A separate import · L
Needs certification, and not from us
This page exists to say no clearly, which is more useful than a page implying otherwise. Anything alive is outside what a removals firm should be handling, and there are people who do it properly.
A removals crew is not an animal handler and a container is not a suitable environment for anything living.
What we decline, and why
Why a removals firm should not do this
Because an animal needs someone qualified watching it, not a driver with a delivery schedule. Because health certification has a defined validity and a defined sequence with vaccinations and treatments behind it. And because approved routes, approved carriers and quarantine arrangements are a trade with its own practitioners.
Any of those can be got wrong by well-meaning people, and the consequences land on the animal. That is a good enough reason to decline.
What the right specialist actually does
Works backwards from the destination's requirements: which vaccinations, in which order, with which waiting periods, evidenced how. Arranges the approved route and carrier. Handles quarantine where it applies. And tells you early where the answer is that the move is not realistic for that particular animal.
Search for pet relocation or animal transport rather than for a removals firm. Ask what certification the destination requires and how they evidence it — a good one answers immediately.
Plants, seeds and the soil question
Live plants need phytosanitary certification and are refused outright in many destinations. Seeds and bulbs are among the most strictly controlled categories anywhere. Both are genuinely easier to leave behind than to argue about.
Soil is the one that catches people, because it arrives by accident — on a spade, in an empty pot, under outdoor furniture, in the treads of garden boots. It is a biosecurity issue in every strict regime and it is solved with a hose and half an hour before packing.
What we will happily take
Empty pots, cleaned garden tools, dried aquariums, cages and carriers, and every piece of equipment that belongs to a pet or a garden without being alive or soiled.
Clean it properly before the day and all of it travels without a second thought.
Needs health certification, and not from us
Questions about needs health certification, and not from us
- Will you move our dog?
- No. We decline animals rather than subcontract them quietly. Health certification, approved routes and proper handling are a separate trade with real practitioners.
- Who should we use instead?
- Search for pet relocation or animal transport. Ask what certification the destination requires and how they evidence it — a good firm answers immediately.
- Can we take houseplants?
- Generally no. Live plants need phytosanitary certification and are refused outright in many destinations. They are easier to rehome than to argue about.
- What about seeds from the garden?
- Among the most strictly controlled categories in any biosecurity regime. Leave them; it is not a close call.
- Why does soil matter so much?
- Because it carries organisms, and it arrives by accident on spades, pots, boots and outdoor furniture. A hose and half an hour before packing solves it entirely.
- Can you take the empty tank and the cages?
- Yes, gladly — dried, cleaned and empty. It is the contents rather than the equipment that we decline.
Which rung are you on?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and anything in the house that might sit higher up the ladder — an instrument, an antique, a wine collection, a drone, a car.