Taking our dogs to Cyprus

tim.dyer · #1 (**permalink**) 5th April 2010, 04:22 PM

We have two nervous dogs and do not wish to subject them to air travel. Does anyone know how we could get them from the UK to Cyprus?

BabsM · #2 (**permalink**) 6th April 2010, 01:32 AM

Well the only alternative is to bring them by road and sea or to bring them on a ferry. Bearing in mind the length of time required for a single voyage on the ferry from, say, Southampton to Limassol. I wonder if it would be practical unless you are with them (I don't think the ro-ro takes passengers) ? How would they get fed/watered/allowed to go to the toilet?

As regards driving them across, apart from the logistics you also have to consider the requirements of the pet passport. Do you have to get animals inspected by a vet and blood tested as they move from country to country or anything? There are regulations of the movement of pets within the EU. Have a look at EC Regulation No. 998/2003 regarding the non-commercial movement of pet animals on the European Commission website. The DEFRA website also has some interesting information and factsheets Defra - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Geraldine · #3 (**permalink**) 7th April 2010, 01:59 PM

Hi,

My 2 Springers are quite nervy/hyper and have the 'shakes' in the car, but it could be excitement at going out, anyone would think they never went out!, but they will be coming over by plane, to get it over with in one go, and will probably bark the whole trip.!!

Geraldine

BabsM · #4 (**permalink**) 7th April 2010, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geraldine

Hi,

My 2 Springers are quite nervy/hyper and have the 'shakes' in the car, but it could be excitement at going out, anyone would think they never went out!, but they will be coming over by plane, to get it over with in one go, and will probably bark the whole trip.!!

Geraldine

I do think that is probably the best way to do it even with nervous animals. Its a very long drive down through Europe for an animal. We can amuse ourselves by listening to music, playing games ets, they can't.

philly · #5 (**permalink**) 7th April 2010, 08:47 PM

Brought ours by plane

We thought they would be totally traumatised but in fcat withing 24 hours they were back to normal

Its actually better for them to put them on a plane and its short and sweet and over with

methusela · #6 (**permalink**) 7th April 2010, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim.dyer

We have two nervous dogs and do not wish to subject them to air travel. Does anyone know how we could get them from the UK to Cyprus?

The only realistic alternative to air travel is to send (or accompany) the dogs by sea. But this will not be easy to arrange and it will certainly involve a much longer trip for them - which will cause far more stress than travelling by air.

It makes the difference between them being caged up for around 10 hours by air (including travel to & from airports) - or continuously for a week or more by sea. The other alternative - transport across Europe by road and then by sea from Greece to Cyprus - would probably be even more stressful for them.

I have to say that air travel is the best choice by far, provided you can get the dog's human companions (i.e. you) to stop worrying so much on the dogs' behalf.

My wife and I flew our seven cats and a german shepherd dog from the UK to Cyprus - and back again 6 months later. Two of the cats have always been very bad travellers in a car, e.g. on trips to the vets, so we were worried about how they would cope with the flights. And we were extremely surprised to find them much happier at the end of their 5 hour flights than they are after a 10 minute road journey to the vet.

Don't assume that the dog's natural nervousness will automatically result in a terrible travel experience, as it might do with a human who was frightened of flying. The human will know what to expect and will worry themselves silly about it, both before and during the flight. The dogs won't know anything about their journey before it happens, so will have no cause to worry in advance. Once loaded in the aircraft hold they will have no preconceived worries about flying and will simply spend a few hours resting, waiting for you to come and get them when the doors open at the other end.

However, for yourselves, a few tranquilisers may be necessary to stop you worrying on the dogs behalf. Go to it and treat them to that flight!

Methusela

HandK · #7 (**permalink**) 13th April 2010, 07:45 PM

Who did you use please?
We have 1 dog and 3 cats and are loking for a reccomended carrier.
Are going to fly them all over together, as you say to just get it done with. When we move out in september.

methusela · #8 (**permalink**) 13th April 2010, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandK

Who did you use please?
We have 1 dog and 3 cats and are loking for a reccomended carrier.
Are going to fly them all over together, as you say to just get it done with. When we move out in september.

We live quite close to Manchester airport and were able to make use of Skymaster Air Cargo who are located there. In spite of their official sounding name they are a family business and provided an excellent, friendly service that I'm sure couldn't be beaten. They provided the correct size boxes, sorted all the documents, picked up all the animals from our house and the next thing we saw of them was in Cyprus. We travelled on the same flight as our pets, which made it easy for us to collect them from customs at Larnaca Airport.

From your location in the Lakes, I'm not sure which airport you would want to fly from so I'm not sure whether Skymaster would be the best ones to help you. If you want to ask them, give them a ring on 0161 436 2190 during working hours. Don't worry if you get no answer straight away; being such a small business they are often out on the airport sorting cargo and animals. Just try again a bit later until you get them. Or you could try faxing them on 0161 499 9312.

If they can't help you directly they could probably recommend someone nearer to. If they ask, tell them that Major's owners recommended them.

If you need any more advice about what happens on arrival, fees to be paid at the Cyprus end etc, just post again.

HandK · #9 (**permalink**) 17th April 2010, 08:25 AM

If you need any more advice about what happens on arrival, fees to be paid at the Cyprus end etc, just post again.[/QUOTE]

Thats great thanks. We do usually fly from Manchester so thats ideal.

Did not even know there would be any fees etc at the other end, so yes please any extra info would be invaluable.

Thanks

Veronica · #10 (**permalink**) 17th April 2010, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HandK

If you need any more advice about what happens on arrival, fees to be paid at the Cyprus end etc, just post again.

Thats great thanks. We do usually fly from Manchester so thats ideal.

Did not even know there would be any fees etc at the other end, so yes please any extra info would be invaluable.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

If you arrive at silly o'clock and the government vet has to be there you may be charged an out of hours fee. We had to pay £30Cyp when we arrived with our tortoise out of work time. This was just for the vet to look at Herbie and declare that he appeared fit and healthy

When our parrot arrived a month later and we went to collect her we werent charged anything although it was also out of hours and it was the same vet.