Relocating With Your Pet to Australia

You might want to take your beloved cat or dog or any other pet to Australia in case you plan to relocate to the country for an extended period of time. While this is what most responsible owners would choose to do, many expatriates before you, will suggest to take some time and learn about the entire process of importing your pet into Australia.

This is because Australia is one of the toughest, if not the toughest country to import a pet into. While Australians are quite animal friendly, with a large number of families owning at least one pet, the rules and regulations regarding pet ownership and transfer to Australia are anything but. Taking your pet to Australia is not only a time consuming task, it can also be very expensive.

Australia also has very strict rules regarding the importation of animals and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) has different controls in place not only with respect to different kinds of animals but for different kinds of countries as well. While the authorities allow the passage of dogs, cats and horses into Australia, other pets like caged birds, hamsters, guinea pigs etcetera are not allowed into the country. While all kinds of cats and most dogs are allowed inside Australia, there are some breeds of dogs that are considered dangerous and are banned for import into Australia. Some of these dogs are Dogo Argentino , Fila Brazileiro, Japanese Tosa and the Pit bull terrier . In order to know whether your pet will be allowed entry into Australia or not and to find out about the rules and laws applying to the import, you can check the official Australia pet import website.

You should keep in mind that apart from the transportation of the pet from the US to Australia, you will have to pay for a minimum 30 days quarantine, pet transport import permit, a number of vaccinations, disinfestations and blood tests, micro chipping and licensing and registration costs as well. Most people also get pet insurance after they spend so much money on their pet travel. And while these monetary factors are important, always remember that your pets comfort and welfare should be your top most priority and any decision should be taken keeping both these things in mind.