Taking your ferret into the UK

[Deleted]

Since I am moving to the UK & taking my little fuzzball with me, I thought it would be best to give everyone else here a write-up of the experience & protocols to help anyone else wishing to bring a ferret into the UK. I have had such a confusing time of it, and no one to refer to who has done it yet, so this should help someone else out in the future.

Here is what you need to do in order:

1. Get your ferret microchipped. Contact your vet and tell them you are bringing a ferret to the UK. Ensure that they are familiar with the microchip procedure to the EU/UK standard. My microchip was from HomeAgain which offers online registration that I highly recommend you take advantage of. You can create logins to update your information to ensure if she/he gets lost & found your address is in that chip's matching records. The chip does not have any power of its own, so it will never need to be replaced. When they scan the chip with the proper scanner, the chip gets power from the scanner itself to project the number. The ferret will need anesthesia locally injected to that spot before the chip is inserted as the chip is the size of a grain of rice & it will hurt. Don't fret if they struggle, they are not in huge pain... it just feels strange, and they don't like sitting still as it is.
2. Get your ferret a new rabies vaccination directly after the microchip. They only accept vaccinations given AFTER microchipping so this order of events is very important. You must then wait 21 days after vaccination to enter the country. The day of vaccination is Day 0. On the certificate, the following information MUST be present - Microchip number & date of chipping, pet's date of birth, vaccination date, vaccine product name & manufacturer & lot number. If your vet does not include these, do not be afraid to pester them until you get it. Without it, the UK will put a new vaccination upon entry and they will be in quarantine for 22 days! Your pet must also be up to date on booster vaccinations if they expire before travel.
3. If you are not originating from an EU or Listed NonEu Country here, you must also get a rabies blood test. You must wait 30 days after vaccination (day of vaccination is day 0) to take the test. You must send the blood test to an EU Approved laboratory from your vet. Then, you must wait 3 calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before travel. Your vet must give you a copy of those results & the results must show a successful rabies vaccination.
4. Travel is going to be interesting and difficult. All pets entering the UK must enter as cargo - no exceptions. They must also be on one of the UK approved air routes. I have not found an airline that will take ferrets as cargo other than United Air from the USA so I will share the progress I have made with them exclusively. You are going to want to book your travel very far in advance, because there is limited space & the customs upon arrival need notice in advance as well.
5. You need an agent/broker in the UK who is going to process your paperwork & will collect your ferret from the aircraft and lead them through customs as well as other things. I will share my experiences in this later. Unfortunately, this is mandatory, and costly.
6. Ten days before arrival, you need a new Veterinary certificate. This is a bit tricky, as after you have had the certificate issued, you need the USDA to sign off on it. If there is no USDA near you, you need to immediately overnight it to them, and pre-pay for them to overnight it right back to you & hope it gets to you in time. Your broker will likely advise you to get the certificate closer than 10 days in case your flight is delayed, but you need to keep the USDA in mind as well and allow enough business days for your paperwork to get back to you. Your vet will give you all the information as how to go about doing this & where the nearest offices are. You also need to fill this out too.
7. If you already are in the EU or the UK, you can get a Pet Passport from an Official Veterinarian. It will include all your documentation.
8. You must have your arrival squared away at the airport as soon as possible. Each airport is different, but generally they need 14 days in advance booking to allow your pet into the country.

Any failure in the above protocol will end up with your ferret in quarantine, so it must be followed to the letter!

This is about as far as I have gotten into the progress right now. I am currently having an issue with the booking agent United apparently only works with, so when everything is settled I am going to give an in depth review/walkthrough of what to do & expect, and when I have arrived and settled in I'll let you know what the arrival process was like.

I'll also update this sporadically with any added information or documents.

[Deleted]

wow!

[Heather]

Thank you for posting this. I know how difficult it is to transport ferrets around the world The UK has to be one of the most difficult countries to get any pet into much less a ferret. Timing....everything is about timing, hence the absolute need to have a broker you can trust. No airline allows a ferret to travel except by cargo another troubling issue for a globe trotting ferret. The last time my guys flew United but we flew Airtransat the time before. The broker that I used the last time was very good with booking the correct flight and setting things up and arranging proper paperwork (passports and such).
I swear I get ulcers every time I get little ones brought in and am just about sick until I'm holding their cage in my arms and walking to the car.
ciao

[FerretsnFalcons]

Good grief, that is a LOT of stuff you have to do! While I'm not planning on moving to the UK, this is really interesting and helpful.

[Blue]

There goes my daydream of taking Maisie with me for a long vacation with my family in the UK... I guess for some reason I imagined it would be like traveling within the States, especially since the UK seems more ferret-friendly than the US. Thanks for the rundown, Mark!

[Heather]

The UK is a rabies free country. They will not risk for even a second that such a mistake might happen. This is much better than it was. Ten years ago, you had a 6 month quarantine in a state quarantine facility no matter what animal journeyed to the UK. Their conditions are much more relaxed and easier to deal with now.
ciao

[Deleted]

I recently visited Hawaii and stayed with my friend's aunt. They too are rabies free, and quarantine is mandatory, no matter what, for any animal. Microchips must be sent from Hawaii to your vet. They won't consider it valid if not. Funny that moving internationally seems more lenient!

(They do not have ferrets in Hawaii though, so I don't think you can even bring them. The conversation about it was regarding dogs and cats.)

[Heather]

No, you can't take your ferret to Hawaii. They were talking about banning allowing cats into Hawaii too. It seems they're having a problem with ferals and it's effect on their wildlife. It's the same as you can't take your ferret to Australia. You can take them out of Australia but you can't return them or bring them in. International restrictions have to be stringently checked when you're travelling with your little ones
ciao

[crazylady]

and one big thing to remember is no matter how long the flight your animal is allowed no food ! ( you cant even give them a bag they wont feed them it ! so make sure you stuff them before the flight water is allowed but only what is in the water bottle ( you cant give them a bottle of spring water for top ups I tried ! ) they state they will provide water on board in cargo but bottles must be accessible from outside the cage so get your ferrets used to drip bottles before hand crocs don't work ! good luck take care bye for now
Bev

[Heather]

That's the other drawback to international travel...food. They do give them water, as the water bottle that they were using came with them when I picked them up. Seemingly, when they vetted them in New York they also topped up their water (there was a transcript of their flight that was given with their manifest). They do not open doors to the cages, these are sealed at the point of boarding with baggage ties so all bottles must be properly set up to be reached by the parties outside the cage if they're to be filled.
ciao

[Deleted]

Okay! Here is my next update, after dealing with a lot of confusing back and forths with different people giving different information.

I booked my travel with United Airlines because they're the only USA company I have found who take good care of ferrets and even accept them as cargo. I have used them before, three times, and I have found they always take very good care of Gwin. They have heated/AC vans and stations specifically for pets, and a pet cargo hold that is pressurised and heated/cooled like the cabin is for humans. They even sit on the tarmac in a van with the pets until the pets are gently placed in the hold so the temperatures will never be an issue. They offer tracking online so you can get frequent updates on where they are, when they were loaded in, when they deplaned et cetera. I am very pleased with their attention to care and genuine love of animals, even in the check in.

However, they're not perfect. Often times when I call in, I have to ask for a supervisor due to the phone agents being a bit confusing. It's not their fault, they are less familiar with ferrets due to how infrequently they make those bookings, and often times they are a call center in India and I don't mean to put anyone down but I have trouble with the accent/language barrier (one woman kept calling Gwin a parrot because she had trouble hearing the word ferret. Again, not her fault!). The supervisors, however, are amazing. They know everything. If the call is difficult, you can feel free to ask nicely for the supervisor on call and they will answer promptly and sort things out in a super nice and knowledgable way.

Essentially, though, the process becomes more confusing bringing a pet to the UK. All animals entering the UK require a broker. United Airlines ONLY works with PBS Specialist Pet Travel, unless you apply and achieve membership with the IPATA (which will cost you upwards of $1,500 just so you know). Generally, you're not a member already so you're stuck with PBS. I have had a very difficult time with them. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but just convey what you need to do so you don't get caught up in the confusing I have.

Find your flights first. If you're like me and your ferret is travelling the same flights as you, there are important details to keep in mind.
1. Your flights may not be a direct flight to London. They only fly directly to London from Chicago and Newark. You are going to have to work creatively to find connections that will work with your budget.
2. Pets must be checked in at cargo 3 hours before international flights. This means if you have a connection - that connection needs to be a 3 hour layover at least. However, in long connections they will feed or replenish water and keep monitoring your pet. I don't know if they let them out (they mention walking dogs for you but ferrets??), but I know they look after them. They're really good people.
3. They'll only feed dry food you place in the crock snapped to the cage door or affixed in small baggies to the top of the cage. If you're like me and your pet eats whole prey, it means you need to resort to freeze dried raw or kibble. You don't want them to go hungry at any costs, especially if there's a connection.
4. It's going to be a long, long trip but they will be okay. It's likely they'll sleep through almost all of it. Don't stress out too much! It's only one difficult day's worth of travel.
5. Call the PetSafe desk when you have flights in mind before booking - you need to ensure that there is space on the flights you want.
6. I almost forgot! Try and book it so that your flight arrives during normal weekday business hours. The service charges from your broker (PBS) will be higher if it's off-hours like past 5pm or on a weekend. They told me to arrive Mon-Fri between 8am-5pm.

I found that in booking my flight, I could not find connections 3+ hours online. I called over the phone and told them the issue and concerns, and they were able to take a second look and inexplicably find other flights that did meet my guidelines. They waived the phone booking fee for that. After your flight is set, call the United PetSafe number and give them your flight numbers/dates and they will reserve your ferret's spot & advise you further on what you need to bring and what to expect et cetera. You can also find a lot on their website here. Don't be afraid to ask a thousand questions! They're very understanding and helpful. They will issue a confirmation number and air waybill number. Keep both! Very important!

Next, you need to contact PBS. This is the step that has been difficult for me. They are located in the UK, and so unless you have international calling, you must correspond by email. I have been dealing with Gary Ward, who has not been the most helpful person. Until today, I did not even know what it was they were supposed to do, or how much it would cost, and he never even made the effort to tell me if anything has been done on his end. He would even ignore direct questions & not bother replying to entire emails, which irritated me given that this is especially time sensitive. So, I got a bit fed up with that and contacted the company directly on facebook with my complaint in a private message. Miraculously, he was suddenly amenable, though still confusing. I ended up calling the Petsafe desk again and speaking to a supervisor about this issue. They can't offer an exception to work with another broker, so instead they vowed to hassle him directly, daily, until everything on his end is squared away. The supervisor gave me all of his own information to check in if I don't hear back soon. Unfortunately this is a very stressful process but I am glad to have United on my side.

Here is what they told me about the process.

1. PBS will arrange for customs to be aware that you are bringing a ferret into the country. They will quote you on the 'customs clearance fee'. This is very important, you need to know how much it is going to cost for your ferret to enter the country.
2. Keep that quote on hand. When you bring your ferret to check in at their cargo office, you need to tell them how much it is. They will charge you for their service fee + this customs clearance fee then, so everything will be paid for with no surprises.
3. United will zip tie the cage door shut, process your paperwork, and send your ferret on his or her way, and you will go and check in and board your flight. If you sit by the window you can watch them load your baby in! I do it all the time, it helps offer peace of mind!
4. Once you finally arrive in Heathrow, PBS will collect your pet from the aircraft, and bring them through customs. They'll also vet them. I am told this process takes at least two hours, depending on the paperwork? But I'm not sure so I will tell you how it goes once I have done it.
5. Once it is settled, you can head over to pick your pet up from the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre. I think they offer a delivery service as well to send the pet directly to your door, but I prefer to take him with me then and there. As far as I can see right now, the Centre is slightly off-site from the airport and no shuttles go directly to it. It means taking a cab or daring to figure out the public transport buses with all your luggage... but I think a cab is a better choice.

As far as I'm told, that is all! The regulations are strict, but people do it every day so it isn't impossible! Plus, it's worth it. The stress of everything falls on you, not your pet, so it should be okay. Just remember that everything rests directly on you getting everything right. No one is going to do any of it for you, and it is difficult to get all the information sometimes so you have to do extra legwork yourself.

I'll update soon if anything changes or is incorrect & when I get direct prices I will share how much everything cost so you have a general idea.

HELPFUL LINKS:
United Pet safe - www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/petsafe.aspx
PBS Pet Travel - www.pbspettravel.co.uk/
UK PETS travel scheme (best resource! read everything!) - www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad
More about PETS travel scheme - www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners
Heathrow Animal Reception Centre - www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/animal-health/heathrow-animal-reception-centre/Pages/default.aspx
United UK info on pet travel restrictions - www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/restrictions.aspx#uk

[crazylady]

Hi Make sure they are up to date on the travel cage rules they have changed ! and in some cases infact most custom made cages must be made and supplied to you before the flight a lot of airlines no longer accept the carry on boxes ( plastic ) they must be made of wood and be a certain size for each ferret believe me I know when I shipped from the uk you would think I was shipping cats not ferrets the cages where that large lol good luck and make sure you also contact maff in the uk for any info you may need as they are pretty strict too take care bye for now
Bev

[Deleted]

So, here's the outline of costs thus far in USD.

United & Pet Shipper & Customs Clearance combined fees - $1140 (quoted, could be more or less depending on when I get there)

Vet Appt #1 (Implanting the Microchip)
Exam - $78
Local Anaesthesia (for microchip) - $35.86
Microchip - $72.65
Rabies Vaccine - $41.11

Vet Appt #2 (Ten days before Arrival)
EU/UK Certification Paperwork - $98.50
International Health Certificate USDA VS - $88.85
Exam - $78

Overnight/shipping of USDA paperwork & return envelope via UPS - about $55 (I forgot to keep the receipt)

Payment to USDA to clear paperwork - $38 (certified check or money order only)

I'm not about to total that up and find out how much it costs. Nope. No way. Anyways, it's been a very expensive process. If I wasn't taking him for a permanent move, I doubt I'd be doing it ever again.

Here's how the 2nd Appointment went.

• The vet does an exam to say your ferret is fit to fly out in ten days time.
• The vet will begin filling out the paperwork, asking for addresses from you and such.
• I went right to the bank to get a money order of $38 for the processing fee to send with the paperwork to the USDA. They say you can give your CC info but I closed all my accounts so the money order was much easier for me.
• Once the paperwork is said and done, you need to get it directly to the USDA to sign off on it. This is tricky, as there may not be one in your state. i had to overnight it immediately to NYC and pre-paid a return envelope for them to send it back. I chose the fastest deliveries possible, in fear that the paperwork might get held up somewhere and I'd be travelling without it. I went straight to UPS to send it, and it included tracking numbers which gave me peace of mind to see where in the world they were. The USDA was extremely prompt. It got there 9am the next morning, and they had already put it out to be returned to me by the end of the business day. My paperwork arrived the very next morning before 10am. This may not always be the case, however, so please get this send ASAP.
• I sat down with the piles and piles of paperwork and put together the packet of his travel papers. The packet includes: Information sheet for PBS/Heathrow Animal Reception Centre that PBS gave to me, the C5 papers that I filled out when PBS gave them to me, and the USDA & EU paperwork that was returned to me after the USDA signed off on them.
• After all that, now I'm in the prep stages, getting him ready to fly. The carrier I use is the Petco standard grey hard plastic carrier you get for under $20. It's accepted on the airlines (I checked!) as long as it's got enough room for him to lay down and stand up and turn around. The size I bought is 19'L x 12.5"W x 10"H (xx-small). It needs to have a solid top, and air ventilation on at least three sides including the door. There needs to be an absorbent material at the bottom, and you'll want a feeder/waterer that snaps to the cage door like this (this is the one I use always). In that, you are told to fill it with water & freeze it so it melts slowly throughout the journey and won't spill as easily. The other half, you can put food. They've told me that if you attach a ziploc baggie of dry food on top of the carrier, if there are stops/connections on the journey they will feed your pet for you - but THROUGH the door. They will not open the door or take them out or let them out. I'm including a baggie of freeze dried raw since we have a connection on our trip.

So, that's about where I am now. We're traveling on Wednesday, so fingers crossed that all goes well for us! (giggle)

[Heather]

Good luck to you and your little one. Have a wonderful trip both of you
ciao

[crazylady]

Good luck and welcome to the uk ! take care bye for now
Bev