New Zealand is an isolated location and partly because of this we are in the very enviable position, compared to lots of overseas countries, of being relatively disease free. This is a position that we must closely protect. Due to this there are a large number of regulations that govern the movement of animals into and out of New Zealand.
These regulations are different for every country and they can change from time to time, because of this we cannot give you advice for all countries and will concentrate on our nearest neighbour Australia and the next most common country that people travel to, the UK.
View this link should you be travelling to any other country.
Australia
The check for travel to Australia is simple and involves a check within 48 hours of travel. The paper work needed must be collected prior to this and your owner and animal details must be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace and signed before we can complete the form.
It is essential that we can prove that your pet has been resident in New Zealand all of its life. This is easy if we have provided vet care from the beginning of your pet's life, otherwise we need full records or council records that prove this. If we can't prove this there may be some blood tests that are required. This will obviously slow things down and like most travel events, smooth travel needs good forward planning, so if we know early on that blood tests are required we can get on to this sooner.
England
Travel to England is a lot more complicated as it requires a vaccination for rabies and then a follow up blood test to prove a positive response to the vaccination. We normally do two rabies vaccinations 3 weeks apart and then a blood test 4 weeks after that. The rabies blood test is sent to Australia for processing and is expensive.
NOTE once we have a positive result for rabies it is 6 months before you can travel. It is critical that this is noted, as it can cause heartache and great expense if the pet needs to be boarded and you are separated from your companion for this period of time.
Bringing animals into New Zealand is also complicated and can involve quarantine periods. This Biosecurity link is helpful.
Please contact our clinic should you have any questions, we are always happy to be of assistance.
