeed. It is so much stronger than the kennel made for our cats by a nearby Heathrow based exporter several years before on a previous trip to Oz. The cats crate was indeed adequate, just nowhere near as robust. GA kept me up to date throughout the few weeks of his stay with emails and photos and they got him used to his crate well in advance of travel. When he arrived in Melbourne, AQIS sent me an email to say not only that he had arrived safely, but ' he has appeared to travel very well'. You can imagine my relief! GA have also been in touch a few times since he's been back with us this week to see how he's been settling in as well.

 

Re costs, then AQIS now charge a standard set fee of AUD 1,200 plus a few set fees including AUD29/day. This worked out a bit cheaper all in than the previous cAUD130/night quoted earlier in the thread and I wasn't charged any additional fees. Golden Arrow paid for the standard fee and set fees up front on my behalf and I paid them the whole in GBP.

 

I do agree it is a horrendous cost now and we couldn't afford it this time for our two now elderly cats. They've done the trip to and fro once before. They have had to stay at home with my Mum this time. They have settled in really well and I think are enjoying the dedicated attention without our dog hassling them all the time! I definitely miss them more than they miss me!

 

By the way, for internal Australia transfers I would recommend Petraveller based in Melbourne! They also seem to really care for the pets and send you reassuring emails/texts and photos.

 

Good luck!

[Bound4Tassie]

Hi , our standard Labradoodle has just been released (last Sunday) from quarantine and we used Golden Arrow to manage the process for us. He's arrived safely and is very healthy too. He's a large dog, standard poodle/Lab cross, and very energetic. We had to leave him in the UK for 4 weeks over Xmas and New Year to complete his final blood tests and parasite treatments before he was 'ready' to ship.

 

I've given a bit of detail below as to who we chose, why we chose them and why it was a good choice for us. I know that when researching myself I wanted to know detail of OP's actual experience and thought it might help some here!

 

We wanted to find somewhere that we believed would look after him really well and also give him special attention to get used to the crate for his trip. Due to an early puppy experience of a tummy upset whilst crated overnight he has had a massive aversion to them ever since. After his castration the vets had to take him out of his pen until we arrived to collect as he had attacked it within a few minutes! So you can imagine our concern.

 

When searching for a company we obviously were concerned to get a competitive quote ( as it is so expensive) but also really needed what we hoped would be the best care and prep for him before travel. Golden Arrow had good recommendations on this forum and in communicating with them before hand they were so reassuring. They have decades of experience. Their quote was indeed very competitive also. I took a trip from our home just North of London ( so you can see how much the care of the dog was important for me not to use a London based company) to their kennels and I'm glad I did. It is lovely. The whole team there are lovely. It is as if the dogs/cats are their family. The facilities for exercising the dog I would suggest are second to none. The onsite handyman skills of their carpenter are a big bonus as they custom make on site to the exact size of your pet which is very robust indeed. It is so much stronger than the kennel made for our cats by a nearby Heathrow based exporter several years before on a previous trip to Oz. The cats crate was indeed adequate, just nowhere near as robust. GA kept me up to date throughout the few weeks of his stay with emails and photos and they got him used to his crate well in advance of travel. When he arrived in Melbourne, AQIS sent me an email to say not only that he had arrived safely, but ' he has appeared to travel very well'. You can imagine my relief! GA have also been in touch a few times since he's been back with us this week to see how he's been settling in as well.

 

Re costs, then AQIS now charge a standard set fee of AUD 1,200 plus a few set fees including AUD29/day. This worked out a bit cheaper all in than the previous cAUD130/night quoted earlier in the thread and I wasn't charged any additional fees. Golden Arrow paid for the standard fee and set fees up front on my behalf and I paid them the whole in GBP.

 

I do agree it is a horrendous cost now and we couldn't afford it this time for our two now elderly cats. They've done the trip to and fro once before. They have had to stay at home with my Mum this time. They have settled in really well and I think are enjoying the dedicated attention without our dog hassling them all the time! I definitely miss them more than they miss me!

 

By the way, for internal Australia transfers I would recommend Petraveller based in Melbourne! They also seem to really care for the pets and send you reassuring emails/texts and photos.

 

Good luck!

So what was your final bill for transporting with golden arrow to Melbourne? ( including the quarantine fees)

[Jordan01]

Shih tzu! If you spell it properly it won't get blanked out as a swear word! Lol!

Great to see the news regarding your visa application! Congratulations!

We are just about to apply for my partner's visa (I am Australian) just wondering who you used to process your visa, if anyone, and what advice would you give. We are taking our two teenage children with us.

Kind regards

Debbie and Barry

[Bound4Tassie]

Great to see the news regarding your visa application! Congratulations!

We are just about to apply for my partner's visa (I am Australian) just wondering who you used to process your visa, if anyone, and what advice would you give. We are taking our two teenage children with us.

Kind regards

Debbie and Barry

 

Thanks We did the spouse visa by ourself. It really is quite simple ...the form's a bit longwinded and it's boring uploading all the pieces of evidence but there's no need to waste money on a migration agent ( assuming the children are both yours & husband's own children together. ) Check the migration section for the spouse visa 309/100 thread. Lots if helpful advice there x Good luck

[Jordan01]

Thanks We did the spouse visa by ourself. It really is quite simple ...the form's a bit longwinded and it's boring uploading all the pieces of evidence but there's no need to waste money on a migration agent ( assuming the children are both yours & husband's own children together. ) Check the migration section for the spouse visa 309/100 thread. Lots if helpful advice there x Good luck

 

Thank you will look at the thread. One of the children is my stepson. His mother is deceased.

Our situation maybe complicated as a result.

I was brought up in Tassie and loved it!!!!

Debbie x

[Jordan01]

Thanks We did the spouse visa by ourself. It really is quite simple ...the form's a bit longwinded and it's boring uploading all the pieces of evidence but there's no need to waste money on a migration agent ( assuming the children are both yours & husband's own children together. ) Check the migration section for the spouse visa 309/100 thread. Lots if helpful advice there x Good luck

 

Thank you will look at the thread. One of the children is my stepson. His mother is deceased.

Our situation maybe complicated as a result.

I was brought up in Tassie and loved it!!!!

Debbie x

[Guest Ndoyle]

Hiya

Do you know if your two dogs will travel in the same crate and if they can stay together in quarantine? My two are inseparable!

Thanks!

[Guest Ndoyle]

I have just been quoted £4114.32 for a springer spaniel and a chihuahua that not including $130 per pet per night for quarantine. Also they will be flying from Heathrow to Melbourne so there will an extra charge on top of that to get them to Brisbane. Sadly we have decided to leave our cat at home with family

 

Hiya

Do you know if your two dogs will travel in the same crate and if they can stay together in quarantine? My two are inseparable!

Thanks!

[Guest]

Hiya

Do you know if your two dogs will travel in the same crate and if they can stay together in quarantine? My two are inseparable!

Thanks!

 

No they can't travel together in the same crate. I recall one of the pet shippers back when we were moving telling us they could be in adjoining crates so they could see each other but not together. No clue about quarantine.

 

Have you contacted pet shippers to enquire as to the process as things have changed in recent times with shorter quarantine etc.

[The Smith Clan]

I was recently told they used to be able to go together but not anymore. I have a very nervous cavvie and this worries me as he is fine with my other dog and they board together when we go away, they are very close.