Relocating a dog from England to Doha | ExpatWoman.com
 

Relocating a dog from England to Doha

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 May 2015 - 21:58

Hello ladies,

My hubby and I are about to move to Doha in September with our poodle.
I am just in the process of collecting quotations from animal relocation companies I found on the web, however, it is quite shocking how much they ask for a Manchester-Doha journey (above 1,700 GBP).

Any suggestions on how we could safely transport our poodle in a more cost effective way?
We will be flying with Qatar airways.

We would drop him off at the airport cargo terminal anyway I just really want to see what our options are.
Of course he is our world so we would want him to be in safe hands but I really can't see why these companies charge so much money, why does it cost more than the double of an adult flight ticket when he would be in the cargo area of the aircraft and we would obtain all the necessary documents such as DEFRA doc etc.

Thanks for the advise!

15
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 August 2016 - 11:43
Make sure your dog is up to date with all recommended vaccinations required for Qatar.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 27 July 2016 - 21:02
excess baggage means you check him in when you check in your luggage -- and he's on the same flight as you, but in the luggage hold. to have him on board in the cabin with you, you have to check with each airline to see their size guidelines. It's just for very small dogs that fit in cages that I think fit under the seat in front (not 100% sure of the exact size), but it's definitely only for small dogs.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 July 2016 - 03:49
Sorry to bother you but I have been going through this forum looking for 'answers' to the many question so have regarding our move to Qatar from Scotland! When you mention dogs as excess baggage, does that mean I can keep him with me on the flight? Also, I will definitely look into bringing him home on short notice- I never considered this! Phew, so so much to learn! X
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 May 2015 - 02:03
Another recommendation for Sarah at Qatar Vet Centre as they do both incoming and outgoing animals. They were our cat's vet while we were in Qatar and Sarah handled all the documentation to ship the cat back to Australia. Sarah coordinated Kitta's pre-departure stay at their cattery, the flights and transfers (she had to change planes in Dubai) and also booked Kitta in for her stay in quarantine here in Sydney. Totally off topic: On the appointed day we went out to pick up Kitta from the quarantine place in Eastern Creek in Sydney. When I said who it was I'd come to collect, the lady who was doing the cat's release just looked at me and said 'Your cat DID NOT enjoy the travel experience.' LOL.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 May 2015 - 14:45
We brought our Cat from Oman to Qatar, he was allowed as excess baggage. Taking him back to UK in June to Manchester, and he has to be imported into UK, so it's going to be a bit of a trip for the Lad, Qatar Vets were fantastic, give Sarah a call +974 4016 1366, or email [email protected]
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 May 2015 - 15:17
Hello We relocated here last August and brought our dog with us from the UK. We actually chose to bring him 2 days after us as we wanted to get settled first. He flew as cargo on a direct qatar airways flight from Manchester but you can take them on your flight as excess baggage. We used a company in Manchester and Qatar Vet Center here, the service was good. It cost about £1500 for everything. Please bare in mind they will recommend dogs don't land on a day flight as its too hot waiting to unload them, he was on a 9pm flight. When he arrived to our accommodation he was hot, tired and a bit stressed but he soon recovered - he had been in a wooden cage/crate for almost 24hrs bless him. Any other qs please ask. I'm sure you know this already but dogs should never be shaved it does not help to cool them!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 11 May 2015 - 23:26
You may check with Qatar Airways again. Apparently, for a few days there was an error on animal pricing on their site...So with luck the price was a mistake. See article here: http://dohanews.co/increase-in-pet-travel-costs-prompts-qatar-experts-to-fear-more-abandoned-animals/ If you look at other options, KLM is generally considered to be the best at handling animals. We sent our dog via KLM cargo many years ago for this reason, although we flew on another airline ourselves (at the time there was no QR flight from the US).
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 May 2015 - 23:25
You can do part of the relocation by yourself but there are some documents that need to be done here in Qatar and if you are not in Doha it is virtually impossible to obtain them in another way different from hiring a pet relocation company. Also check QA policy, as some breeds of dogs are not admitted. I know it is expensive to go with a relocation company, but we tried to bring our cat by ourselves and it has requested a lot of energies only to try. At the end we left the cat in Italy with a friend. Consider to shave the dog as it is so hot here, dogs suffer a lot. Once I have seen a Siberian Husky in Doha. I would never have the courage to keep such a dog here, poor animal.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 May 2015 - 23:20
You should get in touch with Qatar Vet Center. They can help you with all of the documents you will need for relocating your dog to Doha. They are a great resource if you have any questions and/or issues with relocating your dog.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 May 2015 - 23:14
You can also take your dog as 'extra baggage' and check him/her in when you check in yourselves. It's much easier and cheaper to do it that way and you don't have to go through a pet relocation company.