New Pet Quarantine regulations effective - 2nd Dec 2013

[Nikita93]

Ok i'm a little slow tonight (00.38 here). We have been here for a year now - does this mean we can bring our cat over and he won't need to spend some 6+ months in quarantine?

[Coops]

I've started the quarantine process and using Durban/Berea Vet. If you following the steps its quite easy and the vets seem to know whats going on. I'm sending my dogs to Karinga for 7 days before they fly to Oz so they can finalize the last of the blood test and ensure all paperwork is in order before they fly. Don't want any mishaps with something being omitted and further delay.

[Happymigrant]

Pets, especially dogs are extremely expensive in Australia. We just can't afford a puppy... If I brought my 2 spaniels with, I could have breed with them and make a fortune... still missing them....

[PleasantlySurprised]

Hi Toitjie,

Thanks for that. Thats looking a bit better. I Will have to do some serious research on the subject.

Appreciate the info.

Trev

Hi Trevor

Have you relocate yet? Sorry I'm new to this and not yet sure how to see where people are in the process. If so, did you land up using an agent and what were your costs?

Kind regards,

Has anyone done this in the Sandton area? Having issues with my vet and want to make sure we use someone good!

[Darbia]

We are using North riding vet so far so good

[PleasantlySurprised]

Thanks Darbia!

[Darbia]

Its a pleasure

[KalahariHarry]

Hi Pleasantlysurprised,

To be honest we have not done a thing yet about the dogs due to financial constraints.

I dont know if we will be taking them, still waiting on visa too.

trev

[PleasantlySurprised]

We are using North riding vet so far so good

Hi Darbia

Does the vet know what to do? What I mean is, as I am clueless, would he be able to tell me what to do or should I do all my research before even approaching them .

[Darbia]

Hi PleasantlySurprised

We are busy going through this whole process now with Northriding vet so the vet there Dr Leonard has a pretty good idea. I do however think it is a good idea to keep track of things yourself as well just to make sure nothing gets missed.

There is a really useful tool/calculator on the immigration website where you put in whether you are exporting a dog or a cat and your planned date of export and it tells you what needs to be done by what date. http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/cat-dogs .

Just be sure to check the conditions of your import permit when you get it as this is your final point of reference. The tool is only a guideline. We checked our permits this weekend and nearly had heart failure as we misread it. We thought a blood test had to be done 45 days before export but it was within 45 days of export so read carefully

Just to add our import permit requirements agreed with the dates on the schedule we got from the calculator on the immigration website so it seems to be pretty accurate.

As always good luck!

[Magenta]

Today I took my dog for her first blood test .... R 1900 later!! This is certainly not a cheap exercise.

I finally went onto the date calculator on the daff website. It is fantastic - gives exact dates and very detailed info. Before each visit to the vet, I email what needs to be done and how it needs to be done.

[Renny]

The rabies blood test is the most expensive visit. Everything before and after that is not too bad. Well we have not done the last blood tests yet. We have two dogs going through it and that visit was R3500 for us. The next little hick up is the fees increasing from 1 july. This includes the quarantine and also the import permit. The permit is valid for 6 months I think. Check that and maby get it now before the fees go up! We applied three days ago and the amount has already been deducted from my card. We are just not going to get the permit back in time to book our quarantine before 1 July.

[Magenta]

I have looked for actual websites for the quarantine centre in Sydney but cannot find any. I would like to see pictures of what it looks like. Does anyone have any links?

I didn't know the cost of the permit was going up as well

[Renny]

It is called silver creek not sure about pictures. Did mail them to ask about the kennel and if it was outside. They did reply that it is outside but partially under a roof. 1.5 x 1.5m and a run off of 4m where they can wee.

I was a little worried because we have two yorkies and they get cold very easily. They sleep indoors next to a fire every night so a little spoilt. They really only go outside to wee in the winter otherwise they inside with us all the time. They did comment that ee can send them jackets attached to the pitside of the crate as everything on the inside will be distroyed when they arrive. They get warm bedding there and food once a day (another oops here as mine are used to getting three small meals a day, guess they will hae to learn patience there)

[Darbia]

Hi Magenta

I have a whole document on Eastern Creek which includes some photos. I do not know how to include it on this post but if you send me your email address I can forward it to you.

[Magenta]

Fed once a day ..... Sleep outside ..... My girl won't know what hit her!! She is currently lying in front of 'her' gas heater in my room

Thx Darbia - I will PM you.

[chzaau]

Maybe plan to move them in the warmer months if you worried about the cold.

[Renny]

Sorry its eastern creek not silver creek:)

we are leaving end of july (container coming in 5 days) and our dogs are already staying with my parents till end of sept. Do hothe weather is better then as we really cant leave them with thst responsibility much longer.

[Elmari]

Our Jack Russel arrived here in Kalgoorlie on 24 May 2014. He stayed at Eastern Creek for a 10 day quarantine period after spending 5 months at Keringa in Johannesburg.

The staff at Eastern Creek are very friendly and really do care about your pet/s. I phoned them occasionally and never had a problem getting any feedback from them.

The total cost to get Clooney imported from South Africa to our home here in Kalgoorlie amounted to ± R65 000.00.

However, it was worth every cent!

Edited June 22, 2014 by Elmari

[Magenta]

Thx Elmari for the feedback. Really appreciate it. I am a paranoid dog owner and believe no one can care for my girl like I can - stressing about the 10 days quarantine! But good to get some feedback about your experience with Eastern Creek.

[juanandliaanetrip]

Hi There

What are the steps to take to get our dogs over to Oz with the least challenges and trauma to the pets ?

and also what would the costs be that we will be looking at ?

it is a Great Dane a Labrador and a Beagle

does the size of the animal matter in price

i read the quarantine regulations but i would like to hear from someone who has has done it before and what the headaches were

thank you so much

[chzaau]

I would check with the council area where you going to live regarding animal bylaws to see what restrictions apply regarding how many animals you can keep on a property. Some only allow a certain number of animals and I think 2 dogs is the max for most areas.

[Magenta]

http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/cat-dogs/step-by-step-guides/category-3-step-by-step-guide-for-dogs

http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/cat-dogs

This website allows you to calculate the dates of what must happen and when it must all happen.

You are only allowed to leave 6 months after your dogs have had their blood drawn for rabies testing. This test can only be done 1 month after their last rabies vaccination. I made the mistake of leaving the rabies vaccination a bit late, and this is now going to cause a possible delay to our departure. The rabies test costs about R 2000 per dog. That is the first OUCH.....and unfortunately it gets worse.

The quarantine for 10 days costs about R 15 000 per dog. I think that there is probably a discount when you have more than one dog.

The import permit costs about R 4 900 per dog. This can be done online. There is a site that gives you step by step instructions of how to complete the form online.

http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/cat-dogs/how-to-complete-the-import-application

The flight for my dog from CPT to SYD is about R 22 000, including the crate. There are quarantine facilities in Sydney and Melbourne but from SA the direct flight only goes to SYD, and this is where most of the quotes are for. I think they quote according to crate size, not sure about weight. I have a Weineraner, to give you an indication of size.

From SYD to PER is about R 9000

At the moment I am looking At about R 55 000. I love my dog. She is like my child. But even I know that this is a lot of money. We unfortunately do no have anyone that we can leave her with in SA.

With 3 dogs, you will be paying a lot of money, and as Chzaau said, you need to check to see how many dogs are permitted in 1 house.

All in all though, it is a very simple, straight forward process. The websites give you a list of what exactly needs to be done and when it must be done.

Good luck

Hope this info gives you a place to start.

[Renny]

The bigger the dogs, the more the cost (for the crates and the flying). Our dogs are flying on 1 Oct and we paid R15000 for the two from PE to Sydney (they are Yorkies)

We paid abour R3500 for both our dogs rabies tests (in Cape Town), this will depend on your vet I Guess

the rest of the costs are the same

They have scraped the discount for more dogs at quarantine. It is $149 per dog per day.....for every dog

Magenta, we made the same mistake of leaving the rabies too late....thought we needed to start the whole process 6 months before departure, but did not know we needed to wait a month before the blood can be drawn. We are already in Aus and moving into our rental next week and our little dogs are only coming in Oct. Luckily they are staying with my parents whom also have a yorkie, so they are having a ball of a time

[vivian]

Good news I just noticed on the City of Gold Coast website that at its meeting 6 June 2014, Council of the City of Gold Coast resolved to discontinue cat registration on the Gold Coast.

On the City of Brisbane Council website they state that your are allowed to keep 3 cats without a permit, if you have more cats I think you will still need to apply for a permit

The QLD Government has change its laws regarding mandatory cat registration. Due to these changes if you live in Brisbane City Council area you are no longer required to register your cat

Stratacommunity.org.au website state that a blanket "no pets" by - law is deemed to be to restrictive. Recent legal cases indicate that conditions restricting the number of animals or placing a restriction on the weight of animals are unreasonable.

So bottom line is we should not just accept that it is difficult to get your pets into Australia....it is possible!