Australia Expat Forum

PremierPetRelocation
Joined 2014
Posts: 1

10 years ago

Moving a Pet to Australia

10 years ago

G'day folks,

I represent a professional pet relocation company. We are based in the USA, where the American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 36% of the population owns at least one dog. Being that 1 in 3 Americans owns a dog, chances are that they'll have to move with them at least once in their lives. Since the majority of our clients have used our services to move their pets to Australia, I thought I'd share the components of the pet moving process to AU.

Relocating a pet to Australia is a difficult but possible task. Due to the fact that rabies among terrestrial animals in AU is rare or non-existent (only one to two confirmed cases in the country's history), the requirements of entry for immigrating pets are understandably quite stringent. Since all pets bound for Australia from the US must depart San Francisco or Los Angeles, pet owners must conform to the restrictions of cargo airlines and USDA veterinarians servicing these two airports. To depart from the US to AU, cargo airlines and port veterinarians (LA) will only work with USDA-licensed pet service companies.

[U]In order to have your pet travel to Australia, you should plan to satisfy airline requirements and Australia's requirements for bringing in pets.[/U]

Airline restrictions vary depending on the carrier. For Australia moves, Premier Pet Relocation uses Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Delta. Since each airline has its own specific rule set, we encourage expats to learn about each airline’s specific policies.

Requirements that are specific to relocating a dog or cat to Australia include the following:

International Microchip – blood sample

Full Vaccination – DHLPP, Rabies, Canine Influenza Vac. (all are time sensitive)

Rabies Antibody Titre Test

Import Permit* – Pre-arrival Quarantine Reservations & Payment to Quarantine Facility Direct** - This is AU specific & can be found on our website

Brucellosis Test – dogs only
Ehrlichiosis Test – dogs only
Leptospriosis Test – dogs only
Leishmaniosis Test – dogs only

Parasite Treatments (Internal & External)

Veterinary Exam (for export)
Health Certificate

USDA Endorsement & Crate Sealing

Quarantine Period – Both pre-travel and post-travel

For the quarantine process, one of the three facilities below must be used:
Sydney – Eastern Creek Animal Quarantine
Melbourne – Spotswood Animal Quarantine
Perth – Byford Animal Quarantine

Even though a pet relocation company might be necessary for some parts of a pet’s move, it’s a good idea to review the requirements ahead of time to ensure that everything has been accomplished.
Does anyone have an extraordinary travel story about relocating a pet to Australia? What was it like moving your dog(s) or cat(s) to Australia?

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