Pets....going back to the US

I need some initial guidance on moving a dog from London to Seattle. I get the feeling from reading some basic Google searches that it is much, much, more simple than when we moved her from Seattle to London.

Do you even need a relocation pet specialist? I feel like I could just do it myself. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I know there is a ton of info on moving pets TO the UK on this site (saved me two years ago!), but what about going the other way?

You'll probably find a lot of info on this site (search pets):

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=705346&highlight=pets

They talk about cats, dogs, etc..

I hope this helps.
 

It is so much easier. If I remember correctly all we needed was updated rabies shots. We did use a relocation company for our cats because I had a 7 month old at the time and didn't want to deal with it, so we sent them on about a week before us.

Very Very easy.  We just brought them as excess baggage to the airport.  Had a fit to fly letter and current rabis but no one ever even looked at it.  I think it was $150 for each dog.

I'm taking my cat to the US in June. I used Continental to fly her over and was very happy, so I called them first. I ended up having to call the excess baggage department at Dublin airport. The woman there was VERY nice. She said it would cost 800-1000 euro to send her via Servisair and Continental. BUT, she said, Aer Lingus sends pets from Dublin to JFK for 160 euro. You can guess which we'll be doing! I'm just telling you this in case you get a ridiculously high quote from someone. Call around and see if this is the same for everyone. Also, I had read somewhere that you had to establish a 'business relationship' with the airline before you can fly your pet to the US. She said since I was calling more than a month in advance, that was fine.

Hmm...So I looked into it with British Airways, as they're the only ones who fly non-stop to Seattle and it says they only deal with relocation agents, rather than with the public directly. Damn. I've emailed Airpets, but I have a feeling it will be expensive.

Hmmm....good luck! Are there any airlines who fly non-stop flights to Vancouver from the UK? I vaguely remember my friends who lived in Seattle flying their pets out of Vancouver. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the benefit was of doing this!

You all got my hopes up. But this is mass complicated. Apparently the airlines are now requiring you use a pet relocation service. You have to have an established business relationship with this service for at least 30 days prior to flying. The crate we have (which we moved her here in) is apparently more expensive than using Airpets and buying their crate. I was just quoted at £1645.00 with their crate, and £2246.00 with our crate. So...YIKES.

We have an 8-month old baby and I just don't want to deal with this or trying to do it by ourselves. Does that seem like a ludicrous amount to move a 90-lb Rottweiler/Lab mix?

I was quoted 800-1000 euro to fly my 10lb cat to the east coast of the US (without a pet service), so I don't think your quote is that unreasonable really. So weird that it's more expensive with your own crate.

We should've gotten a smaller dog way back in the day. 1000 euro for a 10-lb cat though? wow.

No choice really, but to do it. I am just going to call a few other companies for quotes to make sure it's reasonable.