I almost moved to Sydney Australia back in 2010 and I have to admit I was not too thrilled about it. Don’t get me wrong, I know Australians love their dogs and I was kind of excited to check out their amazing beaches and natural wonders. The reason was, that even though I had all my shots and I’ve been up to date since I was a pup, and carried a pet passport from the pet passport scheme, Australia had different rules when it came to accepting pets in their country.
30 days of Quarantine
They required all pets to be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days before going home to their family. Yup that’s right, 30 days in a kennel to make sure I was not carrying any bugs, rabies, or vector-borne hazards of bio-security concern! (now that sounds scary!) After I got the green light I’d be able to go home and then enjoy the streets, parks, and beaches of Australia.
I can tell you, my peep was not too thrilled about the whole ordeal, she was already nervous about the 9-hour flight from Hong Kong, and the thought that she would not see me at home after another 30 days made her really nervous. I was told that while I am in the kennel they do allow your peeps to visit, but hey, that’s just not the same thing. Any paw, I was lucky, the job was turned down and we headed back to Europe.
New 10 Day Minimum Quarantine
So why am I telling you all this? Well taking your pet to Australia is going to become a little less stressful. Their new import conditions when you apply for an import permit for your dog or cat come into effect from 2 December 2013. Under the new conditions, the minimum post-arrival quarantine stay will be reduced from 30 days to 10 days.
So much I better the say!
