Thursday, March 26, 2015

Australia Consolidates Animal Quarantine

Australia will consolidate all animal entry quarantine to its new facility in Melbourne at Mickelham Victoria beginning Oct. 16, 2015. Air Animal will advise all corporate and relocating pet owners booked into the older Eastern Creek facility after the closing date. We will post further updates here.

Animal import regulations change regularly, often on short notice, making Air Animal a welcome international relocation partner for your pet.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Orders to Ship Out

By Melissa Cortes-De Armas
Military Relocation Specialist


Luna and Gus lounging in their far flung corner of East Africa.

Military families and pets are good soldiers, too. We have to be. I know. My husband is active duty Navy now stationed here in Tampa at MacDill. I know the stresses and strains of military life and I love helping military families relocate their pets overseas.


In October, Seth and Deborah moved to East Africa with their two black lab-collie fur babies. They did a lot of research and had long conversations with several pet movers. According to Seth, he really appreciated Air Animal’s service and in-depth knowledge of overseas military pet moves when a slight hiccup over using the most up-to-date country-specific paperwork cropped up.

Seth posted his praise on Google. “Melissa was responsive to our barrage of questions and concerns. She also interacted very positively with our veterinarian and family who watched our dogs while we got settled in East Africa.

"Make sure that you as pet owners double check that you’re aware of the most current paperwork and requirements for entry into the country that you’re moving into. These requirements can and do change frequently," he wrote.

“It’s highly doable to bring your furry little friends along with you. Africa is already feeling more like home now that we have our dogs with us. Well worth the effort and cost!” he concluded. Start five to 10 weeks before your move. If you are moving to Hawaii, Guam, New Zealand, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore or Japan start six months beforehand. Call Air Animal. Ask every question in the book and research our website. Air Animal provided origination services for Luna and Gus because Seth was in Africa. We also hired one of our partners to provide receiving services in Africa.

There are pet move kits online and at the pet stores. They don’t include microchipping your pet, streamlining the international health certificate process or all the tags and labels needed. Air Animal can also provide the travel kennel sized for your pet 10 days before travel so your friend can get familiar with the kennel.
Recently my colleague Jessica Nickler, helped a family relocate overseas and she arranged for DogsOnDeployment.org to assist with some of the animal relocation charges. Our network is invaluable to our clients.

We frequently help military personnel relocate their pets to Japan, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Hawaii. While Hawaii is inside the United States, this island state has very specific animal travel rules and regulations because it’s an island. We know when Japanese rules require a 180-day in-home quarantine here in the U.S. and when that quarantine isn’t necessary.

Contact us to find out more. If you’re being reassigned or travel regularly with your pet, sign up for our free e-newsletter.