Shipping your pet

There are two ways you can ship your pet. The first one is to ship your pet as excess luggage. This is a cheap way because you aren't required to pay for the shipping of the pet. However there's a risk of loss or misrouting of your pet.

The risk is greater for travelers from outside Europe because there are only a few direct overseas flights to and from Prague. The second option is to use the services of a company that takes care of shipping your pet for you. The travel route is tracked from the point of origin to the destination using airline computer systems. There are usually a few companies specializing in pet shipping at each major airport. You can find their addresses in the local Yellow Pages, on the Internet or in magazines for animal-lovers.

Each pet has to have the necessary paperwork in order for it to be shipped. The most important item is a health certificate with evidence that your pet has had a rabies vaccination at least 30 days previously but not more than one year ago.

When shipping a pet from the Czech Republic you'll also need a veterinary stamp ("kulaté razítko," in Czech) certifying that the animal is healthy and comes from an area free of rabies. The stamp has to be no more than three days old at the time of the flight. Your pet also needs to be shipped in crates that are IATA-approved for animal transportation. The crate has to have certain dimensions based on the size of the animal when it's standing in a natural position. The following table shows the guide for selecting the correct crate for the animal:

A = length of animal from nose to root of tail B = height from ground to elbow joint. A + half of B = length of container C = width across musters. C x 2 = width of container D = height of container (top flat or arched)/height of animal in standing position