Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Planning your Pet's Journey (pet export from Sri Lanka) - Expected time of travel...

As a pet travel consultant in Sri Lanka, I have had many clients who wants to travel with their pets (pet export) and have already set dates, before they require my assistance to make arrangements for the relocation ... And often they are disappointed when they find out that their Pet cannot be exported on the planned date, but, the exporting will have to be delayed in weeks maybe months...!!

So,  Does it matter "WHEN" I AM PLANNING TO EXPORT MY PET (dogs/cats/birds/other animals) out of Sri Lanka?
YES!! it does matter! It matters a great deal... lets find out why??

There are many regulations involved in the pet transport (pet export/import) industry, Mainly for the purpose of decease control (Rabies, Heartworm, etc.), and to avoid some animals from being imported or exported from  certain countries (risk of invasion, risk of ferocious animals being a threat to the public, illegal trade, protection of endangered species, etc.). Apart from that, the Airlines have their own regulations regarding pet transport...

Some "Importing countries with Rabies free status" have categorized the "exporting countries", based on the "Rabies Risk factor", and Sri Lanka fall in the category of "high risk of Rabies". Countries under to each different category, needs to fulfill a different set of requirements, before the Pet can enter the "Importing country".

Getting all the requirements in-place takes time, mostly because many of the "importing countries" have declared minimum waiting periods after the Pet's last valid rabies vaccination (minimum 30 days to 06 months) before the Pet can actually enter the "importing country".

This is WHY your Pet's relocation needs to be thought about and planned early.