Already in Oz and want my Dog!

[JaxBell82]

Hi, not sure if anyone would be able to help me. I left my 3 boys behind but I am hoping to get the 1 over by the end of the year. Does anyone know which are the best places to contact with regards to the whole process and how long the quarantine in total would be?

We are living on the Gold Coast.

I am really missing my boys, was such a hard thing to leave them behind, but wasn't financially able to bring them all over.

Thanks

[EDurand]

Hi Ajax contact Karinga. I know the quarantine in Aus is 10 days however there are a couple of things that need to be done in SA to be able to take them. We were told to start the process 6 months before with injections and tests. There is a timeline on border.gov which explains it all.

http://www.border.gov.au/Factsheets/Documents/importinganimals.pdf#search=Pets

[dlmonnink]

Looked into the process, we want to bring 2 dogs and 3 cats. You need to make sure your rabies vaccs are spot on and hence why they say start the process 6 months before.

Our quote on the SA side is about R80k for all 5 pets. That's for the quarantine and tests etc on SA side and flights. Important to note which no one tells you is that with the 10 day quarantine in Australia they have to stay at the boarding kennels at a cost of $150 dollars per animal per day. For us that's roughly R70k-R75k for all 5 so in total it's going to cost about R150k to get them over there.

[HFamily]

Depending on where you are living in Australia, there is also the cost of flying them from the quarantine station. We had to fly from Sydney to Perth - roughly another R6,000 with JetPets (cost for 1 dog weighing 10kg, price based on weight).

Edited July 23, 2015 by HFamily

[RosemaryC]

Hi JaxBell82

We brought our dog over with Petport but they were in Gauteng. And it has been great for us! I am not sure if your dogs are still in Durban. But look into getting a IPATA agent.

It is expensive in rands but once you are working here it is more affordable. Even thought about bringing them over when you have saved up some dollars?

[Kimba]

Hi, we recently moved across in feb 2015, and brought our 2 dogs over with us. It is a costly process however once you get your 4 legged kids here, it's worth it. We paid approx R75000 in SA and were able to pay it in installments and the Aus side cost $3000approx for the 10 days. $150 per day. Best to look at the quarantine periods in warmer months so you dont have to pay for heaters etc in the kennels, if it's cold weather. The quarantine period for Rsa is 6 months and you can do 5 months at home then the final 30 days in an approved quarantine facility. That's much easier as the last 30 days are are final shots that the dogs must have at certain times prior to flying and the kennel vets sort all of that out for you. We used keringa in gauteng, and they were brilliant with all of the information and questions I had during the whole process. I'm sure they could suggest a place closer to you. Once you start and do you first rabies shots etc you a year to finish the quarantine if needed. Our dates of travel changed over 5 months and and our dogs flew out 10 months after starting quarantine. I would suggest having someone you can rely on for managing the home based quarantine as there is a specific time line for vet check, shot etc plus you need some of the results signed off by a state vet etc. Once you have chosen a facility, you send to them all of the vet checks, shots etc as you do it so all of the information is on your dogs records and the originals get flown across with the dog. Our dogs had to have wooden travel containers made for them specifically suited to there size and international travel, Aus quarantine requirements. The quarantine facility built them, so you know that they are right. Ours flew direct to Sydney and did the 10 days there, then we used jet pets who collected them and put them on a flight to Tasmania for us. The coast approx $600 for the 2. You have to take the travel containers with you from the Sydney quarantine so we used them for the domestic travel. We fly them qantas for all of the flights and had no problems, however I think domestic virgin flights don't accept wooden travel crates.
I hope the information helps and good luck with it all.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Mara
To my knowledge the 6 months quarantine has been lifted.

[dlmonnink]

To my knowledge there is only 1 month quarantine on SA side and that can be served at your home. It would probably be easier for the shots and monitoring for it to happen at keringa but in my case my GF doesn't want to 'abandon' the pets.

[Kimba]

Hi, unless the rules have changed again since we did it this year, you can do the last 30 days at home as well, but we choose keringa so everything could be organized by them to take the stress off us. The full time period for quarantine is 6 months as your pet needs multiple shots during a time frame plus blood tests at different intervals. It's an involved process to meet all of the aus requirements.

But If it has been reduced again though, that's awesome and should make it much easier and cheaper. Good luck

Edited July 24, 2015 by Kimba

[Magenta]

I think maybe the term quarantine is possibly misunderstood. The process of injections, inoculations, rabies tests, etc needs to start at least 6 months before departure, if not earlier. While in SA, your dog is not kept in a quarantine facility away from other animals. Many pet travel companies prefer to keep your dog for the last 30 days to ensure that the last injections and tests that need to happen in that last month is done correctly.

As far as I can remember, once a rabies shot is given to the dog, you have to wait a month before the rabies test can be done. Your pet is allowed to travel 6 months from when the rabies results are given to the vet. NOT 6 months from the rabies shot.

I applied for the import permit online myself so save some money. A few days after we received the permit, my dog passed away. So I cannot comment on the rest of the process.