A Guide To A Stress-Free Pet Relocation

Moving to another country all the way across the globe because of a job promotion is a hard decision to make. Leaving a pet that one has come to love can even be harder. Nonetheless, if one decides to take a pet along when moving to a new country, one must be aware of regulations that such country may have regarding bringing in pets. Some countries have relatively more relaxed rules that aim to generally prevent poaching and the spread of diseases carried by animals and some countries have stricter regulations when it comes to bringing in animals, even those considered as pets, into the country.

Some of the regulations include prohibiting certain animals from entering the country. The most common pets that are prohibited are dogs because they carry deadly rabies. Hence, some countries may require the pet-owner to secure a permit which may involve presentation of documents such as full vaccination and rabies-neutralizing antibody test, among others. This particular regulation is relaxed with countries that are either known to be rabies free or have rabies under excellent control.

Unsuccessful pet relocation have been known to cause problems such as denial of entry to the country of destination, denial of flights despite a scheduled one, refusal of airport authorities to release the pet after having arrived at the destination, and unnecessarily forced into quarantine stations. 

These situations are very hard to fix, if not impossible, and are very likely to cost a lot of money with unsatisfactory results. Unprepared or inadequately prepared pet owners are often left stressed and a few hundred dollars poorer as a result.

Among the things the pet-owner needs to prepare when traveling with a pet are the flight arrangement for the pet/s, the identification of the pet and labeling, ground transportation of the pet/s, temporary boarding (if one has none already available), travel crates, health certificates and travel documents, and as mentioned earlier, compliance with pet transportation regulations of various agencies if such is required by the country of destination.

As one can imagine, traveling with a pet can be more cumbersome than traveling with a child. There are more requirements than one would, in reality, care for. Hence, the key to a stress-free pet relocation is really research and preparation. One can never be too prepared especially when there are different country pet relocation regulations coupled with airport regulations concerning pets.