International Travel with a Dog

It seems like every time I mention that I’m bringing my dog back to America the first thing I hear is “But it costs thousands of dollars and you have to go through quarantine!” And you know what, none of those people have actually shipped a dog from one country to another.  I’ve hear it called the Bike Shed phenomenon, tell someone you are building a nuclear reactor and no one will give you any advice because it seems so big and massive that why would you give any input? But if you tell someone you’re building a bike shed, everyone will come at you with advice from how to build the roof to what color it should be because it seems like it is within their scope.  Still haven’t done it, but sure why not, I know all about it, I heard someone talk about it once.

Same thing, never shipped so much as a cockatiel but they know how to get a dog from Malawi to America.  But I digress.

So far prepping to leave has consisted of getting things in order. Probably the biggest thing to line up is the kennel.  You have to have a crate to ship the dog in and you have to meet certain requirements, it can’t be so small that they can’t turn around and comfortably lie down in. You also have to include a food and water dish that attach to the door.  You also need some kind of absorbent bedding to go in the bottom, they recommend shredded newspaper.  On the outside of the kennel you need to have Live Animal stickers and an owner information tag. The kennel is a big part.

I was going to have a typical plastic crate brought up from South Africa when some friends of mine went down but that fell through, on to plan B.  Plan B consists of having a wooden kennel made here in Malawi. So far that one seems to be working out ok, there is a carpenter in Lilongwe who I placed an order with and hopefully in the next few weeks it will be finished and then I can get it home to start getting Dora used to it. As for the dishes, and other stuff I got kinda lucky, I was going to try and pull all that together here but my sitemate is going home for a couple weeks and said he’d bring some things back.  So I ordered a basic pet airline kit from this website http://www.dryfur.tv/basic-pet-airline-kit-large I also ordered a couple of super absorbant liners for the bottom of the kennel http://www.dryfur.tv/dryfur-pet-carrier-inserts-2-pks/ I’m really happy I was able to get these and expect a review in the future on how they all work out, especially the kennel liners.

So that brings us to vaccinations.  Dora had a trip to Lilongwe back in November  to get her rabies vaccine along with Distemper and Parvo Virus.  My understanding is that the only one you need to have to get into the States is rabies.  I have seen too many dogs die from parvo and distemper to not get the vaccine.  If your dog gets seriously sick there is really nothing you can do if you don’t live close to one of the major cities where the good vets are. The rabies vaccine she got was Rabisin and according to the manufacturer they need a booster 4 weeks to 6 months after the initial immunization. Fortunately the vet here in my Nkhotakota actually has Rabisin so before March she is getting her final booster, it needs to be given at least 30 days prior to leaving.  I don’t fly out until April 15^th so that gives me about a month to get it done. Plenty of time. There is no quarantine for dogs coming out of Malawi, as long as they’re declared healthy and have their vaccinations there really isn’t anything they could bring with them.  

Now onto the actual flight which isn’t as complicated as you might think. As soon as I bought my ticket home I got a hold of the airlines and told them that I’m traveling with a dog, United was really simple to deal with, they have a form you fill out on line and there you go, easy peasy.  Ethiopean Airlines is a bit more complicated.  I have to go to the office in Lilongwe to let them know there is a dog traveling with me and to give them the measurements of the crate and pay for it, this however I have to do closer to when I leave.

So in terms of cold hard cash, just how much does it cost to bring a dog to America? Well right now I can’t give you a solid number, obviously because I’m not back yet but so far for the vaccines it has been about $20 and having the crate made is roughly $130.  Costs to come are the paperwork from the Department of Agriculture, a final vet check up and the price for shipping on two separate airlines.

We’re in the last 8 weeks here people, it’s crunch time. I hope to be keeping up with the blog better as we go through leaving and expect a grand total when I’m done.  Thousands? No, hundreds? Yeah.