Vicky Liu cried with happiness when she reunited together with her two fluffy Pomeranian dogs, Princess and Boombah, on the gate of the quarantine centre in Melbourne.
“I’m very completely satisfied, it is simply an enormous aid that this entire course of is lastly over,” Ms Liu stated.
The 31-year-old English instructor from China was among the many first group of canine house owners to deliver their pets into Australia beneath a strict canine and cat import coverage, that got here into impact in March.
“The new measures got here at a really brief discover and caught us off guard. All the preparations we did in China grew to become invalid,” she stated.
Under the coverage, dogs and cats from unapproved nations — together with China — have to quarantine for roughly six months in a 3rd nation that’s thought-about low threat for rabies earlier than getting into Australia.
The animals then must do as much as 30 days of additional quarantine in Australia.
To meet these necessities, Ms Liu, her husband, and the 2 dogs moved from China’s south-western province of Sichuan to South Korea for six months, earlier than arriving in Melbourne for the ultimate quarantine interval.
“We cannot bear separating from our dogs for six months, and we by no means considered placing them in a boarding facility,” Ms Liu stated.
“We went to South Korea beneath vacationer visas, which suggests we can’t hire there. So we lived in Airbnbs.
Rabies threat prompts new coverage
Since 2013, the rabies biosecurity threat for importing dogs and cats has elevated and prompted Australia’s stricter import coverage, based on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
“Rabies is a viral illness that impacts the central nervous system and may be deadly for each animals and people,” a division spokesperson stated.
“More than 60,000 individuals die of rabies all over the world every year. Australia is among the few nations on the earth that is still freed from rabies.”
Under earlier guidelines, dogs and cats departing from unapproved nations needed to wait 180 days of their home nation after finishing medical checks, then mighttransit by accepted nations and onto Australia.
Many nations not on these three lists seem like principally in Asia and Africa, the place rabies stays a big public well being threat.
“Countries are accepted to export dogs and cats to Australia primarily based on an evaluation of the animal well being standing and the official controls,” a division spokesperson stated.
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