Flying our dog from Malaysia to Australia

Its been over 13 years and numerous flights later and I still get anxiety every time we start the process of flying our boy to Australia. Surely after years of doing this I would be completely unphased by the process. But the reality is dog imports to Australia are complex. If you allow it, it can become a tangled costly mess. Back in 2020 Australia suspended direct imports from Malaysia to Australia, meaning you now need to move your dog to a category 2 or 3 country for a minimum of 180 days before import. So here we are in Malaysia with 2 months before we move our boy to New Zealand where he will have to stay for the minimum 180 day period before he then relocates to Australia. We made this choice many months ago, and for us it suited our travel plans. But there were lots of folks when this new rule was introduced back in 2020 that experienced a lot of pain. Serious pain. The import process into New Zealand is also complex, costly & cumbersome. Months of planning comes with the territory. I guess the silver lining for us is that there is no post entry quarantine for our boy when he arrives in Australia as their is no import permit requirement between Australia and New Zealand. Yay! A thought worth sharing is travelling with a dog in a predominantly muslim based country is tricky. Whilst the Malay Muslims are the kindest and loveliest of folk, there is no real connection between man and mans best friend. But we have managed to find dog friendly accommodation (often owned by the large chinese population here) and some beaches on the island of Penang that are somewhat dog friendly. If you are thinking about moving your beloved pooch from Malaysia to Australia you can see the changes here.

https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/import/industry-advice/2020/38-2020