SERVICES

For over 15 years, we have specialized exclusively in the assistance of clients transporting dogs and cats to the rabies-free countries of Australia and New Zealand, via the pacific gateways of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Utilizing the regularly scheduled passenger airline systems, we coordinate pet travel to Australia and New Zealand regardless of point of origin. Our clients are mostly relocating families and companies that include family pet relocation in their corporate moving policy. We can coordinate any and all arrangements to ensure personal care and handling of the family pet from the time it is picked up at the residence being vacated until it is delivered to the new home in Australia or New Zealand. We also enjoy an international reputation for excellence in pet travel among the dog and cat breeding communities.

We facilitate this process with our knowledge and expertise in flights, flight regulations, travel crate requirements, pickup and delivery arrangements, quarantine, boarding accommodation, import and export requirements and proper animal identification. And, as requirements, regulations and restrictions change, we stay abreast of these changes and make the necessary adjustments to the pet's travel arrangements. This ongoing process reviews the airlines that will accept the pet, the routes they fly, the times of year and times of day that flights are available, transit points, and sizes of aircraft available; all of this in consideration of the age, size and special health requirements of the particular pet in question.

We have many years of experience providing a complete animal relocation service, door to door if required, including veterinary services, government endorsements, short and long-term boarding accommodations, ground transportation, travel crate sales with modifications to meet all entry requirements, and domestic and international airline booking arrangements.

As part of our service package, we provide each client with our exclusive Australia or New Zealand Pet Import Document Guideline. This is a summary and synthesis of the complete requirements of the countries of both export and import, and includes a lengthy checklist of documents that we ask to be sent to us for our review, well before travel time if possible. We then follow with detailed instructions for the client's veterinarian, as required, since most are unfamiliar with the Australia and New Zealand pet import requirements.

We also request from each client a "pet profile" describing each pet's personality, likes, dislikes, feeding preferences/requirements, health concerns and so on. We include this information with each pet's import documentation so that the Quarantine Station will be prepared to care for the pet/s with the appropriate personal attention.

We carefully organize and oversee the work of the client's own government accredited veterinarian in complying with the import requirements. We then coordinate the USDA endorsements of the veterinary documentation and the security sealing of the travel crate/s in Los Angeles/San Francisco. Attention to detail is the key to a successful pet relocation.

Further, the Import and Veterinary Documentation that we prepare to accompany our client's pet/s to Australia or New Zealand is exhaustively compiled and reviewed in advance by a full staff, then professionally typed, organized and bound. We have a policy of zero-tolerance for error. A very high percentage of the problems and delays in pet travel to Australia and New Zealand are related to errors in import documentation.

Our diligence is not relaxed once the pet/s are delivered to the departure airline. We track each pet to insure that they are onboard the aircraft, have arrived safely at the destination airport/s, have been collected by the Quarantine Station and are settling comfortably into their accommodations there. We advise the client throughout the entire journey to these "lands down under"- from beginning to end. We recognize that emotional support is welcomed by families with pets traveling. We are well aware that each pet is a cherished member of the family.

The services provided by International Pet Transportation, Inc. are, therefore, expert, detail-oriented, hands-on, customized and personalized. They are designed to assure a trouble free journey through some rather complex territory. The pet's welfare and safety is always our top priority.

We highly recommend that the travel crate(s) be purchased locally by the owner, well in advance of travel time. This will facilitate travel crate training and acclimation.

Travel crate training is the preferred alternative to sedation of pets during air travel. Most of our clients do not tranquilize their pets prior to travel. It is impossible to predict with certainty how animals will react to tranquilization under the conditions of traveling in a pressurized aircraft compartment at that altitude, for that extended period of time; and, should anything go wrong, there is no one to tend to them until arrival. Studies have shown that the respiratory system of the pet may be impaired under these circumstances. If considering sedation of a pet, you will want to speak with your veterinarian about this in great detail.

Proper travel crate training allows ample opportunity for the pet to gradually become accustomed to being inside the crate, and eventually to perceive it as a positive place to be. This means, for instance, that they are not taken to the veterinarian in the crate, which has a negative association.

They should be trained by positive reinforcement to play in the crate, to spend greater and great periods of time inside it, eventually with the door closed, and so on.

It has been our experience that this relieves a very high percentage of the stress associated with animal travel.

We will be happy to advise you in detail about this process.

Acceptable airline/IATA approved travel crates of hard plastic construction may be purchased at larger local pet supply shops, or on the Internet.

In circumstances where this is not possible, we do offer travel crates for sale.