One of the downsides of travelling to Australia with your dog (or living in Australia and travelling overseas with a dog), is quarantine. Unless you’re travelling from Norfolk Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands or New Zealand (a pretty short list!) your dog is required to stay in quarantine when it enters Australia.
I was pretty anxious about my dog’s stay in quarantine in late 2018, and I can understand that most other pet owners will also be anxious. So I’ve put together everything I can find out about your dog’s stay in post entry quarantine in Australia to ease your concerns.
Quarantine Rules for Dogs Entering Australia
I’ve previously written about the process for returning to Australia with my dog, which involved lots of preparation steps. Despite all this preparation, cats and dogs entering Australia also need to stay in quarantine.
The standard stay in quarantine for dogs and cats is 10 days. This is the minimum period; there is a chance a longer stay may be required. (The rules are only slightly different for assistance dogs, with the option for an isolated stay at a nominated address.)
Additionally, since March 2023, the minimum stay for dogs coming from the long list of Group 3 countries is 30 days, unless an identity verification step has been complete. See my tips for importing a dog to Australia for more information.
So, why is a quarantine stay required, despite your dog already having a rabies titre test, multiple other blood tests and both internal and external parasite treatments (and checks)? The official statement is that the post-entry quarantine “allows biosecurity and veterinary officers sufficient times to assess that … animals are healthy and are not carrying diseases or parasites”.
In particular, it also used to state that it will ensure “there are no exotic ticks on cats and dogs as ticks can also carry diseases.” Australia is very strict on biosecurity, as it is free of many animal diseases and the authorities want to keep it that way.
If your dog is discovered to have an issue that increases the biosecurity risk, they will need to stay in quarantine for longer. For example, if a tick is found on your dog, it was previously stated that they will need to stay for at least 21-30 days, until blood testing can be repeated (at your own cost, of course).
The Post Entry Quarantine Facility in Mickleham
There is currently a single post entry quarantine (PEQ) facility in Australia for the majority of animals, including dogs and cats arriving in Australia. It is located on the northern outskirts of Melbourne in the suburb of Mickleham.
Due to its location in Melbourne, your dog should fly into Melbourne International Airport, from where it will be immediately transported to the quarantine facility by Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) staff.
Additionally, your dog should arrive during certain hours on weekdays only, to facilitate this. Flights outside of the core hours, including on weekends, may be accepted subject to PEQ management approval.
The Mickleham post entry quarantine facility is a large, recently built facility set on 144 hectares. It caters for a wide range of plants and animals including dogs, cats, horses, alpacas, pigeons and bees.
It only started accepting dogs and cats in November 2015, with a second stage that increased its capacity opening in late 2017. During its first three months of operation 525 dogs and 220 cats passed through the facility.
But what are the facilities like for your dog? Luckily, the official website now has more details, including photos of the facilities for dogs.
The dog compound is huge – comparable in size to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are 400 climate-controlled kennels for dogs, each featuring an attached outdoor exercise area and underfloor heating.
Dogs are allocated to an individual kennel (they can’t share a kennel due to the need to carefully monitor them), but if you are importing multiple dogs they will try to house them in adjacent kennels.
The dog compound also includes additional exercise yards and naturally veterinary examination rooms. There is also a suite of isolation pens, for when a biosecurity risk has been detected.
Can You Visit Your Dog in Quarantine?
When the standard quarantine stay for dogs in Australia was longer, it was possible to visit your pet during their stay in quarantine.
However, since the reduction of the standard quarantine stay to 10 days, visits are no longer permitted. This is because of the busy schedule in place to manage the administrative and biosecurity requirements to prepare your pet for release in just 10 days.
If your pet does require a longer stay in quarantine, including a 30 day stay, there is the possibility that you may be able to visit your pet, following discussions with the facility manager.
Life for Dogs in Post Entry Quarantine
During your dog’s stay in quarantine, all of their needs are looked after by the staff of the facility, including feeding, bedding and exercise.
Feeding
It’s not possible to send food with your dog for their stay in quarantine. Any food sent in their crate from overseas will be destroyed on arrival due to the biosecurity risk. As a standard, all dogs are fed a “high quality, nutritionally balanced commercial dry food”, provided by the quarantine facility, once per day.
It’s possible to request a special diet for your dog when booking their stay in quarantine. This request must be accompanied by a veterinary statement. For example, I requested my small dog to be fed twice per day, instead of once per day, as is common practice for small dogs.
If approval is given for your dog to be fed a special diet, then you need to source it in Australia and have it sent to the quarantine facility.
Bedding
It’s also not possible to send bedding with your dog for their stay in quarantine in Australia. Any bedding that is sent in their crate (plus soft toys and comfort items) will be destroyed on arrival due to the likelihood of soiling plus the biosecurity risk. (However, it’s still a good idea to provide your dog with this for the flight.)
Instead, the facility states that they provide bedding for dogs and cats suitable for their breed and age.
Exercise & Grooming
When it comes to exercise, it is stated that most animals will have sufficient exercise from their individual kennel run, plus the additional exercise areas. Staff will ensure that your pet receives sufficient exercise, and if veterinary advice recommends additional exercise is required, departmental staff will provide it.
Grooming and bathing will also be provided if required by departmental staff, but only for biosecurity or hygiene reasons. If you dog requires specialised grooming during their staff, this needs to be discussed with the facility manager.
Release from Post Entry Quarantine
If all goes to plan, your dog should be released exactly 10 or 30 days after they are admitted into quarantine. This is what occurred with my dog, plus multiple other dogs whose owners I spoke to.
You will receive a status update from the quarantine facility confirming this. In my case, the release date was getting close and I hadn’t yet heard anything (as it was a busy time of year), so I called up to check. Note that you may only receive this notification a couple of days beforehand – just because you haven’t received it yet, doesn’t mean your pet’s release will be delayed.
On the release day, your pet (plus their transport crate) generally needs to be collected between 10am and 12pm. The collection address is 135 Donnybrook Road Mickleham, entering from Polaris Road.
If you are not personally collecting your pet, you need to specify the authorised agent on the quarantine booking. This is what you will need to do if you live interstate, and will be using a pet transport company to pick up your pet and fly them interstate, like happened in my case.
Note that an additional fee applies for out-of-hours collections, either on a weekday or weekend. Currently this is $160 on weekdays and $170 on weekends or public holidays.
My Experience of My Dog’s Stay in Quarantine
My dog, Schnitzel, had flown all around the world and had previously had a short stay at a kennel without any issues, so I wasn’t too worried about his reaction to quarantine when we returned to Australia in late 2018, but it still didn’t stop me from being anxious.
Probably the toughest part about his stay was the lack of updates. Unlike a kennel where you often receive photo updates and can ring up and easily talk to the person looking after him, during your pet’s stay in quarantine it’s more about bureaucracy and biosecurity, with less updates provided.
My first update about my dog was received about 4 hours after the arrival of his flight into Melbourne. It was a short automated email stating that he had “arrived in post entry quarantine (PEQ) and is undergoing initial quarantine checks, which can take up to 48 hours”.
I tried to call to find out more, but there was going to be a long wait time, so I sent off an email. I didn’t receive a reply until about 2 days later, stating he had “arrived safe and well, he is eating all and toileting. Settling in nicely!”, plus his arrival weight.
Nearly a week after his arrival, the Thursday before his expected release on the Monday morning, I called up to find out further information. His state in the departmental system hadn’t changed from “undergoing initial quarantine checks”.
After waiting on the phone for over 20 minutes, I found out all was going fine and he was still expected to be released on the Monday. I would receive an update as soon as his final check had been complete.
I was also informed he was eating, toileting, plus – he was friendly! (No surprises, he loves people, especially if they give him food.)
The next day on the Friday, I receive the official system update that my dog had “complied with the required initial quarantine checks and is due to complete post entry quarantine (PEQ) shortly”, with a link to book his release appointment. I also received an invoice to pay the recovery of the airline handling charge ($97) for his arrival, something that needed to be done before his release.
And that was it! I didn’t personally visit the post quarantine facility in Mickleham, as I was staying in Sydney. Instead, I confirmed with my pet transport company that he was booked in to be released as expected, at their selected time.
They picked him up on the Monday and flew him from Melbourne to Sydney, where I was reunited with Schnitzel. He was very happy to see us and in good spirits. The only thing was he had lost a little weight, but we weren’t too concerned as he had weighed a little more than we prefer when he went into quarantine.
Contacting the Mickleham Post Entry Quarantine Facility
It’s possible to contact the Mickleham post entry quarantine facility by both email and phone.
If phoning the facility, their number is 1800 900 090 (inside Australia) or +61 3 8318 6700 (outside Australia).
However, be warned that it’s normal to have a long wait on hold, around 30 minutes based on my experience and other reports. Also note that phone calls will only be answered during office hours of 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
It might be better to email the facility, unless you are requiring an immediate response (well, within the next hour!) The email address is: [email protected].
If you wish to provide feedback following your pet’s stay in quarantine, it is possible to do this using the options listed on this page
You May Also Like
- Bringing a Dog to Australia: My Experience
- Tips for Importing a Dog to Australia
- How Much Does It Cost to Bring a Dog to Australia?
- How to Take Your Dog Overseas from Australia
About the Author
Shandos Cleaver is the founder of Travelnuity: Dog-Friendly Travel. She has travelled extensively with her Miniature Dachshund, Schnitzel, including to 33 countries across Europe, every state and territory of Australia except Tasmania, and 10 of the United States. She’s passionate about providing inspiration and information to others wanting to travel with their dogs, whether close to home or internationally.
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Thanks so much for the helpful information and personal recount! I am planning to fly directly to Melbourne to pick up my dog, and then fly domestically to Brisbane with him. Before I book those flights I want to work out exactly when my dog should be released (under normal circumstances). He will arrive in Australia at 7:10am on Friday 12th July. Does that mean (if all goes well) that he will be ready for pickup on Monday 22nd July from 10am until midday? (Or would pickup be on the 21st??). Thanks in advance for your advice!
Liv – My dog also arrived on a Friday (around 10am), and he was released on the Monday. I also emailed quarantine to double check the expected release date, which you can also do if you have any doubts. When your dog’s release is confirmed, you get to pick the release appointment, in 15 minute blocks.
Thanks so much!! It’s really helpful to hear from somebody who has been through this as it seems so overwhelming and confusing at times. Great article!
Thanks Liv, happy to share what I can!
thanks for this valuable insight. I will be returning out golden retriever next year from France. I was thinking I’d visit each day so I’m glad I read your blog.
I wish Australia could do this a little quicker and easier and the limit of communication must leave some people very anxious. Communication is key and it’s a pity they don’t recognise this.
I totally agree! I guess that’s part of the issue with it being run by the government. I think the staff are quite good and attentive at looking after the animals, but it’s easy to worry when there’s not many updates.
Thank you for this info. Our dog leaves from Germany today to travel to Oz and I’ve been wondering about the Q process. Just one point to make, especially to your reader Lyndie, please please all have your dogs tested for E Canis at the earliest sign of you moving to Oz! Our dog tested positive one month before we were moving from the UK and sadly we had to leave her behind in kennels until she tested negative which has taken 10 months. We wish we knew about this testing issue way before the process was to start.
Thanks for the tip Nicola, this is definitely something to keep in mind if there’s a chance your dog may test positive.
Hi Nicola, what treatment did you use to get the negative result? Also how often did you re-test for him to be negative of ecanis?
Hello,
Both our dogs have just tested positive. Luckily we are not planning to leave for Australia for around 12 months. Any advise on treatment that leads to negative test would be appreciated.
Do you know if dogs can be picked up on the weekend if their 10 days is up on a Saturday or Sunday?
Sorry, but I’m not sure about this. There is a chance that you might need to wait until Monday, although I’m not sure. (Arrivals usually need to be Monday to Friday.) I would send an email and check.
There is an extra surcharge for Sunday collection, but yes they are released on day 10 regardless if it’s the weekend.
Thanks for letting us know Amanda!
Thank you very much for this post..it relieved a lot of stress from us as we await our baby Duke to get to us in Melbourne soon.He is arriving into Oz next Tuesday.Thank you again and best of luck to you and schnitzel.
That’s great to hear – wishing you all the best!
Hi!
I was wondering if you could advise how much it costs to bring your dog to Australia? I know it will vary greatly depending on where you’re flying from but very curious about the costs
Sarah – I’ve gone into detail about the costs for me in this post: http://www.travelnuity.com/bringing-a-dog-to-australia/. The biggest variation will be in the flight (especially for larger dogs) and the veterinary costs (the USA is at the more expensive end of the scale in my experience).
What was the name if you’re allowed to say) of the company you used to get your dog from Melbourne to Sydney? And where do you find the agent form?
Does anyone know if they can ask for their dog not to mix with other dogs if you know that stresses out your dog?
Thank you!
Jacquie – We used Jetpets to fly our pet from Melbourne to Sydney. We had previously used Jetpets to fly our dog from Sydney to Madrid (see my review here: http://www.travelnuity.com/jetpets-review/), and in this case they picked up our dog from quarantine, put him on the plane, then we picked him up in Sydney at their depot – all very smooth!
With the agent form, this is a field you fill in on the quarantine website, when initially making the quarantine booking or modifying it later on.
I highly doubt that the dogs mix together, as this would meant that if one dog was carrying a disease (or fleas), they could be passed on. They have individual kennels with runs, plus there is the additional exercise area, but I doubt they are allowed to run around free with other dogs.
Hope this helps!
Hi! I am wondering if you know or where I could find any information on whether or not my baby getting stress diarrhoea would be cause for longer quarantine? I have a very sensitive and emotional doberman boy and when he gets nervous that is the result 🙁 I’m worried he will have a longer stay if that occurs but can’t seem to find the information! He’s due home in 35 days after a long 5 months wait!
I recommend contacting quarantine directly, plus making them aware of this in your booking. I know one of the main things they look for are any fleas or ticks, and any symptoms of particular diseases such as rabies. There is a chance that diarrhoea could be flagged.
Thank you for your post. We are moving back to Australia in July and was planning on visiting our dog as she is a fussy eater. Good to know that they don’t allow visitation anymore.
Thanks Finlay! You can still make sure your vet supplies a letter detailing the food requirements for your dog. There is also the option to supply your dog’s food, if they need something special, check out the details provided by quarantine.
For quarantine in Australia, it is possible to organise a special diet. Check out the prices quoted in my article for the cost, although I’ve heard it’s recently increased, like most government charges.
Thank you so much! This is sooo helpful as we are considering relocating overseas for a bit and were worried about our fur baby’s return to Australia!!
Can you please share what injections and other health related things you needed to do, which ensured only a 10 day holding period?
Bec – I cover our experience of the process and lots of links in this post: http://www.travelnuity.com/bringing-a-dog-to-australia/. Wishing you a smooth journey!
What a great article.
Log, any information on quarantine in Hong Kong? My dog Kimchi and I are relocating to HK from the Philippines where I’m currently working. Apparently he will require 4 months in quarantine, I’m freaking out. Anything you can share to ease my stress would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Maz – Sorry, but I don’t have any information on the quarantine in HK. Quarantine differs greatly from country to country, I recommend asking for information off the authorities in HK, plus ask HK expat groups if they have experienced it.
Hello dear, have just read your article and wanna thank you for it. Our doggy is just arrived in Melbourne from Paris passing by Doha(you can imagine how it has been long) and I’m wondering if it will be Sunday in 10 day, will they release him on Sunday? How you knew about the day you should go there to find him and bring back home?
Thank you a lot
Warm regards
Anastasia (and Tchoudo)
Once your dog gets the approval to leave, you book an appointment on the website, selecting the time. For now, I recommend calling up to double check the date, this is what I did. You will likely need to wait on hold for awhile. Or else send an email. The details are above.
Thank you so much for writing this, you have no idea how long I’ve been searching for the right advice. You’ve made me so much calmer about the situation.
Thank you thank you thank you!!
Great to hear Evelyn!
Hi,
I stumbled across your page when doing research to send my dog from UK to Australia.
First of all , I would like to say , your blog is amazing and very helpful. You have provided great and helpful advice that I can’t seems to find anywhwre else. So great thank you for writing the important details down.
When reading through this post you have mention that it is required to mention the transport agency who picks the dog up at the quarantine centre on the import permit.
Do you know which part of import permit should I mention this ? And is this compulsory ? As I have already submitted application. So probably need to email/redo them.
Sorry for the multiple questions.
Many thanks.
Thank you so much Joyce for your kind words, I really love helping out other people going through the same process I went through. I just realised that the reference to the import permit is incorrect. It’s actually the quarantine booking where you fill this in. It’s not required when you make the initial quarantine booking, as the booking can be modified later once you book with the transport agency. I’ve just updated the post!
Can you share your experience please im am currently researching transporting my dog from the UK and I am very anxious about the process
Kind regards
Cheryl
Hi,
Like everyone else – was feeling concerns for transporting my own weiner from Hk to Melb and finally to Sydney. Your blog post did wonders in soothing my own worries. As Solomon is 10, did you find any behavioural shifts and noteworthy concerns in Schnitzel’s behaviour/wellbeing after the quarantine period in Melbourne? Dachshies are particularly needy so I am concerned as well about the duration we spend apart. Also, when you had flown with jetpets was the carrier Qantas? Did you have any experience with their handling of dogs? Thanks again for your attention!
Karen – We didn’t notice any behavioural changes with Schnitzel. However, he had previously stayed with my parents and other people, plus once in a kennel, without any issues. I know he misses us, but he’s a lover of cuddles and food, and will give lots of love to anyone providing that, which helps.
When he flew with Jetpets from Melbourne to Sydney it was with Virgin. I believe Jetpets choose the carrier with the most convenient flight time. We’ve also flown interstate with him in Australia, directly booking with Virgin to get there and Qantas to return, and didn’t notice any different in their handling.
Hi there. After a 9 month ordeal due delays with importation, Covid restrictions and changes in quarantine regulations when you import your pet from a non-approved country (Thailand via Malaysia), our dogs finally arrived at Melbourne quarantine this morning. The original ETA was to be March 2020 but then the proverbial sh!t hit the fan. I would like thank you for this article. It is really useful and reassuring to have an idea of what the 10 day quarantine involves. The journey so far: Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Brunei to Australia. There is only one more hurdle left for us and that is getting them from Melbourne to Perth. All the best to you and Schnitzel (love the name BTW).
Wow, that’s such a terrible ordeal! It’s great to hear that your pet is finally in the country (and probably getting more fresh air in their quarantine than humans currently in quarantine). Wishing you all the best with the final step to get your pet over to Perth.
Our dog Benji – well technically he is our daughter’s dog who we’ve been looking after since she emigrated in March 2015 – will be joining her in a couple of weeks. He should have flown on May 4th but then Covid hit! It’s been good to hear about the PEQ experiences because they sound very positive! It’s just the flight I feel he’ll think he’s been a bad boy to deserve!! Thank you for your blog – it’s been very reassuring to a worried dog grandma!! Xxx
Freda – That’s great to hear. I hope Benji is reunited with your daughter soon, with plenty of hugs!
Thank you so much for the helpful information on your blog. We aren’t moving until June/July next year, but I’m already very anxious about how our little guy will react. He is about 2 and was rescued from a shelter in January and has not been apart from us at all since then. Initially because of acclimation after the shelter and then COVID hit. He’s very bonded to me and barely leaves my side, so I’m worried that he’ll have terrible separation anxiety and won’t recover. The flight from LA is 14 hours, so that’s the additional stress! Your tips and a look at the facility are reassuring. I think it’s probably key to have the right travel facilitator as well.
I hope it all goes smoothly Deborah. Luckily, our Schnitzel had been used to having some time apart from us (earlier trips where he stayed with our family, plus being left along during the day when we worked in offices). I recommend trying to have some time apart from your pup, even just 10 minutes or 1 hour at first, so that he learns that you return. Crate training is also great, so that he learns that his crate is a safe place.
Thank you for the further advice. It just occurred to me that if COVID is still as big a problem in June 2021, we might be in quarantine for 14 days while our pup is there for only 10! More to worry about! 🙂
Fingers crossed that’s not the case by then!
Finally able to get more details about the PEQ at Mickleham. Thank you so much for this article.
I’ll be flying from New Caledonia to Australia some time next year with my Beagle and was already stressing out about the quarantine period, worrying she would be in a tiny cage, depressed and stressed out. As it appears in the photos, the kennels seem to be quite large and comfortable.
Your website is great ! I love all the information on dog friendly places to go!
(and in fact the whole website is excellent with heaps of info – I’ll be referring to it often in the future)
Thanks, that’s great to hear Carina, and hope all goes smooth with your move next year. And thank you so much for your kind words – I really appreciate it!
We’re having a bit of a mission trying to get our six year old Lakeland Terrier Ted in before Christmas. Our UK based pet transport company (not JetPets but a very well reviewed one and one that so far has been extremely helpful) having applied in plenty of time for Ted to fly out on 25th November have just heard back from Melbourne quaranting that they are now full and it will be the middle of January at the earliest.
This of course is a disaster as with COVID he started his treatments last October (2019) and now he’s all prepped up to fly and if it’s delayed we’re going to have to start all over again!
I’ve emailed Mickleham explaining all of this, as have the transfer company, but I’m not holding my breath, they must know that the vetrinary procedures necessary are laborious and yet they alter timing at the drop of a hat – not happy!
Oh no, that’s terrible to hear. I wonder if they’ve reduced the capacity this year? (Plus the lead up to Christmas is usually the busiest time, as they partially shut-down over Christmas and New Year.) Fingers crossed something can be sorted!
I was curious when I booked into quarantine, so I’ve looked back at my emails and I think we applied in August for an early December arrival. Although then I had to chase for approval in September because we applied so early. But just as well as we did apply early!
Thank you so much for this information! My boyfriend and I are planning a move in the near future with my 1 1/2 year old dog and this was extremely helpful and helped settle some of my nerves!
My dog used to have some behavioural issues that have since been resolved, though I am nervous about him acting up and potentially getting vicious if he gets too stressed out. As I cannot find any information on this online, I was wondering if you know anything about the possibly of a dog having behavioural issues at the quarantine facility and if they will still accept my dog?
I haven’t heard anything about dogs not being accepted due to behavioural issues. I would expect that all dogs are treated with caution, after all it is a stressful situation, at least at first until they get to know the dog. (My dog had a note that he was “friendly” – he loves people who feed him!) The only thing I could think is that if the behaviour is too extreme to do health checks and the like, it might delay quarantine release.
Thanks for your help it clears some worries up for me
I had the same question about behaviour issues
My dog is good if introduced correctly / slowly and they let him come to them other wise he gets scared and reacts .. if they can’t do the checks on them ect and they can’t pass them do they let you come get your dog and fly them back out of the country ? Do you know What’s the options are if they won’t release them ?
I have a dog that I’ll be wanting to take out of Australia and taking to different country’s then bringing back eventually.
are there any country’s that your not allowed to visit with your pooch if your planing on bringing them back to Australia ? were doing Mexico and America for a long period but possible Indonesia . I know bringing Indonesia born an bread dogs to Australia is hard but if there from Australia and just visit do you know if it’s different ?
The people working in quarantine are professional animal handlers, including vets, so I’m sure they’re used to a wide range of animal behaviors. Most dogs pass all checks in the 10 days, the stay is usually only prolonged if health issues come up.
There’s a long list of countries where dogs can’t be imported directly back to Australia, the dog will need to move to a third country for a couple months of preparation. I believe Mexico is okay, but with Indonesia dogs generally go via Singapore. This also applies to dogs visiting from Australia.
Thank you for all the useful information. We are bringing our 3x dogs home from Singapore ( s2 x French Bulldogs and 1x Pug) in July 2021
One aspect to the logistics we had to navigate is that only certain carriers will transport the brachycephalic (flat nosed) dog types. Fortunately Qantas is one of these carriers.
As most will already have realised, you have to engage with an agent to bring your pets to Australia.. happy for somebody to tell me differently, but this is what we discovered.
Totally agree with all the anxiety expressed with PEQ here, however the facilities, from what is known are very comfortable for the dogs and provide plenty of space for them to move around. In all our communications so far with PEQ our queries relating to Import Permits status and reservation / space availability have been very helpful. Just remember that the staff at PEQ are only authorised to share information with the people listed on the application. This is for everybody’s protection. Happy to share any other experiences.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Prior to Covid, it was possible to fly pets directly to Australia without an agent on limited Qantas flights, but like many things, this is not currently possible.
hello thank you so much for sharing ,
after you book a place for your dog at quarantine is it possible that something went wrong or something missing in the papers that can lead them to return your pet to the country of origin?? im soo worried about this issue.
and once sending you dog cargo since it s the only way to enter australia how can you make sure that everything is okay and he’s fine can you contact someone over the plane?
and once he arrive to Melbourne does the quarantine contact you that he’s arrived how you can control it and make sure that no mistake is going to happen and he has arrived and he’s safe with them
Once your dog has arrived and has been transferred to quarantine, you should receive an update by the end of the day confirming this. If there’s any issues (such as finding a tick on your dog), the most likely situation is a longer stay in quarantine.
Great article thank you and for the other blogs you’ve written. I’ve just found your site tonight and will be a regular reader.
Our biggest quarantine worry is that our sibling 10 year old Westies are so bonded that I don’t know how they will cope being apart for 10 days.
I see that they may be able to be placed in kennels next to each other but will they see each other eg through screen / wire? My boy is so protective of his sister that he will bark for 10 days if he’s not able to see her!
I understand the need to keep dogs apart for health reasons but they will have been to the same places, eaten the same food etc before leaving and will be transported in the same crate.
Do you think it’s worth getting a vet statement that they need to be housed together?
I recommend emailing or phoning quarantine directly to see what they recommend. I know it seems harsh that they need to be housed separately, but in case of issues, it’s easiest for all dogs to be separate.
Hi Shandos,
I found this very helpful. We just can’t seem to get any idea of when our 10 yr darling will be released. It is a mandatory 30 days now, so it’s been excruciating. We are half way through. We were notified of her arrival and then received updates for the next 5 days because she was experiencing diarrhea and vomiting. The diarrhea we were expecting because of the diet change and put the vomiting down to anxiety. They modified her diet and gave us the food she was eating at our request to try and eliminate the diarrhea with her next dietary change. She was being given Royal Canin for sensible eaters kibble. However no matter how we ask cannot get a hard discharge date. Any email sent is responded to the same day which is comforting when you receive no photos. We will be flying to pick her up ourselves so are eager for a date so as to book our flights. I thought I would provide an update as there have been none for a while and the laws were changed to a mandatory 30 days as of March 2023.
Also because of the change to 30 days the centre is limited with regards to space and we had to wait an additional 8 weeks for clearance to fly. Fortunately my husband was able to stay in America during this period.
With our Schnitzel, who only had a 10 day stay in quarantine, he arrived on the Friday and was released exactly 10 days later on the Monday. The quarantine staff didn’t give us the exact day until a few days before his release, when we could book his release appointment online. However, we booked with Jetpets for them to pick him up and fly him up to Sydney, and they were fairly confident it would be exactly 10 days later, unless an issue came up (which seems rare talking to other pet parents).
So, if for example your dog arrived on the 1st January, I would expect the release date to be 31st January. I’m not sure whether weekends currently affect pickups. I would either book your flights expecting a pickup 30 days after arrival (with the option to potentially change flights) or book a flight at the last minute once it’s confirmed.