March 28, 2025

Shipping Pets from Brazil to Australia

POSTED ON March 28, 2025 AT 9:07 AM BY carla-admin 0 COMMENT Articles

Shipping Pets from Brazil to Australia.

Moving to another country requires meticulous planning and patience. If you have the intention of bringing your beloved pet with you, the process can be even more challenging. Australia is known for its unique wildlife, environment, and agriculture. To protect their land, the country has strict rules and red tape that must be followed to import pets.

Changes in Importation Rules:

In March 2023, the Australian government updated its importation conditions with more stringent measures, making the process even more complex, especially for Brazilian pet owners.

The Australian government uses a system that categorises countries into three groups based on the risk they represent to the nation’s biosecurity. Currently, Argentina and Chile are the only countries from South America included in these categories, as Brazil is not approved for direct pet importation.

This article will provide a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the process of shipping your pet from Brazil to Australia.

Brazil’s Regulations:

Since Brazil is not included in the categories, you will need to import your cat or dog to an approved country for 180 days before shipping it directly to Australia. (The most chosen countries are Argentina, Chile, Portugal and United States).

This requirement makes the process even more expensive and increases the time needed for transportation. Before March 2023, the quarantine period varies from 60 to 180 days, depending on the case.

Pet Travel:

It is essential to have knowledge of both regulations of your location and the country where your pet will spend time in quarantine.

Contact an accredited pet travel agency: These agencies are knowledgeable about international pet shipping regulations and can guide you through the process. For a list of certified pet travel agents, visit IPATA Pet Shippers (International Pet and Animal Transportation).
Consult a government-approved veterinarian in an approved country to ensure all health checks, treatments, and vaccinations.
Be aware of quarantine regulations: Make sure to arrange quarantine with one of the Australian government-approved stations, typically in Melbourne between 10 to 30 days, depending on the case.

Be Prepared:

Plan early: The process can take at least 6 months. This includes multiple veterinary visits, health checks and vaccinations.
Microchip: Cats and dogs must be identified by a microchip that can be read by an ISO compatible reader. This is a crucial part of the identification process.
Vaccinations and treatments: Your pet must undergo for anti-parasitic treatment, rabies vaccination and blood tests. Besides rabies, your pet may need to do additional vaccinations and treatments. After the results of exams, you can start the 180 days in an approved country.
Import permit: You must apply for an import permit from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment.

To understand this process more closely, I spoke with Thiago, who shared his journey of bringing his pets from one continent to another.

Originally from Curitiba, Brazil, Thiago and his husband had their lives changed when received a job offer to Australia, and promptly decided to bring along their two beloved dogs, Theodoro Valerio and Tomas Roberto, on this adventure to the land of kangaroos. The pet travel company was chosen after long searches on Google and, apparently, great reviews. As a result, the couple opted to send their dogs to Chile as the transit country, where it would be more financially feasible. “The more we searched, the more concerned we became, as it wasn’t an easy or affordable process,” remembers Thiago.

Theodoro, 8 years old:

Thiago shares that they first needed to send their dogs to São Paulo, where they found a veterinarian familiar with their situation – who had even sent an elephant to South Africa! Therefore, they began the process of vaccinations and exams, prioritizing their well-being to face the long journey, especially for Theodoro, who, besides being a senior dog, is diabetic and has kidney problems. “It took almost a year to complete the arrangements and health checks before sending them to Chile,” tells Thiago. Regarding the import permit, Thiago says that he did it himself on the Brazilian government website, and it was very simple and practical.

Despite the careful planning, one of the main challenges happened at the airport, when they discovered that the microchip of one of the dogs wasn’t functioning properly. It had to be re-implanted, which delayed the pre-export process by 3 days. The 6 months waiting period can only be validated once the microchip is correctly registered in the system, explains Thiago. With the issue resolved, the dogs underwent again for health checks, including vaccinations, blood tests, tick disease test and serology.

He affirms that there was not much transparency from the travel company during this process, once they were in Chile. “We just made the payments, but we could never get clear information about which stage we were in.”

Tomas, 5 years old:

According to Thiago, the most challenging part was not being sure if their dogs were being treated well. He notes that the videos he received from the accommodation they were staying looked the same as the old ones, but with a different sound in the background. After the 9 months in Chile and their arrival in Melbourne, in July 2024, both of the dogs had lost a lot of weight, and Tomas had an eye infection that still hasn’t healed. They had to stay 9 months instead of 6 in the transit country because of government changes during the process.

About their adaptation in Australia, he said it was easy, however, the summer season was difficult for the dogs, as Sydney has much higher temperatures than their hometown, Curitiba. “We observed some changes in their behaviour, as lack of energy to run and play.” When asked what advice he would give others thinking about doing the same, Thiago said:

Trust in the process, but choose the travel company very carefully. Try to understand the whole process, and only go forward if you are really sure that the company is 100% reliable.

Author Bio

Hi there! I’m Gabi A.C, a Brazilian girl in my early 20s, now based in Sydney. I’m a curious soul who is passionate about literature, animals, travel and crafting. You´ll usually find me in a cozy café or wandering around taking pictures with my little cyber-shot.

References:

*Image created using AI-generated using DALL·E

TAGS: Pet relocation Shipping Pets from Brazil to Australia travelling with pets