I had always thought that importing from Japan would be much harder than it ended up being. The UK doesn’t make importing dogs particularly easy anyway, with things only getting harder following Brexit and the loss of the Pet Travel Scheme on our side of things. It’s not impossible, with the introduction of the Animal Health Certificate making things not too difficult, albeit much more expensive. However, for somewhere like Japan which isn’t in Europe, the very idea of doing it sounded scary and expensive, and the information available online for this was certainly lacking.
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Paperwork and PreparationsPrior to my trip, some paperwork needed to be filled in. First, an Animal Quarantine application form must be prepared by the breeder, which will go to the Animal Quarantine Service (AQS) section of the airport. This form is essentially a request to the AQS to examine the dog prior to travel. With this form, as well as the rabies vaccination certificate and certificate of deworming for Echinococcosis multilocularis, will be used by the AQS’s vet to put together a export certificate. My breeder, Kinoshita-san, put together this document and sent it to the AQS office prior to me heading to Japan.
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Since I was already flying out to retrieve a puppy, I offered to collect another for a friend and fellow breeder in Sweden. I won't focus too heavily on this, but the requirements to enter Sweden were much the same as the requirements for the UK, except for using the Annex III certificate instead of the GB Pet Health Certificate. Mori's owner and our breeder did most of the work on this side of things, I just escorted him, but the process was identical for both puppies other than the form.
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So I flew out to Japan and had a fantastic adventure in Tokyo. This was my first time flying in 12 years and my first time ever leaving the country alone, or flying alone (which hopefully will vouch for how easy the whole process was!)
I even got to visit Kaikuro Go, the Kai Ken who is preserved in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno. After spending a lot of money and travelling as much as I could with the short time I had in Japan, it came to preparing to get these puppies to Europe. |
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Checklist for the AQS Appointment!
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I enjoyed my last night in Japan with good friends and good food, with the puppies getting lots of love from Kinoshita-san's friends. The three puppies, one of which was staying in Japan but was with us for the journey, nicknamed Igirisu (England), Suweden (Sweden) and Chisai (little) by our new friends, were happy and confident and were more than happy to befriend everyone!
We stayed long after closing time, chatting and playing with the puppies, and even though I could barely speak a word of Japanese with them, everyone made me feel completely at home and welcome. |
At the JAL counter, Kinoshita-san and I brought the two crated puppies and my suitcases and I gave all of the paperwork to the counter and nervously waited while a few members of staff went amongst themselves and seemed to be discussing the forms. They made copies and eventually spoke to me and asked where the health document was for my puppy. We looked through the documents and I showed them that the GB Health Document was this document! They had not seen it before so they were a little confused, but once they were shown, it was all fine. The puppies' crates were sealed with zip ties, and I attached two AirTags to them (and to my cases) so I could keep an eye on their location (I highly recommend doing this!)
They were also wrapped in heavy green netting, which looked a little scary at first, but it added extra protection. |
With that paid, I said goodbye to my amazing breeder, and I went through security and customs as usual, everything going smoothly, and boarded my flight. I spent much of it (when not asleep) worrying and checking the AirTags to make sure they had boarded with me. We arrived in France and I built myself up mentally in case something had gone very wrong and I would need to be prepared.
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The puppies were cleaned and everything brought into the car, we headed off on the next step of the journey which was the drive from CDG to Le Shuttle in Calais. Mori would embark on the next part of his journey with his owner to Sweden!
The drive was average and we reached the tunnel and headed to the pet reception. I had previously had an awful experience there when travelling home from breeding my girl back in summer 2022, so I was going in with expectations that something would be wrong. |