What is the easiest and safest way to re-locate your pet to Doha?
Hi everyone,
This is a great site and very informative. I will be re-locating from Canada with my husband and daughter this coming August. We have our family dog which is a miniature dachshund and we will be taking him with us too. We have lived in Saudi Arabia for 7 years and did have our little doggy with us and I was advised by the Saudi Embassy how to re-locate him. However, I am not sure exactly how to go about re-locating him with us to Doha. Of course we want to make sure that we ship him the safest way etc and of course I would want him to fly with us if possible. I know it is a long flight and there will be a lot of paperwork involved. I would appreciate any advice/assistance that any of you have regarding re-locating your pet to Doha. I have noticed that many people have done so from various countries.
Thank you in advance,
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne,
it's very easy to import your dog, here are the steps:
- since it's a small dog, it could fly in the cabin with you. For example Lufthansa takes small dogs in the cabin up to 8Kg (bag included). I would recommned this option, as I heard terrible stories of dogs flying cargo who got lost or forgotten for a couple of days during transit...
- once you know you can use airlines that accept pets in the cabin, make your flight booking announcing right away that the dog will be with you (as most airlines take only up to 1 or 2 pets in the cabin per flight)
- then contact www.qatarvet.name.qa, Dr. Hensen will take care of your import permit (tell him your pet is flying in the cabin). All you need is: yearly vaccinations + rabies up to date (done no less then 30 days prior to the import date), a medical check 5 days prior departure, a soft travelling bag up to airline standards.
good luck.
We used Qatar Pet Relocaters when we took the dog over last December (the link is given in a post above). They took care of all the paperwork on this side and advised us on the paperwork needed on the other. I highly recommend their services and the cost for their fee (as I recall around QR 550) was more than worth the lack of hassle and me not having to run around to get papers and register the dog post arrival. Besides, they know what they are doing and will save you possible heartbreak.
There is no quarantine here, so if all the paperwork is in order you pick up you pet in the luggage area if it travels as accompanied luggage (which is generally much less expensive than sending it as cargo). I slo have heard good things about using KLM through Amsterdam, but we had our daughter take him on the direct Qatar Air flight from NY and it worked fine and the charge was only $150 for "excess baggage".
You will need an import permit from the Department of Agriculture here, a Canadian Dept. of Agriculture veterinarian to examine your dog no more than 10 days before travel and issue a statement. All his vaccination history, a microchip, etc. I used dohapetrelocators and was very happy with them. I'm sure the others mentioned are equally as good as they have excellent reputations here in Doha.
I also recommend you fly KLM - they are extremely good with pets up to and including a "pet hotel" in Amsterdam for any stop over where your baby will be let out of his cage (in a secure area), looked at by a vet, fed watered and walked. You can't visit him but the info desk in the airport will connect you with the pet hotel to ask questions.
The flight crew was also very happy to check and make sure my babies were on board.
You can contact http://www.qatarpetrelocators.com/ and they will assist you.
QAWS-Qatar Animal Welfare Society was a huge help when I brought my cat from Canada. www.qaws.org
Doha Vets is a pet relocator. I believe their website is dohavets.com