# Transport for my dogs



## Amelia du Plessis (Sep 1, 2012)

We are moving to Dubai and would like to take our dogs with us. What is the rules regarding that and who can I contact to organize the transportation.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

If you look at the 'READ BEFORE YOU POST' or do a search in the forum you'll find recommendations of pet relocation companies that people have used to import their pets to Dubai or to send them back home. Get in touch with them and they'll be able to tell you what the requirements and regulations are.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

our dog is coming over too. He's hanging out in the UK until it's cooler, though.

we spoke to a local pet re-location company in Scotland who gave us all the relevant details on what we need to do before we travel (chipped, rabies innoculation, kennel cough etc etc) details of the full process, and relevant contacts here in the UAE.

You can choose to have a company arrange the whole thing - door to door delivery, or do all or part of it yourself.
We are now just about to look into it in a bit more detail. We were originally going to get it all done for us, but now that we are here, we might look at dealing with some of the paperwork ourselves. Bit cheaper.

My advice, beyond that above, is to talk to a local company (in SA) first, as it is important that you carry out the procedures there that make it easy to return to SA< which may be different to UK or US for example.


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## loulou111 (May 19, 2012)

Apologies in advance for the long post but hopefully you will find it useful! 

We have just brought our dog over from the UK. I am now based in Dubai but our dog was staying in the UK. I was going to use a company to do the process in UK and a company here I'd Dubai but after talking to some friends who did it themselves we decided to do it too. At first, I just didn't know where to start so I thought I'd put together detailed instructions for other people to try to help them. The whole process was really not that bad or stressful. Honestly. If I was ever to bring out other pets then I would do this process all over again. 

The benefit of doing it yourself is the cost saving, we saved almost £1000 in total! 

Here is a very detailed list of what we did and the process we went through. Hope it helps others.

1. VACCINATIONS & PASSPORT
There are some vaccinations that your dog must have, most are the standard ones they have when they're a puppy but they must have rabbies. These are the required ones:

RABIES
CANINE DISTEMPER VIRUS (CDV)
CANINE PARVO VIRUS
INFECTIOUS CANINE HERPIES
LEPTOSPIROSIS

You need to have the date of the rabbies vaccination and proof on the two forms you have to complete so this needs to be done first. 

Get your dog microchipped if they haven't already.

Once at the vets you will need a dog passport which details all the vaccinations and microchip number. 

2. BUY AN IATA APPROVED KENNEL

Buy this as early as possible. Get the dog use to sleeping in it. We bought ours from doggie solutions just measure the dog and it will tell you the size you need. Ours was delivered the next day. 

3. BOOKING FLIGHT

Just contact the airline direct. I booked our flight through Emirates. I just contacted the Emirates Cargo Manchester email (found through google). 

I just said which flight I wanted to book him on to and asked for a cost. Emirates got back to me straight away and booked him on the flight. 

To get a quote you will need the dimensions of the travel kennel and the total weight of dog and kennel. I didn't have to pay any money or sign any forms.


4. COMPLETE A DEFRA EXPORT HEALTH CERTIFICATE

Apply online
animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/about/publications/forms/EXA01.pdf

A pretty simple form to complete. Need flight details to complete this form. Allow four weeks before the flight. I completed the form and when I emailed the form I said when Walters flight was. dEFRA replied saying that the form wouldn't be ready in time. I then contacted Emirates and asked to put back the flight by a week, this was not a problem. 

The importer should be someone with a UAE visa, I'm awaiting my visa so I made sure the forms were completed in my husband's name.

The form will be sent directly to the nominated veterinary practice 7-10 days prior to travel. Vet will need to sign off the certificate at final examination which can be at any point within the 7 days prior to export so book an appointment 2-3 days before flight to ensure the form has arrived.


3. COMPLETE A UAE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & WATER ANIMAL WEALTH DEPARTMENT IMPORT PERMIT

Apply online:
/petimport.moew.gov.ae/defaulten.aspx

Again a very simple form to complete. There is no payment online, its all done when you pick up the dog at the airport. 

This needs to be applied for by the person importing the dog with UAE residence visa but only within 30 days of Import.

Need to scan in copies of vaccination certificate which has to mention dog's micro chip number and show that the dog is vaccinated for 

RABIES
CANINE DISTEMPER VIRUS (CDV)
CANINE PARVO VIRUS
INFECTIOUS CANINE HERPIES
LEPTOSPIROSIS

Attach these to an email; the address to which is on the instructions part of the Import permit application form online (section 4 I think). I just scanned in the pages from Walters passport as proof.

You will get an email and text message when it's approved. It was only about 3 days from when I applied for it and when it was approved. 

Once approved I printed the form (log back in to the portal and print from the left hand column) and scanned this and i had to email it to Emirates Dubai. You will get a call from Emirates Dubai once the flight is booked. They will ask for the form and give you an email address. 


5. DEPARTING THE UK

Walter was staying with my mother in law so she dropped Walter off at Manchester airport. Emirates cargo gave us the address and asked him to be there 3 hours before his flight. He had to be dropped off at Servisair. I called them on the day just to make sure they knew he was arriving and also to let them know I would be paying so they could call me to get my payment card details. 

My mother in law said the people at Servisair were really helpful. I had emailed a scan of the import licence and she printed that off. Make sure there are copies/originals of:
PET PASSPORT
DEFRA FORM
VET's GOOD HEALTH CERTIFICATE
IMPORT PERMIT COPY
COPY OF IMPORTER's VISA
COPY OF IMPORTER's PASSPORT

Once checked in, weighed and measured you will then need to pay. My mother in law called me and I gave my card details over the phone. Walter is a 1year old chocolate Labrador, quite large, so I had to pay about £900.


6. COLLECTING FROM THE AIRPORT
This can be the most daunting part but it really isn't that bad, honestly. it is really just a series of seeing different people and giving them money! But everyone was really helpful. This part of the process took about 1.5 hours.

Remember to take your passport with you. Make sure you have some cash, about 200aed, and small change to tip the guys at the end when they brought your pet to the car.

When your pet lands you will get a text message from Emirates. Keep this for the reference number.

You don't need to be there when you dog actually lands as it takes time for them to be transported to cargo. We turned up about 1.5hours after. 

Find the cargo village at the airport. Ignore the signs for the parking and head in to the actual cargo village. There is security but they will just check your car is empty and let you through. Park up near the big buildings a bit further up on your right hand side. 

At each step of the journey don't worry you will be told where to go. Go in to the first building, up the few steps and to the entrance. Just say you are picking up a dog and they will say to go to the first floor and turn left. You then go in to the emirates cargo. Again you say you're picking up your dog and show them the reference number from the text message. Then will have the forms and then they will take a scan of the passport. You will pay the handling fee which for us was 132 aed. You will get a load of paper work, keep this all together.

Then go to the room back out the door and passed the lifts. I'm not sure what that room was for but again say what you're there for and show them the reference number. Give them all the paperwork you have been given, they know what they're looking for and what they need. We have to pay this person 30aed. 

Then go to the vets or they call the doctors. This is out the far end of the room and across the corridor on the left hand side. Small sign on the door for MOEW. In there they will sign the paperwork they need to, and you have to pay them the 400aed for the MOEW form. They ask for an e card but don't worry, we just paid by card.

Then go downstairs, you'll end up in a different building than you were in before. Again tell the people on the desks that your there to pick up your dog, give them the paperwork and they will take the forms they need. 

We then had to get a form stamped by cargo, just through the door and we came back to reception. We were then done! At this point we were told to pull up the car to pick up the car while they got Walter. We backed up too upside the side of the building and there was out dog in the cage. 

Walter didn't really know what was going. He looked so tired but then who wouldn't after a long flight and an extra 3 hours at both airports! It isn't the nicest thing to see but there isn't any other option to transport your dog.

The process can be daunting at the start but I can honestly say it isn't that bad. Everyone we dealt with was really helpful and explained the process and what we had to do. 

There are companies that will do the whole process for you but from doing this ourselves, we saved ourselves about £1000.

To be honest I found the most stressful part of the process is finding our way out of the airport and back on the road home!

If anyone has any questions just get in touch!


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## Laowei (Nov 29, 2009)

Exellent post and would recommend this becomes a sticky as the number of people asking this question is fairly common. I went through bthe process bringing my dog over more than 2 years ago and would agree although ultimately a relatively simple process, finding out how to to this and the steps you have to do is the challange.

I cheated and used an agent this side purely as i didnt have the right information to do it myself, think this good information would help in giving more people the option to do it themselves.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

loulou111 said:


> Apologies in advance for the long post but hopefully you will find it useful!
> 
> We have just brought our dog over from the UK. I am now based in Dubai but our dog was staying in the UK. I was going to use a company to do the process in UK and a company here I'd Dubai but after talking to some friends who did it themselves we decided to do it too. At first, I just didn't know where to start so I thought I'd put together detailed instructions for other people to try to help them. The whole process was really not that bad or stressful. Honestly. If I was ever to bring out other pets then I would do this process all over again.
> 
> ...



all coming up for us - very helpful!
Was going to use an agent, but as the up front stuff is done (chipped / shots etc) and my parents are helping out at the UK end, i'm going to print off this little aide memoire, and get downloading forms etc.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Laowei said:


> Exellent post and would recommend this becomes a sticky as the number of people asking this question is fairly common. I went through bthe process bringing my dog over more than 2 years ago and would agree although ultimately a relatively simple process, finding out how to to this and the steps you have to do is the challange.
> 
> I cheated and used an agent this side purely as i didnt have the right information to do it myself, think this good information would help in giving more people the option to do it themselves.


Second this, should be a sticky.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Yes it is a good post however in the sticky READ BEFORE YOU POST..there is a link giving you all this information..

Maiden


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## akijele (Jul 8, 2012)

Loulou hope you've saved this in a word doc for when we come and see you and gather information for our move over there! Tilly will be very pleased! Hope Walter is settling in well and not too hot and bothered! X


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## Eamon (Mar 5, 2009)

loulou111 said:


> Apologies in advance for the long post but hopefully you will find it useful!
> 
> We have just brought our dog over from the UK. I am now based in Dubai but our dog was staying in the UK. I was going to use a company to do the process in UK and a company here I'd Dubai but after talking to some friends who did it themselves we decided to do it too. At first, I just didn't know where to start so I thought I'd put together detailed instructions for other people to try to help them. The whole process was really not that bad or stressful. Honestly. If I was ever to bring out other pets then I would do this process all over again.
> 
> ...


FANTASTIC POST..one question though, when you say "I didn't have to pay any money or sign any forms" what do you mean? Surely he was not free to fly?


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## loulou111 (May 19, 2012)

Eamon said:


> FANTASTIC POST..one question though, when you say "I didn't have to pay any money or sign any forms" what do you mean? Surely he was not free to fly?


Sorry Eamon, I meant at the time of booking the flight I didn't have to pay any money or complete any forms. You just have to do all this when you leave your dog at the airport. No up front costs.


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## Eamon (Mar 5, 2009)

loulou111 said:


> Sorry Eamon, I meant at the time of booking the flight I didn't have to pay any money or complete any forms. You just have to do all this when you leave your dog at the airport. No up front costs.


Well, as I live in backwards Spain right now, I just had it confirmed that I MUST use a cargo agent from Madrid...cannot do it myself. I called all airlines, and thy all said the same...so bit gutted, as his cost to Dubai is 1200 Euros!! More than return flights for my wife and I !!


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## Seamus0624 (Jun 22, 2013)

loulou111,

Great write up andf thanks for the detail. After you were issued the pet import permit online, did you need to present any other documents for the dog upon arrival at Cargo Village/Emirates? I will have copies of all the originals but want to be sure I have what I need. Also, does the Vet/Dr at MOE office take cash?
Thanks


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm told they don't take cash. You have to preload a card of some type with money and use it to pay for the permits.



Seamus0624 said:


> loulou111,
> 
> Great write up andf thanks for the detail. After you were issued the pet import permit online, did you need to present any other documents for the dog upon arrival at Cargo Village/Emirates? I will have copies of all the originals but want to be sure I have what I need. Also, does the Vet/Dr at MOE office take cash?
> Thanks


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

TallyHo said:


> I'm told they don't take cash. You have to preload a card of some type with money and use it to pay for the permits.


I heard they do take cash sometimes. But the @loulou111 wrote he/she paid by normal card, not ecard. This was however 2 years ago, has something changed? It would be PITA to go to the airport and find out they won't proceed without ecard.

Where can one buy and load this ecard?


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## GloballyRelaxed (Nov 5, 2014)

Just also as a value add to this post.

DKC (Dubai Kennels And Cattery) have a very informative FAQ on the import procedure for the UAE on their website, all of this in PDF form.

Different procedures of course occur depending on the country of origination.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

From the time I parked at Cargo Village to have my dog in the trunk it took me 60mins. The procedure is super easy:

Block 1: take delivery slip, pay AED 200
Block 2: customs AED 35 + veterinary AED 1000 + AED 30 edirham fee (I paid via VISA credit card, but the Vet asked if I have VISA or Master, so I assume the latter would work out too).
Block 3: go downstairs and pass the customs slip to the guy, who will bring your pet and load to the trunk. Tip him.

Before that I applied for import permit and paid online AED 500 + AED 17 (edirham fee), permit was ready almost instantly.

Total damage on UAE side: AED 1,782

For instance Alison from Doghouse has quoted me AED 4,550 (including out of hours clearance) for the same.

Documents required: Airway bill, Emirates ID or passport (bring a copy) depending what did you provide in import permit and import permit itself.


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## Bigsoccermomma (Apr 12, 2013)

We are getting ready to bring our dogs in and had wondered about handling this side ourselves. Thanks for commenting on the process!


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## bgsaigal (Dec 4, 2017)

loulou111 said:


> Apologies in advance for the long post but hopefully you will find it useful!
> 
> We have just brought our dog over from the UK. I am now based in Dubai but our dog was staying in the UK. I was going to use a company to do the process in UK and a company here I'd Dubai but after talking to some friends who did it themselves we decided to do it too. At first, I just didn't know where to start so I thought I'd put together detailed instructions for other people to try to help them. The whole process was really not that bad or stressful. Honestly. If I was ever to bring out other pets then I would do this process all over again.
> 
> ...


Can someone let us know what are working hours at Dubai Cargo Village to get the custody of your pet dog? Are there specific working hours or they work round the clock as the fights must be landing at odd hours as well.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

bgsaigal said:


> Can someone let us know what are working hours at Dubai Cargo Village to get the custody of your pet dog? Are there specific working hours or they work round the clock as the fights must be landing at odd hours as well.


Have you tried calling them and asking them ?

They do have phones. Flights may land all hours but that doesnt mean they have a 24hr public counter.


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## bgsaigal (Dec 4, 2017)

Called Emirates Sky Cargo and they confirmed that they operate 24X7 and I can get the custody of my dog in 2 to 3 hours time after I reach their office in Dubai Cargo Village.


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## Wondering2018 (Apr 15, 2018)

Hi how did your dogs get on? Are you still in Dubai? Did you find places to walk them etc?


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Wondering2018 said:


> Hi how did your dogs get on? Are you still in Dubai? Did you find places to walk them etc?


Last Activity: 6th December 2017 10:54 AM

You're unlikely to get a reply IMO.


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