To
travel with a pet you will need a
whole bunch of
documents and, first
of all, a veterinarian passport.
Many people think that passports are
needed only for pedigree “Club” dogs,
but that is not
true. The owners of the pets
that are clud members
receive a so-called “birth certificate”
attesting to the animal’s
breed, which entitles them for participation at exhibitions and contests. But that “birth certificate” is not a passport and
cannot authorize traveling with a pet.
Those who have
four-legged friends may probably
that there are certain rules
about the care of cats and dogs
effective on the territory of all
countries. According to those rules, all
the dogs belonging to citizens
are subject to mandatory registration
and monthly registration.
Apart from that, starting
from three months all dogs should
be vaccinated within two weeks of
acquisition against rabies ( hydrophobia). All
newly purchased animals are
required to get registered
within two weeks of acquisition.
Prior
to the travel, the pet must be completely and totally
healthy: this is important
not only for the pet itself, but
also for its owner to get the necessary
references from the vet.
On a
plane, animals are transported in the baggage chamber.
Some carriers permit transporting one pet (a
dog, a cat or a
bird) in the cabin, in a properly
manufactured cage if the
aggregate weight of the animal
and the cage does not exceed the allowed
kilos for hand luggage; otherwise
your minion will have
travel in the baggage chamber.
In order to
travel with a pet, the passenger should
have an adequate container. The container
or the cage should be
made of solid material
like plastic or metal
because the regulations on the transportation of animals prohibit the
usage of soft material
bags. The container should
have air-holes and its
bottom should be water
resistant covered with a cloth.
The containers
devised for dogs
should allow the animal to
stand up and
turn at 360degrees.
As an exception to this
rule, some airline
companies allow transporting animals
in tightly closed baskets
or other convenient containers.
If your
four-legged friend is
traveling in the cabin of an airliner, you
may not let it out
of the container to take a
walk during the flight.
This refers particularly to
cats who should not be allowed to
sit in their master’s
lap: the animal
may get startled by a noise
or movement and
jump on other passengers. You do the math.
As a general
rule, the weight of the pet container
is not included in the weight
of the complimentary hand baggage.
The owner is charged a supplementary fee
for the container. Free of charge
transportation is permitted
only for guide
dogs accompanying their
masters during the
flight.
To sum
it up, before setting
off for a journey on board a plane animals should have a passport, a vet’s certificate
from their registration
institution and a
certificate asserting to the fact
that the animal has
been vaccinated. One more thing:
on the border to some CIS and other
countries only a vet’s
certificate is required at
the entrance to the
destination country. Entering
EU states, travelers
are required to
observe certain rules and regulations
even if they
are in transit. Among the
most important requirements
are the availability of a
vaccination certificate and
a microchip inserted
under the skin of the animal containing
information ( passport data, medical
examinations, immunization records,
etc.) about the pet. Also
you should keep in mind
that when you buy a ticket
the air carrier needs
to be notified about your
intention to travel with a pet
because as a general
rule, they enter that information in their
log.
