Moving to Vietnam with pets

Well, Danny, you sure didn't look too hard as this has been covered several times.

Vet & Shots
Within 30 days of travel you have to take the 'girls' down to a registered vet so he can check them out for diseases and bugs.

Then you get him to stick them with all the major injections - especially rabies.

He should then give you a letter for each of your 'girls' saying they are healthy, etc AND have all the shots. Make sure there are lots of stamps, etc., to impress the officials here.

Travel
Some US airlines (United flies here via Chicago) let you take the 'girls' in to the cabin. The problem sometimes arises when you connect in a Foreign country where they look at animals in a queer way and think they are dirty.

If you have to stick them in the cargo hold you will need to photocopy your vets letters and stick one on each box.

You should NOT FEED the dogs on day of travel. Or put food in the cages/boxes.

You SHOULD provide a small dish and bottle of water(or an auto water dispenser) so they get to drink. If they are cargo, you will likely NOT have access to the 'girls'.

Each carrier knows the rules for each transit country (as do travel agents from their reservation systems).

Do NOT USE AN ON-LINE RES SYSTEM (Expedia, etc) because they could give a damn about dogs, etc.

Arrival
On arrival, after you have passed through immigration, the 'girls' in their boxes will be located at the special handling desk on the LEFT-HAND WALL of the carousel area.

There should be no hassles other than avoiding the girls getting X-rayed in the baggage machine.

Have your vet letters handy, in case you get asked.

Sometimes they say bring the letters back, translated, within 30 days but by now I think the Customs people have seen about everything come off the planes.

The carrier may have boxes for the 'girls' or you might have to supply. Just make sure they are clearly labelled ANIMALS so the girls don't get lost anywhere and mark your destination airport as SGN. Search with Google for info.

I don't think there will be any problem with the temps or humidity, judging by the number of dogs hereabouts.

DO get collars WITH NAMES; even think about those GPS trackers that let you know where the 'girls' are, using the cell system (we are GSM over here).

Don't worry about the 'girls' getting eaten, dog meat lovers only eat raised dogs, like South Americans. Your biggest risk is kidnapping and losing the 'girls' to a puppy mill.

Lots of good pet food here now, grooming and kennels. Even some genuine, Western trained, vets.

Jaitch,

Thank u very much for the informative response. Hopefully we can pull this off. It's going to be quite the journey!

Danny