Shipping pets to UK

[starman]

There is no 6 month quarantine now if you travel between Turkey and the UK under the pet travel scheme. I just did this 2 weeks ago with 2 Siamese cats.

first of all, make sure your pets are fully vaccinated and chipped. The chip needs to be placed before you have the rabies and other relevant vaccinations. Then a month after the rabies vaccination, a blood test needs to be done which is sent off to the labs in Ankara. You then have to wait 90 days after the blood test results before the pets can travel.

Only a few airports accept pets via the pet travel scheme and certain carriers so check this with the defra website before planning your route. We picked Heathrow as they have a 24/7 animal reception center and BA and THY fly there.

They will have to go cargo and not as excess baggage and you have to use a cargo company. BA provided me contact details of Dynamic cargo and I dealt with Suleyman there who speaks English which would be helpful for those of you that dont speak Turkish.

After sending via email details of the pets paperwork and travel cage diementions, Suleyman gave me a rate of 1445 euro payable on the day of travel for 2 cats in 2 cages (cats must travel in separate cages).
Suleyman also took care of the export certificate which can only be applied for upto 72 hours before departure and the animals have to go to the agriculture ministry in Istanbul for this (you need to be in Istanbul for this) and he arranged transport and pick up and delivery of the animals for this.

Then on the day of departure, I went to the cargo terminal in Ataturk airport 4 hours before departure where I met the customs agent and BA representative to sign papers. this took about 90 mins in all and not complicated at all. After this I went to check myself in and board the flight.

The airlines only accept pets on certain flights and Suleyman took care of the reservations and once confirmed, you just need to book yourself on the same flight. BA only take pets on the late afternoon flight so I arrived at Heathrow at 1930 from where I went to collect my rental car and drove over to the animal reception center by terminal 4.
At the animal reception center the collect the animals straight from the plane and take them to their center where the animals are released into a run and are fed and watered and cleaned if need be whilst their paperwork is processed and they are examined by a vet. expect 4-5 hours for the processing but on this occasion I only waited till 10pm so 2 and a half hours to process altogether. After that they gave me the import documents and the cats and we just got into the car and then drove to Newcastle.
The 1445 euro I paid was for everything apart from my plane ticket. The only extra I had to pay was 150 lira for 2 travel cages as the ones I had were not suitable and to be honest, this was a very reasonable price for 2 cages which can be used again.

The process went along without a hitch and the cats are now happily in their new temporary home for 6 months at my mother-in-laws till they have to go through it all again when they come to Hong Kong.

[tinkerman]

This has been in force since 1st Jan 2012   

[Marggie]

A very useful and informative post for anyone wishing to bring their pets to Turkey or back to the UK.  Thanks for sharing.

[Scunner]

Agreed, nice to have the info from someone who has actually done it and taken the time to share. Thanks Starman.

[Andrew H]

For your information we are the proud owners of a little street dog we adopted before we left Turkey for the last time. So you know, she went to the vet early October for all her jabs, micro chipping, rabies etc and then stayed with a friend until last week. She was then brought overland to the Uk by a guy who specialises in this sort of travel along with 5 other dogs and a cat. They left Turkey last Tuesday and arrived , via Croatia ,Bulgaria, Germany, France  and finally Eurotunnel, on our doorstep at 10.30Pm last Saturday. Our new dog was fine and loves her new home and of course did not have to spend time in quarantine. Can't tell you how easy everything was as long as you know the procedures and have the right paperwork.

[jackstee]

I agree it's great to have the quarintine dropped. But isn't it a ripoff.

Charlie, our small friend. Dalaman to Doha, 75 TL and in the cabin to.

Islamabad to Dalaman 200 TL also in the cabin. Other places in the hold, not much more. Always charged as excess baggage, including cage around 15 kilos.

The big thing is never tell them the breed.  Often airlines will decline as they think you may be on an insurance scam.

[starman]

I dont know what happened in the past but we were very wary of our cats as they are part of our family and I did my research on the company and it was the only choice BA gave me and I wasnt 100% on THY. They are members of IPATA and the only other company that are members is sumerman who I dont want to work with as I have a history with them.
Suleyman wouldnt do anything unless all the paperwork was in order and even advised me that the cages we had might be refused by BA as they had plastic doors and needed to be metal for which he provided a solution and not to a great expense either which he could have done as we would have paid. Our cats have never been in a cage longer then a trip to the vets before and taking them across multiple borders with them being in cages for days was definitely not an option even considered.
All I can say is that everything went along with no hitch and even the BA cabin crew were aware of the cats in the hold when I asked about them when I boarded.
It might be pricey but like I said, but at least I knew what the total cost was and no hidden charges unlike as you know if you bring in a cargo container and you have all sorts of people wanting taxes and under the table payments.
For those down south, it would be easier getting to Istanbul a few days before the flight to make sure everything gets done properly. Its not getting them out of Turkey thats the hurdle but getting them into the UK safely and not getting slapped with 6 months quarantine becuse the paperwork isnt in order.