Pet Flights
(HARC London)

Heathrow Airport HARC

We at Airsupply Shipping Agents (Passportforpets.co.uk) are ideally situated close to London's Heathrow Airport to be able to assist you in your pet's relocation to the UK or abroad!  We are able to offer very competitive rates as a pet clearing agent at Heathrow and delivery to your home in Great Britain. Please do not hesitate to contact us for advice and information regarding pricing, and we hope you choose us as your nominated clearing agent for your pet's arrival into the UK!

We provide the information below to explain what happens to pets when they are shipped to Heathrow by air.


ARCs at Heathrow

The City of London runs the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC Heathrow) to carry out its main statutory responsibilities under the Animal Health Act, 1981, this legislation incorporates Rabies controls and the Welfare of Animals During Transport Order 1997.  The City of London also has responsibilities for other UK animal related legislation.  The City of London also administers a Rabies Contingency plan in which 21 London boroughs participate.

The second Animal Reception Centre (ARC) at Heathrow is run by Animal Aircare, adhering to all the same regulations as the HARC.

What happens when my pet arrives in the UK?

When the flight lands, the pets are collected from the flight as the passengers get off.   Pets are then delivered to either Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow, depending on which airline they arrived on, where they are looked after by trained animal handlers and each animal is released from their flight kennel into their own run.   They are offered food (normally dry food) and water while they wait to be given the all clear by the vet.   If the pet is particularly dirty they will be cleaned.

Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), the authority here in the UK, check the pet's microchip and compare it against the paperwork for the animal.   Once they give the thumbs up, the paperwork is cleared through customs and then is free to be collected.   The process from arrival to clearance can take up to 6-8 hours for pets arriving into the UK.  

Live animal Border Inspection Post (BIP)

Both Animal Reception Centres at Heathrow operate as Border Inspection Posts for live animals at Heathrow.
All animals entering the UK have to pass through a Border Inspection Post so they can be inspected and have a specific type of entry certificate issued.  This is issued by part of DEFRA, namely APHA, personnel of which are based within the airport area, with easy access to either BIP.

Pets Travel Scheme

Since November 1999 dogs and cats from Europe (the EU) have been allowed to enter the UK without doing the statutory six months quarantine, provided they can fulfil the requirements under the PETS Scheme.  In the meantime, other countries have been added to the list, with the USA and Canada joining in 2002.

The scheme, by air, allows airlines who wish to participate to become approved by DEFRA.  The approval process ensures DEFRA that the airline has the processes in place to meet the requirements of the scheme.  DEFRA also have to approve the routes that the airlines wish to fly in from.  Thus, potential users must check the list of approved routes and airlines, which can be found on the DEFRA website.

The scheme consists of preparing your animal. For cats and dogs, it is necessary to have the animal micro-chipped first.  Then, the animal must be vaccinated against rabies.  After a period of about four weeks, if required the animal can then have a blood test to make sure that the vaccination has worked.  The vet who takes the blood test will send the sample to one of the approved laboratories so they can carry out this test.

Pets arriving at Heathrow travelling under the PETS (Pet Travel Scheme) allows pet dogs, cats and ferrets from certain countries to enter the UK without quarantine as long as they meet the rules.   All the necessary import checks are undertaken at either ARC.  Once we have established that everything is in order and cleared your animal with the UK border control, owners of pets compliant with the Pet Travel Scheme can then take them home.  If a problem is found then we endeavour to sort out any issue as quickly as possible.  However, it is sometimes necessary for animals to be moved to a quarantine premises if a problem cannot be resolved within a day or so.

PETS information can be found on DEFRA PETS website

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We are based near Heathrow Airport, London