Taking my 2 dogs, 1 parrot a snake and a lizard to Alicante

Hi ya..

I'm moving to spain in September with all of my animals and i am getting quotes for around the £1500/£2000 mark from pet agents to take my pets for me but all they are doing is collecting them from me at Gatwick and giving them back to me at the other end so i dont understand why the cost is so much. 

Can anyone give me any better idea's of getting them there with out all of that expense please. Im based in Portsmouth.

Many thanks

Drive to Euro tunnel and if you have all the paper work in order they stay with you all the time. I think we pay £30 per dog- more than for the passengers who go free! Check with Defra site.

I've looked on their site but its a little confusing.. by all paperwork do you mean all their shots up to date and their passports?  Sorry if i come across a little simple, honestly im not.. lol

Yes, passports but I only know about dogs not parrots, snakes and lizards! sounds like fun.

Contact Defra on email helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Taken from their website http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/contacts/index.htm 

Just wonder why you haven't emailed them, teekapoo !

ARE YOU SETTING UP A ZOO?

Oh i have spoken to them, they haven't actually been very helpfull, i got put through god knows how many times to more people who couldn't help me only to get back to the same guy who said call this number at Reading Animal Health Office and then once i'd called that there was no one there to help me that day... grrr..

And no im not setting up a zoo, lol, just love my animals..

I'm amazed then at Defra as they're SUPPOSED to KNOW !

Well im going to try them again on monday, maybe the guy who i spoke to just wasn't very helpfull...

I'd be interested to know about the parrot as I have one that would need to go with us when we move.

Mark

We've decided to drive all the way now, think my animals will be allot less stressed that way..

You STILL need to know the rules on exporting all your animals though, teekapoo. (However did you settle on that name ? )

You cannot just pop them in the car & go.

Hi,

We are moving to Javea in the Costa Blanca in late August / early September and taking our two dogs with us.  I'm going to fly the kids over then come back for the dogs and drive them.....I think - the cost to fly them is stupid.

I think we will be driving too - have you found any good routes?  We live near Southampton, so are near you too!

Whereabouts in Spain are you goin?

Sarah.

Yes of course i know about getting all the proper paperwork, im going to spend the day on the phone tomo sorting all that out, i wouldn't dare just turn up with all my animals in the fear that they all get taken off me...

As for you barneymum its a small world eh.. hehe.. We are going to live about 30 mins away from Alicante its in a place called quesada. We'll be going in the first week of september, I'm good friends with a removal company that is based in Spain called union jack removals and i was talking to him today and he gave me a good tip for people who are driving, he said that on sundays lorrys are not allowed to drive on the roads in france so he would recommend anyone driving to do it at the weekend and make the most of the quiet roads. He's offered to give us a nice route avoiding the tolls but it could take up to 3 days so i think i'd rather pay the tolls and get there quicker.

Its mad eh the prices of pet agents, for what they actaully do i mean...

Hi - I would much rather pay the tolls and get there quicker too.  Can you let me know what route you decide on?  I'm finding it all really confusing!

Ok will do.. exiting stuff eh... what dogs are you taking?

We've got 2 Golden Retrievers - one is 3, the other 11 months.  It's kind of exciting - well it would be if there weren't so many things to worry about,  I just want to be locking the door and leaving tomorrow. :)

Yep tell me about it.. Sooooo much to think about and sort out eh, I have a rottie so when i get there i have even more stuff to sort out... quite stressfull but soooooooo worth it... Its goona be an exiting trip, there will be three of us, me my husband and one of our friends so at least that will cut down the driving time...  I've never been on a road trip before... yay

Hi Teekapoo again.

I certainly wasn't inferring you would just travel by car, as opposed to any other way, without sorting the paperwork out but your post, after asking about information, seemed as if you were as you suddenly wrote "We've decided to drive" as if taking them that way meant you didn't need paperwork. Just the way I read it.  I'm just sorry you are quite obviously trying so hard to do it right & are coming up against obstacles & you shouldn't, dealing with Defra. Good luck with your call to them tomorrow. Can your vet offer further advice as they deal with passports so they should. Our vets had someone well versed in taking pets out of the UK.

You're going to be Quesada then, just a few mins from us. For great info on driving from UK to Spain look in this board Driving in Spain Should be lots more, just search forum.

Edited to add : Teekaboo, could you put Quesada, CB as your location in your profile please to let us know where you've bought. It helps us to answer some localised questions. Not obligatory, just helps us or we have to search your posts & most wouldn't bother.




This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/1/2008.

No thats fine, sometimes especially when you dont know someone its hard to know how things are meant to sound so no worries..

I've not actually bought anywhere yet a friend of ours is lending us their apartment for a few months till we find somewhere, even then we will still only be renting while this housing market sorts it self out and maybe in the future when we've been in Spain for a while we will look into buying... 

So where abouts do you live then if we're moving only mins away from you? 

Do you have any regrets on moving because i have spoken to quite a few people on this and its a very mixed review...

Thanks for the link.

We're non residents on a large urb just outside Guadamar, Teekaboo, on the way to Quesada. (Just alongside the totally brilliant Campo de Guardamar Sunday market). 

We are over more & more now as my OH took early retirement, aged 60, in March but we live in the UK, see my profile.

OH & I meet many EOS members when over. Once you're there you could meet up with a few of us, if you want.


This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/1/2008.

That would be very nice thank you.. x

Im going over there and starting up my dog grooming business, its been a very big success here so hopeully in time it will be over there too, im mobile so i groom dogs at peoples homes, i just hope there isn't a million and one groomers already out there... lol.. So the more people i know the better.. My husband works on line so he only has to unplug here and plug back in over there...

Im looking at starting a family too but have heard that the hospitals are not as good as back here and that allot of people even come back here to have their baby and then go back to spain, is this right?

Sooo many questions i know but there is sooooooooo much to find out about eh..

The public hospitals in our area are excellent . 

The Vega Baja Hospital is in Orihuela in the district of San Bartolome. It has several names, Vega Baja, Orihuela Hospital or San Bartolome Hospital. This is the nearest public hospital to Torrevieja. Meant to be 1st class.

So never be concerned about a Brit having a baby in Spain. (It happens all the time !! )

Anyway, after living in Spain for 3 months you're classed as resident & the UK will charge you for healthcare so having a baby back in the UK will cost you.

Teekapoo, I have sent you a PM.

it wont let me look at it.. grrrr

Add your name to Justin, help required please regarding PMs to new members..

Justin will likely need to activate your PM facility.

In case you don't get your PMs activated, teekapoo, I'll post the message here...........

Hi again teekapoo

Regarding your Rottie being in Spain you will need to register him/her as that is a dangerous breed. 

Our friends Marion & Chris who live in La Marina have two dogs, Badger & Rosie. Badger is an English bull terrier & classed as a dangerous dog though he's the daftest mutt going & would lick you to death rather than maul you but rules are rules. 

Marion has a web site for Badger, take a look. BADGER'S SITE I know the procedure for registering Badger was frustrating & long winded. They needed to raise the height of their villa's garden walls, put a solid gate on not a grille type, muzzle her in public etc. You just wouldn't believe all they were told to do or what paperwork was needed. They even were vetted to see if they were considered ok to own a dangerous breed &, of course, everything happens in Spanish too.. 

In fact I think that as you're going to be renting, you'll find you'll be in trouble with the law in Spain for having a rottie without all that in place. Also, if your friends are allowing you use of their apartment for some months maybe the community it is part of will refuse any dogs let alone one of a dangerous breed !!! 

Marion has written a section in Badger's site about it so go look. DANGEROUS DOGS IN SPAIN 

You need to find out a whole lot more before taking a rottie to Spain under your circumstances. 

I know all this isn't what you want to hear.





This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/1/2008.

Thank you morerosado for all of your help, i'm talking to a few people on a rottie forum at the mo about taking rotties to Spain and they are very helpful too and have in fact put my mind at rest a little about it, so long as i go over there and do it all properly im sure it will all work out ok...

Hi teekapoo, thought we'd lost you. Glad you're feeling ok & learning more but DO CHECK that your friends community allow dogs (& a rottie at that) as you certainly do NOT want to get there only to find you have to move. All communities ARE different so you NEED to know what your friends community has agreed in THEIR rules. It's what THEY say, nothing to do with others.

Ok no worries, i'll be checking this before i leave.. if not someone else has offered us a big house with an annex, already fenced in because they own big dogs themselves, i wasn't that keen on the place when i saw it but at least we have options eh.. I would like a nice villa really, if we can find one that will accept the dogs...