Shipping pets: Petair, Dogwalks.au and Dogtainers

[Tez191]

Hi,

 

Haven't posted for a while: in fact not at all in the just over 5 weeks since we arrived in Brisbane! The information on PomsInOz provided by members was extremely useful, especially regarding the practicalities of getting us all over! So I thought I would share my experiences to in some way repay the advice I was given!

 

We have two English Pointers and two elderly cats, and wanted to bring them all over with us. After reading recommendations on this forum, we contacted Petair. I was very impressed with their customer service. They answered my emails almost immediately, and were very friendly. Lindsey was our initial contact, then Catherine afterwards. They answered all my silly questions and put my mind at ease.

 

Due to the size of the dogs, and the fact that we had four pets, it wasn't cheap. But most of the cost is the airfare and the jabs anyway. And when, four weeks before they were due to travel, our local vet who was doing some of the jabs told us the cats wouldn't be able to fly because they needed a complete course of one drug that would take six weeks, Petair were there to correct them and put our minds at ease! And having one less thing to organise and stress about...

 

They were in quarantine for 30 days in Sydney. The two dogs sharing a kennel and the two cats sharing a cage. Being in Brisbane, it was a little far to visit them. However even if we were in Sydney we weren't sure if we would visit them anyway due to the stress for us (and them) of the goodbyes. We used Dogwalks in Sydney to visit them on our behalf. They too were great. They went in four times a week and on most occasions took photos and posted them on their website. This was a great help and made the time apart go much faster. And they seemed to have the knack of taking photos of them playing and 'smiling'. Considering the number of times they visited them (and they threw in free visits and photos of the cats!), they were a bargain. Karen there was so helpful

 

We were considering driving down to Sydney to collect them, but with three kids in addition to the four pets, and a gas guzzling car, we reconsidered! Catherine recommended Errol and Dogtainers, and we contacted him. Again, his customer service was faultless, and we used them to fly the pets up to us. And as the crates used for international flights were too big for the earlier domestic flight they let us use one of theirs.

 

The reunion at Brisbane airport was fantastic, and worth every penny we spend. So a big thank you (and recommendation) to Lindsey and Catherine at Petair, to Karen at Dogwalks, and to Errol at Dogtainers.

 

Terry

 

[And our dogs Barney and Sally, and our cats Dolly and Tammy]

[fifi69]

So glad your a complete family again:yes:

 

Although we didn't use Petair we did also use Karen and the team from Dogwalks when our two labs were locked up in Sydney. Tbh once you've paid the large amount to get them here,using their services if your unable to visit is worth it IMO. It's nice to know that they are getting a bit of special attention with the photos being a nice touch.

 

Wishing you all well in your new life xx

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi Terry lovely to see you back and glad to hear the fur babies are safe and sound. I would trust Petair with my children.

[katonthemat]

Hi Terry

 

Thanks for posting - it's always reassuring to know how things have worked out for others and that they have had good experiences. We are coming over in April / May next year and are using Petair to transport our youngest two cats. My oldest will be 15 by then and has early stages of kidney problems so I have planned to leave her with my eldest daughter as I think (???) it's in her best interests and the journey etc would be too stressful for her (although it breaks my heart to leave her); but you mentioned that your cats are elderly and I was wondering how old and whether they were/are in excellent health. Thanks, Katrina