[frogman]

Hi. I just joined this forum after gleaning much useful information from it over the past few weeks.

Has anyone out there moved to HK from France with a pet? I'll probably be doing so with a dog early next year and would be interested to hear how difficult/easy it is.

I understand that dogs need to be fitted with an AVID microchip. Is that something that can be done on arrival?

Any tips or suggestions would be welcome.

[DrDavid]

Hi Frogman,
Luckily enough, getting to France is fairly straight forward. I would honestly recommend that you contact one of the pet export companies. I am not connected with any of them, but from reports I have heard from other people, they are all pretty good. Two that you might think about calling are Export-a-Pet (2358 1774) or Aeropet (2744 3330). They will be able to sort out all of the specifics.

To give you a brief overview to the best of my knowledge, your dog will need a rabies vaccination and AVID microchip; and a G6 booster vaccination. Both of these need to be done within 12 months, but not within 1 month of departure. Both of these can be done by any local veterinarian. A week or so prior to departure, you will also need a local vet to do a health certificate for your dog. This is a pretty simple body check, to make sure your dog is going to be ok on the flight, and to make sure he has no diseases or problems. This is then taken to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and endorsed by the government. You also need to have a French health certificate filled out by the vet for the French authorities. Lastly, you need to let the airline know and make special arrangements for transporting the pup. Remember that you also need to have an airline (IATA) approved type of cage or crate for the dog to travel in. There is no quarantine to go to France assuming you have completed all of the above procedures.

If you use one of the export companies, they will sort out all of the above procedures, and as I have said above, I would probably recommend this. Unfortunately you do hear of the occasional person who forgot to dot an i or cross a t on the importation forms, and their dog is not allowed into the country at the other end - a complete disaster - and the quarantine people are usually fairly strict.

Hope this helps, and please ask if you have any more questions,
David

[frogman]

Many thanks for the advice, Dr. David, although I'm actually moving TO Hong Kong from France. I will try contacting one of the two companies you mentioned, though, to help sort out all the paperwork etc. Anything to make the ordeal easier...

[froggie]

Frogman,

Besides the transport and paperwork, have you thought about your housing?

I found a lot of apartment landlords do not like/allow pets.

Maybe its good to find out right from the start.

[DrDavid]

Hi Frogman,
Sorry, silly me. I saw your post and was in a bit of a rush and mustn't have read it properly... Although on the bright side at least you know what you have to do when you return

To the best of my knowledge, getting to HK is really pretty straight forward. Again, I would recommend contacting one of the pet importers I mentioned above and getting the exact info, but as I understand it, you basically have to have the same current G6 booster and rabies vaccination, and a health certificate prior to export. You do have to apply for an import license into HK from the Ag and Fisheries, although this is fairly straight forward.

When your dog arrives in Hong Kong, the authorities will normally give another rabies vaccination (whether he needs it or not, just to make sure), and he will also get a Hong Kong (AVID) microchip.

I do not believe there is any quarantine from France, and your dog can go from the airport to your house.

The Ag and Fisheries actually has a really good website that can help you with the finer points. They are at www.afcd.gov.hk. Go to the sitemap, and then look under Pet dog and cat import.

Hope this helps,
David

[KnowItAll]

DrDavid, I do want to thank you for taking the time to post on here.

[frogman]

Many thanks again Dr. David for all your useful advice. I take it from the address at the bottom of your post that you're working for a veterinary practice. Where is it located? It will be good to have an address before we all get there....

[shri]

http://www.geoexpat.com/Creature_Comforts_L148

[Lelocle]

Are you former Navy and if so are you a BUDS grad.

Lelocle

[frogman]

Hi Lelocle,
No, I'm not former navy and I'm afraid I have no idea what being a BUDS grad is. I'm assuming it has nothing to do with drinking beer....