Moving dogs to Singapore

chunkaway · Post by **chunkaway** » 13th Feb, '13, 13:11

We are moving to Singapore in July and our plan is to bring our two Golden Retrievers with us. We just received a quote from a pet relocation company that literally took our breath away. Since this option seems cost prohibitive, we are wondering about moving them to Singapore ourselves. The paperwork, while a bit complicated and tiresome, seems doable - but we are worried about the actual flight. We are moving from Oregon, and this is a very long flight for the dogs to endure. Does anyone have any advice for us? Thanks much...

baloo · Post by **baloo** » 13th Feb, '13, 18:56

Cant really help as every time we moved our cats we used a pet relocation company.

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 13th Feb, '13, 20:16

I know friends that have moved both dogs and cats from Singapore to the UK, and yes, costs a pretty penny. No idea how to do it yourself.

I also have a friend who moved a dog from Singapore to Malaysia: much easier, fill out a few forms, take said dog in the back seat of car across the road links. They wave you through the Malaysian end very quickly as they don't like dogs!

JJ · Post by JJ » 13th Feb, '13, 21:28

You can do it yourself, although with you being so far removed from Singapore/Asia the paper work will be more complicated. I moved my cats out of and back into Singapore without a relocation company (because it was to/from Vietnam and they didnt provide that service). You will need to coordinate the following:

a) Flights: you can book your pets in as cargo, I would strongly recommend Singapore Airlines. You will need to reserve this quite far in advance, and then confirm as soon as you get the AVA documentation and VET passport all done.

b) Quarantine: not sure if you will need it coming from the US? If you do then you will need to book it way in advance. Places for dogs get snapped up esp at certain times of the year. http://petembassy.net/main/index.php/saqs.html If you do have to put them in, just to let you know not to worry - its an awesome facility and the pet carers are GREAT.

c) AVA: The documentation is actually quite simple, however, given your location you might struggle with getting it signed and stamped by the AVA and the fee paid, which needs to happen before you can confirm the flight booking. I would give them a call. http://www.ava.gov.sg/

Once thats all done, its all taken care of from the time you take the dogs to the flight. Singapore Airlines/AVA will contact the relevant authorities who will collect the dogs at the flight, take them for vet examination, vaccinations etc, then you can either see them at the quarantine place or if no quarantine then you pick them up at the cargo area of Changi.

TBH, when I did a cost comparison between me doing it, and pet relo doing other moves for me, there wasnt a huge difference, and if I could have used pet relo to/from vietnam then I would have done - much less stress. Have you sourced costs locally? that might be why they are coming out as expensive. You may want to check petmovers.com.sg and they can help with the Singapore side of things?

JJx

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 14th Feb, '13, 09:40

We moved a dog here from the US 9 years ago and used a pet relocation company. As JJ noted above, you probably aren't going to save a lot of money doing it yourself and you will save yourself a lot of headache by letting the pet relo people handle everything. The dogs will have to go into quarantine coming from the US, but I *think* the amount of time has dropped since we did it -- it used to be 30 days, now I think I've heard it is more like 2 weeks, but you'll have to check with the AVA on that to be sure. You will likely want to pay the extra for a air conditioned kennel especially given your dogs are not likely used to this kind of heat and humidity.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 14th Feb, '13, 14:13

I guess I should note that my dog was shipped from Raleigh, NC via Charlotte and LA before arriving in Singapore. I was told she would be taken out of the crate in LA and walked around, but I have no way of knowing whether or not this actually happened. The guys at the quarantine center here emailed me complete with photos (I shipped her ahead of our departure) when she arrived and noted that she was a bit 'shell-shocked' but otherwise fine. They also noted that pretty much all animals shipped in by air are a little out of it for a day or two, but generally end up fine.

I remember being told that shipping pets is harder on the owners than the pets themselves, so try not to worry too much

Good luck!

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » 15th Feb, '13, 03:23

I'm usually shell shocked when I fly to Singapore and we usually travel business class.

slinky · Post by **slinky** » 15th Feb, '13, 11:15

sluggo wrote:I'm usually shell shocked when I fly to Singapore and we usually travel business class.

Fair point, sluggo, me too

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