Hi,
My neighbours moved to Tenerife 5 years ago now. They took 3 little chihuahas. They absolutely love it there. I think the worse thing for my neighbour was not seeing the dogs for a while. Think they had to go into quarantine for a time (dont know how long for though). I knew she visited them there but wasnt the same as having them at home with her.
They have all adapted very well and she wouldnt have been without her pets.
If it came to it she probably would have left the old man at home instead!
Regards
Lorraine

David

We are moving to Tenerife in the very near future and we will be taking our little Jack Russell. You have to apply for a Pet Passport from an approved Vet. The dog has to be micro chipped, then have a series of rabies jabs and finally a blood test. All the results etc must be written on the passport by the vet and stamped with the dates etc. The whole process cost us £194.00. They say it can take upto six months to get the passport but it only took about 8 weeks for us. By having the passport the dog will not have to go into quarantine and they can also travel on the same flight as yourselves as excess baggage. That is what we are going to do. You could send the dog airfreight with a specialised company that deals with animals but we had quotes of between £300 and £600 for this. To take him as excess baggage it is going to cost in the region of £100 excluding the cost of the Airlline approved container he will have to go in.

If you need to know anything else let me know and I will try to help.

Rgds Jackie

Hi Jackie

Which airline do you use that takes dogs as excess luggage?

Helen

If you have a look on the DEFRA website it tells you which airlines are used at certain airports for transporting pets. We will travel from Gatwick so can use several.

Rgds Jackie

Will have a look at DEFRA - thanks for the info

Hi,
We brought our dog (Holly - Jack Russell) with us at the end of June, we travelled with BA who were very good. The process was very smoothe at both ends of the journey and she had no problems with the flight or settling in over here.
It ended up a lot cheaper than we thought it was going to be, only costing about 87 pounds! The only cost was the excess baggage charge as we bought the cage ourselves.
if you want to know anything else PM me.
Richard

Defra was a little confusing... I spoke to local guy who helped... although the pet passport thing - when I asked our vet she said you don't need it!?!?!?

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think you only need a pet passport to bring your dog back to UK, rather than to take it out.

Madsue

There is a possibility that you don't need a passport, but the DEFRA website and vets which are approved to issue them say that they need a passport. I would imagine you would have some problems at check in if they did not have written evidence that they were rabies free. If they did manage to travel without a passport I would also imagine that they would have to spend 6 month in quarantine at the owners cost. Cheaper by far to get it a passport and take it home with you on arrival.

Regards Jackie

We brought our dog to Mallorca by road. I got a pet passport and tried hard to show it to someone at English customs, French customs, Spanish customs, on the cross channel ferry and on the ferry from Barcelona to here and to my chagrin (because of the hassle and cost getting it) no-one wanted to look at it!!!!

Since found out it is only needed to get the dog back into the UK if we went back - and she says "woof, woof" which means only in a straightjacket!!

Not disputing the contents of your post, but why if the passport is not needed is the DEFRA website, airfreight companies, and vets saying you do? Also there are several people on HT who have already transported their dog/pet who had passports for them. hopefully they will answer the question 'Do we need pet passports'?

Richard and Theresa , Hairyhamster - if you read this please could you let us know if the passports where necessary. I know there are others on here but can't think of their names at the moment - sorry

Regards Jackie

As I said Jackie, we drove down. Perhaps airlines need them or some other countries (besides France and Spain) might need them. We definately did not need one to come from England to here. We definately do need one - with the Rabies vacination fully up to date (an annual event) - if ever we need to go back.

It cost me a total of around £300 to get ours in Pudsey, West Yorkshire and we actually travelled before the Rabies vacination results came back. When they did it hadn't worked and so we completed the passport in Mallorca.

Funny old thing, I didn't know woof woof meant only in a straight jacket.... I thought it meant not for all the tea in China.....!!

I suppose the question to ask is has anyone had problems..... as opposed to what we have gotten away with / think we need....

Paul

I think things may be different for Airlines. When we had our dogs passport issued it cost a total of £194, that was for micro chip two rabies vaccines and blood test. Our vet would not issue the passport until she had received the blood test results as it had to be entered on the passport stamped and signed. Also the rabies booster has to be done every three years. If you miss the date and have it done after the expiry date of the previous one the dog then has to have another blood test (more money) so check the date and have the booster done before it expires

Rgds Jackie

Just heard you can no longer take pets as exess baggage new regulations
If any one knows please let me know
Cheers

Hi Bluemarlin

Is that all airlines or just Monarch as you mentioned in another thread?

Rgds Jackie

Bluemarlin

Have just been on the BA website to see if I could find anything out.It states that from 11th Oct 2006 all pets have to be checked in through their World Cargo section as opposed to normal passenger check in where you used to have to take them. From the way I understand it they can still be taken as excess baggage but you have to check them in at a different area. Perhaps the airlines have just changed their policies regarding the pet check in and they have to go to a seperate area of the airport now. The Monarch website does not say anything about not being able to take pets as excess baggage. All it says is you can take your pet from any airport used by Monarch airlines as excess baggage but if returning they must go to Gatwick as this is the only airport with an animal reception centre .If you find out any different please let me know. I don't need any more headaches regarding the move.

Thanks Regards
Jackie

Hi Jackie phoned Monarch cargo and they quoted from Manchester £568 for my dog cat and Parrot including cost of cage boxes don't know if that is in line with what you know

Hi Bluemarlin

When I first phoned BA they quoted me something like £360 to take my dog because they put me through to the Cargo Dept. which would have sent them as airfreight. I then phoned back again and was told that as excess baggage it would cost £20 Excess Baggage Charge and then a further £6.55 per kilo for the combined weight of the dog and kennel. Just looking through some info that I wrote down when I got various quotes and it looks like Monarch would have charged me £357.00 including the cost of the container that they would have supplied because they only do the airfreight thingy and not excess baggage. I might be wrong but check again and ask if that cost is for them sending your pets as airfreight or excess baggage. If the cost of the kennels is included in the price then it sounds like they have quoted you airfreight, with excess baggage you supply your own kennel/cage. Monarch may only do airfreight for pets. If you can I would get some quotes from other airlines. If you are going from Gatwick the airlines that take pets are BA Excel GB Airways Monarch Thomas Cook and Thomsonfly. If you are travelling from another airport the DEFRA website will tell you what airlines fly pets from various airports across the country.
Keep me informed how you get on

Regards Jackie