By Thanh Truc Nguyen Huynh in HCMC
Taking your pet abroad from Vietnam is possible, but there are many rules to follow and preparations to make.
Being a volunteer every Saturday morning in 2009 for Pet Care Hospital in HCMC, I realized that most people who need to go back home or plan to travel with their lovely pets for a long time do make any preparations before they leave. Suddenly, they just come to Pet Care Hospital and ask for some paper work for their pets for boarding!
Traveling by air with furry friends might make for a memorable experience, but it requires a lot of arrangements. If not, the owners or even their pets might be in trouble! Some of which can be quite costly!
According to the Airport Animal Quarantine Stations, the animal must be vaccinated against rabies at least 30 days before departure. Other vaccinations are optional but this is up to the country of destination.
Pet owners must submit a rabies vaccination certificate, their passports, tickets and pet’s health record. A few days before travel, normally within ten days, the animal must be inspected by a special vet to issue a stamped health certificate, and then go to the Government Animal Quarantine Station to receive a pet export license.
There are specific laws for specific flights. For example, Thai Airlines accept only dogs, cats and small birds in the passenger cabins under the condition that the animal must be accompanied by its owner and must be odorless, healthy and not pregnant.
Each passenger can bring one pet. Two small pets may be carried in the same cage but the animals’ weight, including the cage, must not exceed ten kilograms. Some types of pets are prohibited from being carried on or checked as baggage on specific flights, including rodents, guinea pigs, hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, iguanas, skunks, minks and soft-shelled turtles.
Pet owners must take full responsibility. They must provide a container that is strong, leak-proof, clean, disinfected, covered with a pet sheet and large enough for the animal to stand, lie down and turn around in a natural manner. Pets must be served sufficient food and water during the journey. In my opinion, a long journey is never easy for anyone, human or animal, so if your flight is over five hours you should ask your vet how to take care of your pet! There may be a supplement or essential vitamin necessary for your pet before take off. In some cases, with pets that have never traveled, a tranquilizer may be needed!
In certain countries, like members of the European Union, you need to follow additional regulations that are issued under the animal health requirements applicable to non-commercial movement of pet animals. Pets must be implanted with a microchip and vaccinated for rabies at least 30 days before blood sampling. Only pets with a rabies titer higher than 0.5 IU/ml are allowed to enter those countries.
Animals imported to the UK must additionally have tick and Echinococcus treatment.
The cost of the microchip and rabies titer check is expensive but although the cost is high, it’s worth doing it, if the pet owner doesn’t want to leave their beloved friend behind.
For more consultation on how to care for your pets before and during transportation, contact:
(08) 3744 2505, 3523 4244, Fax: 848 3519 0465, or petcarevietnam@gmail.com or www.petcare.com.vn.