Bringing pets into the USA (in particular pet birds) - new thread

[OnTheGo]

I am opening this new thread for those of us who need info on how to bring their pet/s into the US.

I am still haunted by my experience of exporting our pet birds (cockatiels) from Australia and importing them into the EU some time ago ... as it was an extremely difficult, frustrating and very expensive experience to be dealing with authorities and vets of two countries, in addition to realizing that professional pet moving companies have no clue about birds (just cats and dogs), so after deciding I can do this on my own, it went on to finding an air line willing to transport them, finding/fitting IATA-approved travel crates suitable for birds, getting a CITES certificate to be handed to the authorities in the exporting country ... all up it cost us about $1,200 of which half was only the air fare.

So if this isn't testament to how much we love our birds, then I don't know what is! - lol

We really hope that importing them into the US will be much easier. At this point, I am completely clueless and want to start the process of finding out what we need to know, so I will add information here as I gather it (starting soon). Perhaps this will be helpful for others, too. Feel free to add info or questions. ~ Thanks.

 

[IheartNY]

Hey. I brought my little dog with me into the US from Australia, and it was fairly painless. I did use a pet transport company though and they were very good (expensive though! Ouch!). My vet was also pretty knowledgeable about required vaccinations and paperwork. I don't think you'll have much drama bringing in your birds

I also got a lot of info from here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/animal_import/animal_imports_pets.shtml

I am opening this new thread for those of us who need info on how to bring their pet/s into the US.

I am still haunted by my experience of exporting our pet birds (cockatiels) from Australia and importing them into the EU some time ago ... as it was an extremely difficult, frustrating and very expensive experience to be dealing with authorities and vets of two countries, in addition to realizing that professional pet moving companies have no clue about birds (just cats and dogs), so after deciding I can do this on my own, it went on to finding an air line willing to transport them, finding/fitting IATA-approved travel crates suitable for birds, getting a CITES certificate to be handed to the authorities in the exporting country ... all up it cost us about $1,200 of which half was only the air fare.

So if this isn't testament to how much we love our birds, then I don't know what is! - lol

We really hope that importing them into the US will be much easier. At this point, I am completely clueless and want to start the process of finding out what we need to know, so I will add information here as I gather it (starting soon). Perhaps this will be helpful for others, too. Feel free to add info or questions. ~ Thanks.

 

[OnTheGo]

Thanks for that! Great to hear you managed to get your little dog over.
Your link was very helpful, as I found a section that deals with importing pet birds on there:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/nonus_pet_bird.shtml

Hmm...the first thing I don't really like (as it causes stress to the birds):

pet birds are required to be quarantined for 30 days in a USDA Animal Import Center at the owner’s expense.

And there are only three designated Quarantine Centers: NY, MIA and LA.

USDA Quarantine Centers and Ports of EntryAll non-U.S. origin pet birds must enter the country and undergo quarantine at one of the following import quarantine facilities. These are the only ports of entry available for importing non-U.S. origin pet birds.

New York Animal Import Center (NYAIC)
USDA-APHIS-VS
474 International Blvd.
Rock Tavern, NY 12575
Office main number: 845-838-5500
FAX number: 845-838-5516

Miami Animal Import Center
USDA-APHIS-VS
6300 NW 36 Street
Miami, FL 33122
Telephone (305) 876-2200
Fax (305) 876-2201
Los Angeles Animal Import Center (LA AIC)
USDA-APHIS-VS
222 Kansas St.
El Segundo, CA 90245
Office main number: 310-955-3311

​

FAX number: 310-955-3347

Hey. I brought my little dog with me into the US from Australia, and it was fairly painless. I did use a pet transport company though and they were very good (expensive though! Ouch!). My vet was also pretty knowledgeable about required vaccinations and paperwork. I don't think you'll have much drama bringing in your birds

I also got a lot of info from here:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/animal_import/animal_imports_pets.shtml