Traveling with pets

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general information

airline requirements

Airlines have different requirements for traveling with pets. You must follow the rules of the airline that is operating your flight. Avoid flights combining different airlines for different legs of the journey. The specific rules will be listed on the airline website and you may want to choose your airline based on these rules (weight and size restrictions for pets, allowed pet containers, additional cost, deadlines for registering your pet's travel etc.).

Possible modes of travel include:

  • Traveling with a small pet (usually only cats or dogs) as additional carry-on baggage in the cabin. Typical weight restriction: 8kg including transport box.
  • Traveling with your pet as checked luggage (crate) in the cargo hold.
  • For some airlines: transport as air freight with cargo plane.

Example airline information website: Lufthansa https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/travelling-with-animals

flight route

Try to book a direct flight from the US to your country of destination. Some countries (e.g. Iceland) have very strict quarantine rules that make stopovers with pets impractical or impossible. If your pet is traveling in the cargo hold, avoiding layovers reduces stress for your pet and decreases chances that anything can go wrong.

Country-specific information: US to EU

import requirements for cats, dogs, ferrets (EU)

You can travel with your cats, dogs, or ferrets (up to five at a time) if you take the following steps:

  • Your pet must be equipped with an ISO-compliant microchip. If your pet is not chipped yet, do this first.
  • Your pet must be vaccinated against rabies *after* it has been microchipped. The primary rabies vaccination (if vaccinated for the first time or if previous vaccination is more than a year old), must be completed 21 days before traveling to the EU and the microchip number must be recorded on the vaccination certificate.
  • An Accredited Veterinarian must issue you an EU animal health certificate. It is only valid for 30 days after the veterinarian has issued it. This is done in the US before your travel.
  • You must fill in the declaration that is part of the EU animal health certificate and take it with you when you travel.
  • The USDA must endorse your EU animal health certificate within 10 days of your pet's arrival. This can be done electronically by your US-based Accredited Veterinarian through the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS) or you can do it by mailing the certificate to the USDA and having it returned.
  • When traveling to Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway or Northern Ireland: Your pet must have been treated against the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis within 5 days of arrival.

Further information

flight route

You must enter the EU with your pet through a designated travellers' point of entry. These include international airports like Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam etc., as well as many smaller ones.

Country-specific information: US to UK

import requirements for cats, dogs, ferrets (UK)

Official UK information website: https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain

flight route

Check "approved travel route", in reality this means: if you arrive by plane, fly to Healthrow (no other LDN airport allows pet arrives) - otherwise ferry & car shuttle train are okay too, but unlikely to apply if you emigrate from the US directly to the UK.

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