Yeah folks, it's getting serious! You pet's going to fly! :-D It may be a little bit scary at first but with the right organization, everything will go smoothly. At least it did for me!
The first thing you need to know, in case you didn't read my previous post about the import permit, is that your pet will have to fly cargo. It's U.A.E. policy and it won't matter what airline you will fly with. Most likely, your pet will not fly with you and will be on a different plane.
In order to organize your pet's fly, the simplest solutions are the following :

• either coordinating it with your contact in Abu Dhabi (cf. Vet list in previous post)
• either getting in touch with a specialized freight forwarder

Hello guys, I'm back !
I know I promised an article about finding friends in Abu Dhabi... but yesterday I got a request for help with importing a pet in the U.A.E. from a really nice lady from my super cool forum expat-blog.com .
I was really nervous myself when I had to organize the import of my cat Charlie to Abu Dhabi, so I can understand her concern. It is not a complicated process, but it definitely is a process, and it takes time. So I figured I'd help her get all these formalities out of the way and write my pets-related article today ;-)

So first of all, let me introduce you to Charlie :



As you can see, he is an extremely adorable cat, so there was absolutely no way that I wouldn't take him with me on my big trip :-) Believe it or not, when it's time to move away, some people actually decide not to take their pets with them. Crazy, right? It's kind of like, " Oh yes, I love my kids! But since I decided to go on a vacation to Mexico for 2 weeks, I decided to place them into foster homes with Child Services. Oh yeah, they're doing great with their new families!" Seriously people, be responsible. When you adopted a pet, you also adopted the responsibilities that go with it. Moving away with a pet needs a lot of organization, but it's completely doable. Stop making excuses.
Okay, sorry for the rant...

In this article, I will give information about your pet's paperwork. Transportation and how things will go for your pet once it arrives in the U.A.E. will be covered in a later article. Please bear with me ;-)

Before I get started, you need to know that all animals that you want to send to the U.A.E. have to be shipped cargo. I repeat, cargo. No matter what airline you fly with, you can't take your pet with you in the cabin. It is not negotiable, and has nothing to do with the airline you will use. It is the U.A.E. custom's policy, and that's the way it is. Don't worry, your pet will be fine! Airline regulations are really strict about the comfort of live animals: they are always loaded and unloaded from the aircraft first (yes, before the luggage of the expensive First Class passengers ;-)), and during the flight they are placed in a specific compartment of the plane which is heated; the belly of the plane gets really really cold during the flight, but your pet will not suffer from it.

Now that I got this out of the way, let's talk about the papers. Yay! The most important document you need to get for the import of your pet to the U.A.E. is an import permit, issued by the U.A.E. Ministry of Environment and Water. You will automatically get it  within a few days of your application, as long as you provide the right documents. The requirements are the following.

• Your pet must be microchipped
• Your pet must have the following vaccines

Dogs	Rabies	Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)	Canine Parvo Virus	Infectious Canine Hepatitis	Leptospirosis
Cats	Rabies	Feline Pan Leukcopenia (FPV)	Feline Rhinotrachitics (FHV-1)	Feline Calicivirus

These vaccines are the usual, normal shots your pets get on their annual visits to the Vet, so most likely, they're already vaccinated for these diseases. Just make sure that the vaccines are up to date.

• You must provide a Rabies Serum Neutralization test

• your import permit will be denied, and it's going to delay all the import process, and also probably your move (what will you do if the import permit is denied and you need to leave your country? where is your pet going to stay?)
• your import permit will be accepted, but the U.A.E. customs will deny your pet's entry in the country, which can result in really long quarantines...

Trust me, I really don't have that much money, but I contacted professionals and it was worth every penny. In the beginning, my cat's vaccine certificate was not done right, so I got to go back to my vet's twice to get everything presented correctly. Thanks to my contact in the U.A.E., everything went nice and smooth, and I can't thank them enough for that.

• The American Vet : this is the company that I used, and I recommend it strongly. They reply to your emails in a timely manner, which is a really big deal sometimes with the time difference. They've been extremely patient and helpful and replied to all my crazy-obsessive-cat-lady questions ;-) Really, I tried them, and they're awesome. 
• The German Vet
• The British Vet

In addition to the paperwork, these companies can help you schedule your pet's flight, pick up your pet at the airport for you and provide pet-sitting services while you find your accommodation in Abu Dhabi. Really, really priceless, people! (Well it does have a price, don't get me wrong! It is quite high, tee-hee! But your peace of mind during the move is really important, and so is the comfort of your pet!)