English Bulldog to Oz

[Swaartbaard]

Hi all,

 

This is my first post (-:

 

So my companies asked my Fiance, our 2 month old baby & I to get to Sydney as quickly as yesterday! Super excited. We're busy going through the visa motions - business visa for me, tourist for my fiance and son until my 457 is (hopefully) approved.

 

This forum has giving us a bunch of info but struggling with one issue:

 

We have a 1 yr old English Bulldog who we'd HATE to leave behind. Keringa has advised that Quantas don;t fly snub nosed breeds because they fly via Dubai and the heat is too much for them. The only option according to them is to send him via New Zealand, but despite being a lot more expensive and admin intensive, he has to spend 100 days in New Zealand before being sent to Oz...

 

Anyone have any advise on this and what the best route to go is?

 

Thanks!

Edited June 15, 2016 by Swaartbaard
typo in title

[Guest]

Hello Swaartbaard, Congrats on your upcoming job and new life in Oz. Regarding the Bulldog have you considered checking with any other airlines to see what their policies are?

[Starbucks]

No idea about the dog , just want to say CONGRATS

[DXB2OZ]

I would definitely question that as all Qantas flights do not fly via Dubai, some fly via Perth. Why would you need to fly via New Zealand?

 

My suggestion would be to contact Qantas and ask them about their routing, specifically for snub nose breeds.

 

The heat in Dubai at the moment would definitely be far too much for them so it seems you simply need an alternate route.

 

best of luck, keep us posted.

[Mara]

Qantas does not fly via Dubai from South Africa, and neither do they fly to Perth from South Africa. The only route that Qantas does fly from South Africa is direct from Jhb to Sydney.

I think it may have something to do with the length of the flight.

I would check with the other airlines.

[Swaartbaard]

Hi all,

 

Sorry I got some info wrong. Its Emirates who do not fly snub nosed breeds. I'm using agents instead of contacting the airline directly because there's a lot of red tape it seems.

 

I'm chatting to a few per relocation companies and will let you know the result (-:

[Jobizzle]

Hi Swaartbaard

 

I have recently brought my pug over, so can give some advice here. Qantas does fly snub nosed breeds, however the 10 day quarantine requirement by the department of agriculture requires that the dog is quarantined in the port of first entry, the catch is, the only quarantine facility is in Melbourne, and Qantas doesn't have a route from SA into Melbourne. So Qantas essentially can't be used to bring your pet over from SA, snub nosed or otherwise. So the alternative is to use Emirates, who flys to dubai, then into Melbourne (they have a good pet 'lounge' for layover in Dubai). The problem with Emirates, is that they will fly snub nosed breeds, but only in their winter months, as the transit time in Dubai can be a few hours, and in summer the snub nosed breeds would struggle. So the short answer is, you can bring your dog over between the months of October and April with emirates, via dubai, then melbourne for 10 days, then to Sydney. So he can't join you now, but thats fine, because he has to be in SA for 6 months after his rabies titre test at Onderstepoort, so the earliest he could fly is December anyway (our dog spent the few months with a family member before she joined us). I'm surprised that Keringa didn't explain this all to you, it seems like the NZ may be the shortest option, but will be probably twice as expensive. Flights can be stressful, and everyone will warn you that snub nosed breeds are the most prone to heat stress, so if you boy has any existing breathing problems, really think about whether you should risk it. We worried about our pug non-stop for her whole transit time, but she made it perfectly healthy and happy, as do thousands of dogs every year, and we were absolutely thrilled to have her back with us, even though it cost us about R40k!

[Swaartbaard]

Hi Jobizzle,

 

Thanks for the info!! Hearing that really brightened my day

 

So did you use Keringa? I'll chat to them about this route

 

Our bullie will have a good life in SA if we're to leave him. Will go to my Fiance's parents who have a large plot and other dogs he's already friendly with so if the trip was too stressful and expensive it wouldn't be fair on him, but if it can be done the way you did it, then we'll definitely consider it!

 

He hasn't had any breathing problems thank goodness

 

Really appreciate the details

[Swaartbaard]

On 6/22/2016 at 1:51 AM, Jobizzle said:

Hi Swaartbaard

 

I have recently brought my pug over, so can give some advice here. Qantas does fly snub nosed breeds, however the 10 day quarantine requirement by the department of agriculture requires that the dog is quarantined in the port of first entry, the catch is, the only quarantine facility is in Melbourne, and Qantas doesn't have a route from SA into Melbourne. So Qantas essentially can't be used to bring your pet over from SA, snub nosed or otherwise. So the alternative is to use Emirates, who flys to dubai, then into Melbourne (they have a good pet 'lounge' for layover in Dubai). The problem with Emirates, is that they will fly snub nosed breeds, but only in their winter months, as the transit time in Dubai can be a few hours, and in summer the snub nosed breeds would struggle. So the short answer is, you can bring your dog over between the months of October and April with emirates, via dubai, then melbourne for 10 days, then to Sydney. So he can't join you now, but thats fine, because he has to be in SA for 6 months after his rabies titre test at Onderstepoort, so the earliest he could fly is December anyway (our dog spent the few months with a family member before she joined us). I'm surprised that Keringa didn't explain this all to you, it seems like the NZ may be the shortest option, but will be probably twice as expensive. Flights can be stressful, and everyone will warn you that snub nosed breeds are the most prone to heat stress, so if you boy has any existing breathing problems, really think about whether you should risk it. We worried about our pug non-stop for her whole transit time, but she made it perfectly healthy and happy, as do thousands of dogs every year, and we were absolutely thrilled to have her back with us, even though it cost us about R40k!

I called Keringa and apparently Emirates don't take English Bulldogs at all... )-:

[Mara]

To my understanding the following airlines also fly from Jhb via their hub and then direct to Melbourne, do not know if they would transport the bulldog... Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Garuda Airlines,

[Jobizzle]

On 24/06/2016 at 11:46 PM, Swaartbaard said:

I called Keringa and apparently Emirates don't take English Bulldogs at all... )-:

Oh dear, that is sad to hear, they may have had a problem and decided its not worth the risk to fly bulldogs. I do know that airlines are constantly changing their policies, so it may be worth checking with other airlines and keep speaking to the pet travel agencies, where one gives you certain info, sometimes they are not aware of other routes. I used Petport, and they seemed a bit more willing to find a solution, and they were cheaper than Keringa. Qantas must surely come up with a solution soon, the Sydney quarantine station closed early this year, and since then Qantas has been unable to fly south african pets due to the 'port of first entry' rule. They will surely negotiate a solution to fly via Sydney with the department of agriculture, otherwise they will lose that business forever.

 

The other side of the coin is this, it may be more humane and kinder to your dog to stay with your 'in-laws', rather than try and force the issue and risk him being hurt or worse. I know people frown on re-homing a pet when one moves countries, but having been through the process I can confidently say, if there is any risk to your pet, re-homing is 100% better. And on top of that, you're not exactly dropping him off at the SPCA, he's going to a great and trusted home, and who knows, maybe he could join you in a few months/years when one of the airlines opens up or finds a solution.

 

Good luck with the decision, and the move! I am in Aus on a 457 visa too, so if you want advice on that, I'm also willing to help/support!

[Swaartbaard]

8 hours ago, Jobizzle said:

Oh dear, that is sad to hear, they may have had a problem and decided its not worth the risk to fly bulldogs. I do know that airlines are constantly changing their policies, so it may be worth checking with other airlines and keep speaking to the pet travel agencies, where one gives you certain info, sometimes they are not aware of other routes. I used Petport, and they seemed a bit more willing to find a solution, and they were cheaper than Keringa. Qantas must surely come up with a solution soon, the Sydney quarantine station closed early this year, and since then Qantas has been unable to fly south african pets due to the 'port of first entry' rule. They will surely negotiate a solution to fly via Sydney with the department of agriculture, otherwise they will lose that business forever.

 

The other side of the coin is this, it may be more humane and kinder to your dog to stay with your 'in-laws', rather than try and force the issue and risk him being hurt or worse. I know people frown on re-homing a pet when one moves countries, but having been through the process I can confidently say, if there is any risk to your pet, re-homing is 100% better. And on top of that, you're not exactly dropping him off at the SPCA, he's going to a great and trusted home, and who knows, maybe he could join you in a few months/years when one of the airlines opens up or finds a solution.

 

Good luck with the decision, and the move! I am in Aus on a 457 visa too, so if you want advice on that, I'm also willing to help/support!

My thoughts exactly

 

Thanks for the info! I think we've settled on the re-homing idea. Gives us another thing to look forward to when coming home to visit. Then if an easy solution opens up, we'll consider it

 

I'll definitely be in touch if I need anything answered (-: Thanks!