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Pet Ashes when moving to Oz


Cegor

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I have searched each forum to see if I could find something related but no luck...and I hope this is the place to ask....

We are moving from Canada to Oz (actually hubby just left this afternoon ??and I get to stay behind to deal with the house, shipping, etc). I want to take both my cat and my dog's ashes with me. Is this possible? or do I leave them with my folks here in Canada? Their ashes are in brass urns each. So not wood to be of issue. I don't have a death certificate as they passed in 2012 and 2014. I have searched for that info but no luck and I doubt the vets keep such records after a while.

Will I be allowed to have them with me on my carry on luggage? I prefer not to ship them in the sea container nor in the suitcases being checked in when I leave. Will it be possible to have them with me? Will their urns be open? have any of you who made the journey to Oz able to travel with your fur-kid's cremains? I realize this is a bad topic but they both mean a lot to me and would hate to leave them behind.

did any of you make the journey to Oz with your pet's ashes?

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I brought mine in their wooden treated (wood had been varnished before we got them back) boxes in my hand luggage. Declared them at customs, explained to the customs officer what the boxes were and it was fine. Sailed straight through. 

They were more concerned the wood had been treated over the actual contents btw. 

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Lots of others have brought them. The consensus when I researched was make sure their wooden boxes are treated wood, not untreated, pack them in hand luggage and declare on arrival in Aus.

If you have the paperwork for their cremation and ashes you can bring that also. I didn’t and it wasn’t an issue. Customs guy said they see it a lot, and also with peoples ashes being brought in.

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We brought our 2 cats ashes from Australia to England also with no issue.  Did not declare them to customs and all was ok.  I really hope you got to keep the ashes.

I do know Australia has strict customs so is it possible to reconsider and put in suitcase and not carry.  Is there anyway you can keep the ashes in a sealed small bag and then in container (not urn) so the risk of getting through in your suitcase is lessened?  I know you don't want to upset or disrupt the ashes but at least it's you touching them not customs etc. 

Based on what I've read above you're not going to have an issue - my take on it was to err on the side of caution and reduce some stress (hopefully). Best wishes for the move.  I wish I was moving back to Australia.

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The thing with checked baggage over hand luggage is checked baggage can be lost far more easily.

We flew via Singapore and I only declared them when we arrived in Aus. They went through all the hand baggage checks in London and Singapore fine. No one questioned them.

On arrival in Aus they were more concerned the wooden boxes were clearly treated (eg varnished or stained) than the actual ashes. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

thank you everyone for your input.

as it gets closer to my move I'm getting more concerned over the ashes. I have not moved them from their metal urns. I got to get their death certificates from the vet. I will take that with me on the same carry on as the ashes. I hope truly hope everything goes well. 

will update once the move is done....anticipating date of departure for me is between Jul 12-23......have not booked flight as of yet....as I need to deal with the aftermath of the sea container being packed and shipped at the end of June....plus selling stuff...

will let you know how it goes

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