Were you travelling from India? I am planning to bring my cat from India so your experience would be very useful. If from India, what kind of papers did you need for Canada as well as for Lufthansa?
It's really easy! Do not go through an agent. It's a waste of money when you are expected to do alot of things by yourself.
So India has more requirements of exporting a pet than Canada has import requirements.
This is the list provided by Mumbai quarantine department .
1. Local Veterinary health certificate (Fit to fly by road/ Air/Train)
2. Microchip Certificate
3. Last One Year vaccination record of pet.
4. Passport copy of the owner
5. Air ticket Copy of the owner
6. Airway bill in case the pet is going through cargo.
7. Authority letter to someone to receive the NOC from this office on behalf
of owner.
8. Two color photographs of pet (Size - 4 x 6 Inch, Full body view)
9. Specific requirements of importing country (like - Import permit, Blood titre
test etc.)
Note: All the above documents shall be submitted self attested (Original and
Xerox copy) to the quarantine Office with Pet animal before 7days earlier to
embarkation to obtain the NOC with prior appointment.
Export certificate is valid for 10 days from the date of issue.
Canada only requires a rabies vaccine certificate .
This is how we got all our paperwork done .
1. Make sure your pet is booked to fly with you in cabin/in cargo. Call the airlines several times and confirm. We flew with lufthansa as they are the most animal friendly. Decide if you are taking an overnight layover in Europe , if you are then you have to do paperwork to get your pet in Europe which is more difficult as they require blood test etc etc. We just took a 3 hour layover in the airport and switched flights. If the pet is travelling in cargo then they will be serviced by the Lufthansa animal lounge (just google about them, there's a nice video on YouTube)
2. Get a full checkup done of your pet. Then get it microchipped, then get a rabbies vaccination (certificate will state that microchipped pet got such and such vaccine). This has to be done within one year and before 30 days of travel . At the same time get a health note from the vet saying the pet is good to fly. We got two health notes or health certificate made , one a few days before travel and one week before travel.
3. Then call up the animal quarantine centre. Since we lived in Mumbai, we had to call the office in Navi Mumbai. They will give you an appointment 7 days prior to your flight. They will email you thetabove list and a form. Fill out all the paperwork and take the pet with you to the centre. Over there the pet will be checked, papers looked at and if all is good you will get your animalaexport certificate. Best to go with a car as you might have to wait a bit, one person sat with our cat in the car till we were called in.
4. On the day of flight, arrive at least 4 hours before your flight . You will need to pay fees to taking your pet on board, Lufthansa will check all the papers and the export certificate. After which you will go through regular checking in process. Since we took our cat in cabin, we had to take our cat through security with us .We had bought a body harness and leash for her but had a bagwala change all the metal hardware for plastic hardware .This way the harness did not trip the metal detector during security. Her carry on bag went through the x-ray machine and I held our cat through the metal detector. After security, the security agent will take a look at your export certificate, boarding pass and make you sign a register .
5. That's it for India! We mentioned during immigration that we have a cat with us but they only worry about hooman papers.
6. Once on the flight, we were told we cannot remove her from the bag at any time .But we took her in the toilet and let her out on the baby changing table. She was able to stretch her legs , she ate food and drank water .we did this every 2 hours. She was quite happy .
7. You will have to go through the same security routine in Frankfurt. Bag in the machine, hold your pet.
8. Once in Canada, make sure to select you are traveling with a live animal when filling out landing forms . We told the immigration officer we had a pet. They told us to go to customs where the papers were checked, paid inspection fees and out we went!
9. Take the pet home, give food water poop.
Message if you have any questions! Good luck!