Recommendations for pet travel services?
Hi guys! Long time no speak...Tomoe the Kishu is doing well these days.
Interesting question for this board, we are moving to Japan so we need to get our Texas-born dog FROM the United States TO Japan.
Our vet is pretty on the ball on these things and she recommended that we consider using a pet travel service for moving Tomoe over. Some kind of service that can handle all of the arrangements, pick her up, fly her over, and deliver her to her new home, where her Mommy will be.
There seem to be a number of such firms, I have no idea how good any of these are. I was wondering if anybody has used such services and might have a recommendation?
Flying from Washington, DC area to Narita, final destination is going to be Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo.
Thanks and I hope the other long-term regulars are doing well!
Interesting question for this board, we are moving to Japan so we need to get our Texas-born dog FROM the United States TO Japan.
Our vet is pretty on the ball on these things and she recommended that we consider using a pet travel service for moving Tomoe over. Some kind of service that can handle all of the arrangements, pick her up, fly her over, and deliver her to her new home, where her Mommy will be.
There seem to be a number of such firms, I have no idea how good any of these are. I was wondering if anybody has used such services and might have a recommendation?
Flying from Washington, DC area to Narita, final destination is going to be Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo.
Thanks and I hope the other long-term regulars are doing well!
Comments
As far as doing it yourself goes, you must begin arrangements six months in advance through your vet. After receiving a rabies shot, there will be a blood titre test a month later, which will be sent to a lab in Japan to confirm immunity. Once the lab in Japan confirms it, documents will be sent back to your vet to fill out. These are in addition to the normal health clearances necessary to fly, which must also be filled out by your vet. Note: vet must be accredited by the USDA to file this paperwork, not all are. The health clearances must be done within 10 days of your travel date.
The next step depends on whether you are shipping the dog or flying with it. Flying with the dog is often less expensive, since it is a flat rate added on to your airfare instead of price by weight. However, not all airlines allow dogs, so if you are traveling on a non-pet airline then you will have to ship. Also, United Airlines and others in the Star Alliance charge cargo (price by weight) even if you are a ticketed passenger, so there is no savings. Delta, American, Japan Air, and All Nippon Airways allow pets, have regular flights to Japan, and do not charge cargo price with ticketed passenger. I have flown dogs on all of these airlines with no issue.
If flying with a ticketed passenger, call the reservation office and say you want to add on a dog. Do this as soon as possible after making your flight reservation. They wont charge you until the dog has been officially approved to fly at the check-in counter. You'll bring the dog, paperwork from the vet, and airline approved crate up to check-in. Answer all the questions and should have no issues.
The process is a bit different if shipping. You have to call the cargo center for the airline and make a reservation for the pet. It must be within 24 or 72 hours of the flight depending on airline - most wont allow advanced reservations. They'll want to know the dimensions of the crate and the total weight of crate and dog. You take the dog to the cargo area rather than the main airport to send it. Otherwise, check-in is the same - they inspect the crate, check your paperwork, and ask questions.
Picking up the dog is easy. There may still be a required quarantine period in Japan - I am not sure - which is why I have my doubts about a pet shipping service being all that helpful. If there is a quarantine, then the authorities will explain when and where you can get the dog. Otherwise, just go to the oversized luggage area of the baggage claim and wait for the dog to arrive. A copy of the paperwork will be attached to the outside of the dog's crate. You'll need that for customs. (Again, not sure a pet service could get a dog through customs, because if its not YOUR pet a broker with power of attorney for the owner is required...)
http://www.petaircarrier.com/
http://www.happytailstravel.com/services/pet-shipping-overseas-international
http://www.airanimal.com/moves-pet-international.cfm
http://pet-express.com/services/international-travel/
These are just the first four!
We were thinking we'd rent a car or hire a pet taxi in Japan when I go over with Tomoe, but it seems like one of these services might handle all of that and allow me to just send her over so I don't have to worry about doing all of my own immigration stuff at the same time.