Pet Shipping Service: How International Pet Relocation Works

A pet shipping service is a professional relocation company that arranges the crate, transport booking, and health paperwork an animal needs to travel domestically or internationally, often without the owner physically accompanying it the whole way. These companies — sometimes called pet relocation services or pet movers — coordinate with airlines, customs authorities, and accredited veterinarians so the animal clears every checkpoint legally and safely. Reputable shippers are typically members of the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association (IPATA), the industry's main trade body.

What Does a Pet Shipping Service Actually Do?

According to IPATA, its member companies function much like a travel agent for animals: they don't need to be based in your city to arrange pickup, veterinary paperwork, airline or ground booking, layover care, quarantine, and final delivery. A full-service pet shipper typically handles:

• Selecting an IATA-compliant crate sized correctly for the animal
• Booking cargo, excess-baggage, or in-cabin space with an airline, or arranging ground transport
• Coordinating the veterinary health certificate and any lab tests (such as a rabies titer test)
• Submitting or tracking government endorsement of that certificate
• Arranging import permits and, where required, quarantine boarding at the destination
• Handling layovers, customs clearance, and final home delivery

IPATA is explicit that it does not ship pets itself — its members do, each operating under their own company name and pricing.

How the Pet Shipping Process Works: 6 Steps

1. Book early. Airline cargo space for animals is limited, and paperwork has fixed validity windows, so most shippers recommend starting 4–8 weeks ahead for international moves.
2. Confirm destination-country requirements. Each country sets its own pet import rules; there is no single worldwide standard certificate.
3. Get a veterinary health certificate. In the United States, this is usually the USDA-APHIS Form 7001, but a USDA-accredited veterinarian must confirm whether your destination actually accepts that form or requires its own.
4. Obtain government endorsement, if required. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) endorses export certificates through its Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS) for a fee of $101 to $275 per certificate depending on how many laboratory tests are involved, as of the APHIS fee schedule in effect in 2026.
5. Crate the animal to IATA standards. The International Air Transport Association's Live Animals Regulations (LAR) set the worldwide baseline for container size, ventilation, and animal age (animals must be at least eight weeks old and weaned) that airlines build their individual pet policies on top of.
6. Travel and arrival clearance. Depending on the destination, the animal may need to clear customs, an import inspection, or a quarantine period before release to the owner.

Documents a Pet Shipping Service Will Need

Paperwork requirements differ by country and species, but three documents come up in almost every move:

Veterinary Health Certificate

Most countries require an international (or veterinary) health certificate completed by an accredited veterinarian close to the travel date, then endorsed by the exporting country's government. In the U.S., that endorsement runs through USDA APHIS; fees range from $101 for a certificate needing no lab tests up to $275 for seven or more tests, per APHIS's official cost schedule.

Microchip and Vaccination Records

Nearly every destination requires an ISO-compliant microchip implanted before the rabies vaccination is given, since the microchip date must precede the vaccination date to be valid.

EU Pet Passport or EU Animal Health Certificate — Not the Same Document

Anyone shipping a pet into or within the European Union will run into two different documents, and confusing them is a common (and costly) mistake:

• EU pet passport: A lifetime identification booklet, in the standard EU model, issued only to owners resident in the EU by an authorised veterinarian. It records the microchip code, rabies vaccination history, and (where relevant) tapeworm treatment. The passport model was updated by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/705, which took effect 22 April 2026, replacing the format used since 2013.
• EU animal health certificate: A trip-specific certificate for pets entering the EU from a non-EU country, issued or endorsed by an official veterinarian and valid for only 10 days from endorsement to EU entry, per the European Commission.

Both require the pet to be at least 12 weeks old at rabies vaccination and to wait at least 21 days after that vaccination before traveling; dogs entering Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway, or Northern Ireland also need tapeworm treatment within a set window before arrival, according to the European Commission's official pet travel guidance. Pets arriving from a non-EU country that isn't on the EU's low-rabies-risk list additionally need a rabies antibody titration test and a three-month wait after a successful result.

Air Transport Rules: IATA LAR and Airline Policies

The International Air Transport Association's Live Animals Regulations (LAR) are the global baseline that IATA member airlines build their own pet policies on. IATA describes LAR's objective as ensuring animals are "transported safely and humanely by air," covering crate construction, minimum animal age, ventilation, and labeling. Individual airlines then layer on their own rules — some ban brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds from cargo, others cap in-cabin carrier weight, and most suspend live-animal cargo during extreme heat. A pet shipping service's main value is knowing which airline, on which route, currently accepts which species and breed, since these rules change frequently and aren't standardized across carriers.

Comparison: How Pets Actually Travel

What Does a Pet Shipping Service Cost?

There is no single published price list because cost depends on the animal's size and weight, origin and destination cities, crate, required lab tests, and add-ons such as home pickup, layover boarding, or destination quarantine, according to IPATA. As a rough frame: local ground transport within a country tends to run in the low hundreds of dollars, while international air relocation with a full-service shipper — crate, flights, paperwork, and customs handling — commonly runs from roughly $1,000 to well over $5,000 depending on route and destination-country requirements such as quarantine. Government endorsement fees are a separate, smaller line item — USDA APHIS charges $101–$275 per certificate — and airlines charge their own live-animal cargo or excess-baggage fees on top.

How to Choose a Pet Shipping Service

• Check IPATA membership. Members agree to the association's standards and are listed in its public directory.
• Confirm USDA registration (U.S. shippers). IPATA notes members must be USDA-registered Intermediate Handlers or Class B Dealers.
• Ask who signs the health certificate. It must be a veterinarian accredited in the exporting country — a shipper cannot substitute for one.
• Get the crate spec in writing. It should meet IATA LAR container requirements for your animal's size.
• Avoid sedation requests. The American Veterinary Medical Association and IPATA both flag over-sedation as a leading cause of in-transit animal deaths; airlines and reputable shippers discourage it.
• Get a written cost breakdown covering crate, flights or ground transport, health certificate, endorsement fees, and any destination quarantine, before booking.

Where Digital Animal ID Fits — and Where It Doesn't

Paper tags, printed certificates, and even microchip registries can be lost, waterlogged, or hard to verify at a checkpoint. Animal Passport addresses that gap with a phone-based biometric record: it captures an animal's unique muzzle (nose-print) pattern, similar to a human fingerprint, and binds it to the owner, breed, an estimated age read from a dental photograph with a confidence score, a body condition score of 1–5 from a side-profile photo, and vaccination history. In August 2025, that biometric approach was used during livestock flood rescue work in Pakistan, letting farmers reclaim animals after paper ear tags had washed away.

It is important not to confuse this with a pet shipping document. Animal Passport is not a government-issued travel document, not the EU pet passport, not a USDA APHIS health certificate, and it does not provide veterinary diagnosis or legal advice. For an actual international move, you still need the official health certificate and, where applicable, the EU pet passport or EU animal health certificate described above. Where a biometric identity record can help is as a backup layer — a tamper-resistant way to prove which animal is which and confirm its vaccination and condition history — alongside, not instead of, the paperwork your pet shipping service and destination country require. See more on animal identity on the Animal Passport blog.

Common Mistakes That Delay a Pet Shipment

• Vaccinating before microchipping — most schemes require the microchip date to precede the rabies vaccination date, or the vaccination doesn't count.
• Booking a flight before confirming the airline currently accepts the species/breed on that specific route.
• Assuming a U.S. APHIS Form 7001 will be accepted everywhere — destination countries set their own requirements.
• Missing the EU animal health certificate's 10-day validity window between endorsement and EU entry.
• Requesting sedation, which veterinary and industry bodies discourage for air travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pet shipping service?

A pet shipping service is a company that arranges crates, transport bookings, and required veterinary and customs paperwork so an animal can travel domestically or internationally, often without the owner escorting it the entire way, per IPATA.

How much does it cost to ship a pet internationally?

Cost depends on the animal's size, route, and add-ons like quarantine; it commonly ranges from roughly $1,000 to over $5,000 for international air relocation, plus separate government endorsement fees such as USDA APHIS's $101–$275 per certificate.

Is a pet shipping service the same as an EU pet passport?

No. A pet shipping service is a logistics company; the EU pet passport is an official identification booklet issued only to EU residents by an authorised veterinarian under EU regulation. A shipper helps you obtain the correct documents but doesn't issue them.

Do I need a USDA health certificate to ship a pet from the U.S.?

Almost always yes. A USDA-accredited veterinarian must complete a health certificate, and USDA APHIS endorses it for a fee of $101–$275 depending on required lab tests before export.

Can a pet shipping service guarantee my pet won't need quarantine?

No. Quarantine rules are set by the destination country, not the shipper. A good shipper will tell you upfront whether your destination requires quarantine and for how long.

Is Animal Passport a pet shipping service or a travel document?

No. Animal Passport is a private biometric animal-identity tool that records muzzle ID, estimated age, body condition, and vaccination history. It is not a government travel document, EU pet passport, or USDA health certificate, and it does not replace the paperwork a pet shipping service arranges.

What's the difference between IATA and IPATA?

IATA (International Air Transport Association) sets the Live Animals Regulations that airlines use for crate and handling standards. IPATA (International Pet and Animal Transportation Association) is the trade association whose member companies actually plan and execute pet moves.

How far in advance should I book a pet shipping service?

Most professional shippers recommend starting 4–8 weeks before an international move, since airline cargo space is limited and health-certificate and vaccination timing windows, such as the EU's 21-day post-rabies-vaccination wait, are fixed.