From vet to
Preparing for your pet’s journey.
There are a few things that you must arrange before your pet can travel by air. Firstly, the veterinary part. Every country has its own specific health requirements for pets entering that particular country. Please contact your vet to make sure that your pet meets these demands. If you live in the Netherlands, we can organise this for you – if you like.
Secondly, your pet will need a travel crate. This travel crate must meet the demands of the airline that your pet travels with. The travel crate must also meet the demands of the IATA (the International Air Transport Association). ZooLogistics has six different sizes of travel crates in stock. ZooLogistics also provides a tailormade service for larger, wooden travel crates or kennels.
Travel documents and health records
There is paperwork involved when your pet travels. The documents must be in English or in another language if so required by the destination country.
- Your pet has a valid export health certificate that has been signed by an official vet. In some cases it needs to be legalised by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). The period during which the health certificate remains valid differs depending on the destination.
- On the day of departure, your pet must be at least 10 weeks old. There are additional rules and regulations for puppies. These rules differ depending on the country, so we recommend that you contact the embassy of the country you will be travelling to. We are happy to help.
- It is compulsory for your pet to have a valid document stating that the animal has been vaccinated against rabies prior to departure. Depending on the destination country, it varies how long before the journey your pet must have been vaccinated.
- Are you travelling to a destination outside the European Union? We recommend that you contact the local embassy in good time to find out more about the rules and health certificates that are needed to export your pet to that particular country. We are happy to help.
Pets travelling within the European Union must have a microchip and an official EU Pet Passport. This passport must be issued by an official vet and needs to include the following information:
- Name and address details of the owner
- A description of the pet, including both colour and fur
- Type of identification: microchip
- The date and the brand of the vaccination against rabies
- Proof of a rabies serology test (this is not compulsory for every EU country)
- Proof of treatment against ticks (this is not compulsory for every EU country)
- Proof of treatment against echinococcus (this is not compulsory for every EU country)
- Other vaccinations
Source: KLM
Veterinary assistance
The Pet Travel Clinic in Amsterdam takes care of
all your pet’s veterinary needs.
How much will it cost?
Would you like to find out more about how much the journey
would cost for your specific pet or pets and destination?
Travel crates
Your pet will travel in comfort in a travel crate
that meets all the necessary requirements.
Inspiring videos
Did you know? (Wist je dat?)
This episode of Wist je Dat? (Did you know?) was broadcast on Dutch national television, channel RTL4, on 8 August 2015. The programme is about pets travelling by air and it is full of useful information (in Dutch).
How pets fly
Pets are frequent flyers too. The German Shepherd dog Asha, for example. She is flying to her owners in Dubai. To show you how pets travel by air from Schiphol airport in the Netherlands, we accompany Asha on her journey from the vet until she boards the flight.
Emoya-Lion Foundation – Nero and Masya’s journey
Some projects are really very special and require a great deal of determination to make them successful. We are highly motivated to achieve this goal. We are proud that we were able to contribute to this very special project.