I now know why so many families moving out of country do not take their animals with them. You have to go through leaps and bounds to get your animal to whatever country you are going to. Not to mention the outrageous airline fees. Also, if for some reason you have to leave earlier than planned which is the case with Tonka and Radar's owners, you will need to board them with someone until they can leave. The following is my experience with shipping the two dogs to Germany.
Living in Hawaii has it's perks, beautiful weather most of the time, and of course beautiful beaches. We are a state with very little wild life, in other words, no lions, tigers, bears, coyotes, snakes, well you get the idea. And rabies free.
If you are moving here from the mainland, your animal has to go through some sort of quarantine. Whether it be a series of shots over a certain amount of months or four month in quarantine here on the island. That being said, getting them from Hawaii to another country is the most difficult task I have ever encountered.
Your dogs have to be up to date with their shots. No problem, right? Wrong, most people who live in Hawaii do not get their dogs vaccinated for rabies. In order to ship your dog from Hawaii to Germany (another rabies free area), you must do the following.
Have your dog micro chipped with a European chip compatible with ISO standard 11784 or 11785 or you can provide a scanner along with the pet. If you dog has this type of chip then your next step is to get the rabies shot, wait 21 days, then make arrangements to ship your dog. If your dog does not have the correct chip and you cannot provide a scanner then you have to chip the dog first, then get the shot and wait 21 days. If by chance you have the incorrect micro chip placed in the dog, your have to start from square one. Micro chip, rabies shot, then wait TWENTY ONE days. I am really trying to stress to you how important the 21 days are.
Once all of this is done, you need to make your appointment for the veterinarian certificate of health, with your state licensed vet who also has to also be a licensed federal veterinarian. I found out this one the hard way.
This can only be done ten days prior to their departure. The vet will only do the certificate if you have the airline reservations and a physical address of where they will be going to live upon their arrival is said country.
Then your dogs have to be cleared by the Federal Vet, again all of this has to be done within 10 days of their departure. If you live in a town where you can get all of this done in one day, then it really isn't that much of a hassle.
Unfortunately, the Federal Vet is on Oahu and I am on the Big Island. So you can see the dilemma I am having. Now, I have to take them to the vet here, fax the paper work to the Federal Vet to make sure every thing is in order before actually going to him. If anything is incorrect, I have a day or two to get it fixed. Unless of course their micro chips are incorrect, then I have to do the whole process over again.
By the time all this is said and done, the cost will be close to $1800.00 per dog, depending on their size and what airline fares are at the time of their departure. I would imagine smaller dogs would costs less.We are talking vet bills and flight arrangements. I could have hired a pet mover, but what for? They charge fees for something I can do myself. Now I know why they charge a fee.
You can read all of the information on how to ship your dog at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov. Look for the country you will be shipping to. Here is an example of the link forhttp://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/animal_european_union.shtml. Europe
Hopefully by posting my experiencece, I may be of help to someone else who is thinking about moving out of country.
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