Junior Member
immigrating from the us of a with dogs
i apologize if this is a repeat thread, but i could not find the topic with the search engine.
my wife and i are thinking of moving to new zealand in 2011. we are dog lovers and have two labs. i have heard that bringing a dog into new zealand is quite an arduous experience. does anyone have any tips on how this works and how difficult it truly is?
thanks,
doc
Senior Member
You need to start at least 6 months out, preferably 9.
Your dogs will need to be microchipped with the NZ specified microchips and THEN be vaccinated for rabies (it doesn't matter if they already have a 3 year, they need to be revaccinated). They then will need a rabies titre 3 weeks later, and many following tests and medications. The rabies titre must be at least 6 months before the date of export. When they get here they will need to be quarantined for 30 days.
The cost for importing my cat was around $3000 US. This included quarantine and buying a travel crate. However I also got discounts since I worked at my vets office.
You need to make sure your vet is USDA certified (most are, but not all are) and I would contact a pet transporter before going through all of this because they make life SUPER easy (and coordinate all tests and make sure all the paperwork is right). This is important because even though I worked at a vets office I still screwed up the paperwork and they helped me fix it (which included getting me an extension on my import permit).
Here are some important links (and a few places I used that I would recommend):
NZ biosecurity dog importation guidelines: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/impor...maniic.spe.htm
IATA information on pet crates: (your crate must be IATA approved):
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/l...ages/pets.aspx
The pet transport company I used- they specialise in sending to NZ and Australia and really know what they're doing:
http://www.iptlax.com/
The quarantine facility I used in Levin (I believe there are 3-4 others in NZ):
http://www.shado-lans.co.nz/
Pictures from when we visited our cat in quarantine:
http://gallery.me.com/rawsoncj#10015...lack&view=grid
I'm sure I'll think of more later. If you have ANY questions feel free to ask.
Junior Member
thanks
a wealth of info.
thanks so much.
doc
Senior Member
Just wanted to mention that when we were planning out move to NZ, we got our beloved standard poodle the microchip and started all the vaccinations required. She had the titre test and was waiting for her importation.
We came to NZ while she stayed with my mother waiting for the proper time to elapse (should have been about 90 days). She was perfectly healthy before we began all these vaccinations but developed seizures that got progressively worse over the next several months culminating with her death.
It was absolutely devastating as I was not there while she suffered through the seizures and ultimately died without me saying goodbye.
Living in NZ without her has been bittersweet.
I can't say with certainty that the microchip/vaccinations caused the health problems but it only makes sense to suspect the chemicals that were injected into her. Like I said, she was perfectly healthy before hand--and only 9.5 years old.
Just wanted to warn you.
Testing the Water
Hi Doc, I am going through the same process right now. I am planning on moving to NZ in October and will have my dog shipped out early January. The paper work is quite extensive and I have actually looked into having a pet service help me. My only concern and Dilanium maybe you can answer this for me, is how my dog will handle the flight.
Sorry Doc to use your thread to post my own question (I'm new to ENZ and haven't figure out how to post my own) but perhaps this may help you as well. I have a very LARGE dog and I'm nervous about the condition she will be in after the flight. Dilanium do you know if there is a quarantine area in the Auckland airport for her to at least use the restroom before being taken to PetHaven? Any advice or experience on how dogs handle the whole process would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Senior Member
The crate your dog is in should be big enough for her to stand up without hitting her head, turn around, and lay down. She will not be allowed out of her crate until she gets to your chosen quarantine facility.
Most animals do just fine. On the plane, most animals tend to lay down and rest. They will soil the crate, but the quarantine facilities clean them (the crate and dog) up for you so you won't see that mess.
My cat is a stress ball- he hates his crate, car rides, and generally is finicky. He got to NZ safe and sound.
He flew from Cleveland to LA, spent a few days in LA, then flew LA to Auckland, to Wellington, and then was driven 1 hour up to Levin. We saw him in quarantine. He was lonely, but not emotionally scarred. He is now (a year and a half later) back to his normal self.
Administrator
Hello and welcome, Jwparker.
You need to go to whatever forum you want your thread to appear in - choose one from the main menu http://www.enz.org/forum/ and click on it. Then the list of threads for that forum opens up, so for this one, you'd see this. http://www.enz.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=17 And above the list of threads, you click on the button that says 'New Thread', and a window will open for you to name the thread and post your message.Sorry Doc to use your thread to post my own question (I'm new to ENZ and haven't figure out how to post my own)
Senior Member
My dogs were at PetHaven. It's unlikely that your dog will be allowed out before making the trip from the airport to the quarantine (and it's about an hour drive). Iirc it's against MAF rules, and you wont be allowed to collect your pet either. The quarantine will have to do it. (Really I would highly recommend a pet transporter. For our two dogs it was around $400 extra on top of the cost of flights, USDA and MAF health checks etc. Well worth it IMO.)Originally Posted by Jwparker
I think it would be more stressful for your dog to see you at this point honestly. Go see them after they have been at the quarantine for a few days.
I thought my dogs would have major problems (one of them can be quite a screamer), but they really had no problems at all. We had some opportunities to observe them without them seeing us and really they were having a grand adventure. Of course once they saw us they started carrying on
We didn't get back any of the bedding that was in the crates so keep that in mind. We used these http://www.dryfur.com/ and they were pretty fantastic. I have one larger dog (70-80lbs) and keeping it in his crate for a few days before hand it was totally intact (and for the flight to LAX for hand off to the shippers).
Incidentally you may find it cheaper to travel with your dog to wherever the pet shippers pick up and ship from (usually LAX). I think it would have cost me in excess of $500 to ship one dog let alone two (from PDX to LAX), whereas if I took them as cargo baggage on a flight I was on it was $100+ the cost of the ticket (so around $300 total).
Last edited by BkyMonster; 7th June 2010 at 07:36 PM.
Serial procrastinator and general busybody
Hmmm, this confused me a little. We have not had to have our dog re-vaccinated. She had her 3-year rabies jab in January and we were told she only has to have the titre test. I have read nowhere about them having to be re-vaccinated. The titre test proves they ate (or not) vaccinated/immune so why would they need to be re-done.
The main thing is having them chipped and making sure the chip number is recorded at every single visit and recorded correctly.
Senior Member
the microchipping must have been done prior to the rabies jab and the vaccine cannot be greater than 12 months prior to the date of export.
That's all I was trying to say. If the date of the previous vaccination will be greater than a year from the date of export then you will need to revaccinate- if it's more recent then you should be fine.
Sorry I wasn't more specific.
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