Where do I go?
To the cargo terminal of the airline that holds the booking, not the passenger terminal. For Emirates SkyCargo that is the Cargo Mega Terminal in the Dubai Airport Cargo Village area at Dubai International, or the Al Maktoum International cargo terminal if the flight leaves from there. The air waybill or booking confirmation states which. The MOCCAE examination that produced your export certificate happened earlier at the MOCCAE quarantine centre, also in Cargo Village, so most owners have been to the area once already.
What time?
Live animals are accepted inside a window the airline sets, usually several hours before departure and well before passenger check-in closes. The window is on the booking and it is fixed: arrive after it and the pet does not fly that day. We are confirming the current Emirates SkyCargo acceptance times in writing and will publish them here with the date we checked. Until then, ask the cargo desk for the exact time when you book and write it down.
What do I hand over?
The originals: the MOCCAE export health certificate, the destination certificate (for Great Britain the pet health certificate signed and endorsed by the official vet, with the tapeworm entry for dogs), the rabies vaccination certificate, the microchip record, the airline fit-to-fly statement, and the air waybill or booking reference. A copy of everything stays in your bag. Tape a second copy, in a plastic sleeve, to the top of the crate with the pet’s name, your phone number and the destination contact.
What do they check?
Three things, in this order. The documents, against the booking and the destination rules. The microchip, scanned and matched to the number on the certificates. The crate, against IATA container requirements: the pet can stand, turn and lie down, the door is secure, the water bowl is fixed inside and can be filled from outside, the bedding is absorbent, and there is nothing loose inside. Food is not placed in the crate; a small bag of food can be taped to the outside if the flight is long.
Who takes my pet?
Cargo acceptance staff. After the check, the crate goes into the airline’s live animal holding area, which is temperature controlled, and later onto the aircraft in a pressurised, heated hold. You are not allowed past the counter. This is the hardest minute of the day. Do it calmly and quickly; a long goodbye at the counter stresses the animal more than a short one.
What can go wrong on the day?
A certificate outside its validity window. A microchip that will not scan. A crate that is one size too small. A snub-nosed breed in a month the airline does not carry them. A summer heat embargo. All but the last are visible days earlier, which is what the timeline and the Assured document check exist for. If the pet is refused, you go home, the certificates keep running down, and you rebook; most refused pets need new paperwork.
What happens on arrival?
The pet is taken from the aircraft to the airport’s animal reception facility (at Heathrow, the Animal Reception Centre) where the documents are checked again and customs clearance is done. Arriving from outside the EU you can only collect after customs, which takes hours rather than minutes, and most owners pay the airline, an agent or the reception centre to clear it. Then you collect from the reception centre, not the passenger arrivals hall.
Where does Pawssible stop?
At the counter. We plan, date and check the documents so that everything in your hand is right when you get there. We do not carry animals and we do not run the airport day ourselves. On Handoff, a vetted logistics partner supplies the crate, makes the cargo booking and does the Dubai airport day for you, with one point of contact; that is a partner service and we say so.