Author Topic: Pets into Turkey  (Read 4529 times)

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Offline Rindaloo

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Pets into Turkey
« on: June 27, 2007, 23:32:18 PM »
Has anyone got any experience of shipping anything other than the bog standard "1 dog, 1 cat, 1 bird, 10 fish"?

We are planning to take 4 ferrets to Turkey in August.  They have their pet passports, they are neutered, we have export certificates for them, we are using a kennels for the move, so they will travel in the correct container for ferrets (aparently it has to be wire lined, I have no idea why).  There will be 1 person per ferret accompanying them.

My questions are these.....  

Did you have to pay import tax?  
Did you have to have the animal blood tested?  
Did you have to have the certificate legalised at the foreign & commonwealth office in London?
Did you have to 'grease the palm' of the customs officials at Dalaman??

I am asking these questions because we are having a totally exasperating time trying to get information from anyone who is supposed to know.  Either we get no information, or we get conflicting information.  We have been in contact with 2 vets in the UK, 1 vet in Turkey, DEFRA, the Turkish consulate, the Turkish embassy, customs in Turkey and the Turkish ministry of agriculture.  We are fast running out of time and are desperate.  We thought someone here might have first hand experience.  Any help or information would be gratefully received.

Offline KKOB

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Pets into Turkey
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2007, 04:20:22 AM »
Ferrets come under the same rules as cats and dogs so the answers to your questions are,

1, No
2, No
3, Yes
4, No

I assume they've had their rabies jabs  to get their Pet Passports ?

Offline Rindaloo

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Pets into Turkey
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2007, 12:57:56 PM »
Sorry KKOB, we are being told they don't come under the same rules.  This is a head clutching nightmare.  We are being told they dont appear in the cat dog fish bird list and therefore they are a commercial animal and we should be using a company in Turkey to import them.  We are being told we can get them in if we pay £100 each and grease the palm of the customs officials.  We are being told that they will have to go cargo because they aren't on the cat dog bird fish list and therefore will not be treated as excess baggage.

They have their pet passports, so they have had their rabies jabs.  They have also had their distemper jabs (just to be on the safe side).

Each official we speak to tells us a different story and in my mind is the threat we read on one site that stated "failure to comply with the regulations will result in the animal being sent back or destroyed"...................................

This is causing us such stress, I cannot describe it.

We have asked friends in Turkey to find out anything they can and one managed to get a certificate from someone at the ministry of agriculture in Turkey.  This certificate is for cats, dogs and ferrets.  It is written in Turkish and english and we sent it to the consulate and they say it isn't an official certificate.

Today we contacted the Turkish Embassy again.  They put us onto an official 'who would help'.  After lengthy questioning where they had trouble grasping that these are pets, they said they would phone back when they had checked to find out what we needed to know.  They have just phoned me to tell me that because ferrets aren't on the 'dog,cat,bird,fish' list they may or may not be allowed in.  We have to take them at our risk!  I said it was a strange system that they couldn't tell us yes or no and I was told it wasnt a strange system at all, -they aren't on the official list and therefore they may or may not get in.  How exasperating is that!!  [:(!]  :(

Offline KKOB

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« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2007, 13:15:05 PM »
Burasi Turkiye !

Offline Rindaloo

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« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2007, 14:39:06 PM »
Hi KKOB, this whole confusion is caused because ferrets aren't on their list.  If you have any ideas as to anything we can do, I would very much appreciate it.  

TODAY, the latest instalment is from the branch of DEFRA near the kennels we will be using to ship the ferrets over.  They say a health certificate is not needed........  This is worrying.  We have expressed our worries and the kennels are now contacting the branch of DEFRA that we have been dealing with who said they would issue a health certificate.  So, I await the next phonecall with blood pressure rising by the second.

This whole farce is turning into a monkey trap......

Offline Eric

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« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2007, 19:33:37 PM »
Hi Rindaloo,
We bought our dog over in April and had to have the Health certificate (not neccessary to get it legalised by FO for dog)so would have thought any live animal would have to have one as well.
Why do you need pet passport as this is only relevant in EU (we had one because we drove across Europe.
We did not have to have an export certificate because we accompanied the dog and were told by Defra that it was only neccessary for unaccompanied animals.
Blood tests were not required.
Not specific about ferrets I'm afaid but I would keep on to Defra as they should have the contacts.
Moral of the story though was, we paid out about £200 for pet passport, health certificate, microchip, vets bills etc etc and not once on the whole of the journey were we asked to see any paperwork and even in Cesme we offered the paperwork and they did not so much as glance at it!
Wish I could be of more help and good luck.
Fi & Eric

Offline Rindaloo

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Pets into Turkey
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2007, 19:59:44 PM »
Hi Fi and Eric.  We didnt ask for the pet passport.  We got their jabs done and they did the passports.  We didn't argue about it because we are taking the view that it must be better to overdo it that get caught out by not having something.  

The thing is, Eric, they are treating the ferrets differently because they aren't on the dog, cat, bird, fish list.  They all disagree as to what is needed and even whether they are allowed in at all.  It does no good to say that ferrets are like kittens in size, dentition, and health requirements because the Turkish authoritiies just see them as commercial alimals because they arent on the "dog,cat,bird,fish" list.  It does no good to say they are pets.  It does no good to say they are neutered and therefore can not breed if they escaped.  

We have explained that we will be accompanying them.  We have explained all the details by phone and email ad nauseum.  It's like bashing your head against a brick wall.  I began all this months ago and followed the advice given.  And the closer we get to flying out, the more info is seeping out of the woodwork, all conflicting.

Sadly DEFRA hasn't been all that much help really.  We have spoken to them on the phone and we have been to see them too.  They have provided help but when we follow it up we find out other information from the Turks.  Sadly, they are better at dealing with europe.  And NOW even they appear to be disagreeing with each other!

Because the ferrets are going as cargo, they will be dealt with differently at Dalaman (we have been told), and that is where the potential trouble will start because we will have to deal with customs (we have been told).  I am fast getting to the point of not believeing anything I am told because in the last few weeks (few days even), we have been addled by so many conflicting rules/advice/opinions.

In all this I feel no one cares that these ferrets are much loved and very precious pets.  No one seems to 'get' the fact that they are no different to cats and dogs in biology.  They pose no threat to the country and I can't understand why they are making such hard work of it.

Moving abroad is stressful enough without this.

Offline KKOB

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« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2007, 20:09:51 PM »
It may be of some help if you get in touch with one of the vets in Fethiye and ask them to do the collection from the airport. I realise it will add extra cost but in the long run it might reduce the hassle and worry.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2007, 20:10:58 PM by KKOB »

Offline Rindaloo

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« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2007, 20:14:22 PM »
We originally spoke to Lara Vet, could you possibly find out his email for us?  I would really appreciate it.

Offline Rindaloo

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« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2007, 21:13:17 PM »
PS, we are flying out (with the dogs) on the 10th of July.  But Dave is flying back to the UK on the 9th Aug in order to fly back with the ferrets on the 13th with 3 other people.  So, we have limited time in the UK to sort things before we leave.




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