What are the biggest risks in international pet shipping, and how can they be solved?

SHORT ANSWER

The biggest risks in international pet shipping are paperwork that satisfies the U.S. but not the destination country, a health certificate that expires before the flight is confirmed, flight routings that can't carry your pet, travel crates that don't meet airline standards, extreme temperatures (especially for snub-nosed breeds), and problems at the arrival airport. Almost every one of these risks can be solved the same way: plan backward from your destination's rules, confirm the airline and routing before you finalize any vet dates, measure your pet for a correctly sized crate, and schedule travel around seasonal weather. The risk is rarely one hard step. It is several steps that all have to line up at once.

Why Meeting USDA Rules Doesn't Guarantee Your Pet Can Enter the Destination Country

The most common misunderstanding in international pet travel is thinking the USDA sets the rules. It doesn't. The USDA endorses export paperwork, but the country your pet is flying to decides what that paperwork must contain. As the USDA APHIS pet export page puts it, "Your destination country sets the entry requirements for pets, which can change at any time. You must verify the country requirements every time you plan to travel with your pet."

That creates a real risk: a pet can be fully compliant on the U.S. side and still be turned away on arrival. In our Pet Travel Insider conversation, Kacey Witkowski, Director of Operations at Starwood Pet Travel, described this as one of the hardest pieces for families handling a move on their own, because you have to meet both what the USDA requires and what the destination country requires for customs.

How to solve it: Start with the destination, not the vet appointment. APHIS directs pet owners to contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as they decide to travel, and to look up their destination on the APHIS country requirements list. Your vet will also need to know any countries where your pet will stop along the way, since a transit country can add its own conditions, plus your departure date and whether your pet is flying in the cabin, as checked baggage, or as cargo.

How a Missed Health Certificate Window Can Cancel a Pet's Flight

Health certificates don't last forever. Each destination sets how close to travel the certificate must be issued, and the USDA endorsement step adds its own turnaround time. Meanwhile, airlines often won't confirm a pet's space until shortly before departure. As Kacey put it, "the booking windows are pretty short," which means the health certificate, the USDA endorsement, and the flight all have to line up with very little margin.

If the flight moves by a few days, the certificate may no longer be valid. If the certificate is issued too early, you may have to redo the vet exam. Either way, the travel date slips.

How to solve it: Build your timeline backward from the confirmed flight, not forward from the first vet visit. Confirm the destination's certificate validity window before booking the final exam, leave room for USDA endorsement, and keep a backup flight option in mind in case the first one falls through. Families working with a pet relocation company typically have these dates managed as one schedule instead of three separate ones.

Why a Passenger Flight Isn't Always a Pet-Friendly Flight

This is the risk most people never see coming. A flight having seats available for you says nothing about whether it can take your pet. Kacey explained it directly in the video: just because a passenger aircraft can be booked by passengers "does not mean that it's necessarily pet friendly or even that the crate is big enough."

Airlines limit how many animals they carry per flight, some aircraft can't accommodate larger kennels, and connecting routes add handling steps at each stop. IATA's pet travel guidance advises owners to contact the airline to confirm it accepts the pet on the specific day and flight, noting that "some airlines restrict the number of animals on a flight so the more advance notice you give them the better it is."

How to solve it: Confirm the airline, the routing, and the aircraft's ability to carry your pet's crate before locking in the rest of your plan. If you're shipping your pet as air freight, IATA also recommends checking that the freight facility at the destination will be open for pickup, and notes that weekday shipping is preferable because full staff are working along the route.

What Happens When a Pet's Travel Crate Is the Wrong Size

A crate that looks fine at home can be refused at check-in. Airlines judge crates by whether your pet can "turn about normally while standing, to stand and sit erect, and to lie in a natural position," the same standard written into U.S. federal transport rules at 9 CFR 3.15. Those same rules require a crate strong enough for transport, ventilation on multiple sides, a leak-proof bottom, and "Live Animals" marked on top and on at least one side in letters at least 1 inch high.

How to solve it: Measure your pet, not the crate. IATA's guidance uses four measurements to calculate the minimum internal crate dimensions:

IATA adds that snub-nosed breeds need a container 10% larger, and that animals over 14 kg must be crated individually. When you're between sizes, going up a size is usually the safer choice.

How Heat, Cold, and Snub-Nosed Breeds Raise the Risk of Air Travel

Temperature is one of the most serious risks in pet air travel, and it's the reason airlines impose seasonal embargoes. Under 9 CFR 3.20, a dog or cat being moved to or from an aircraft or terminal must not be exposed to temperatures above 85°F for more than 45 minutes, or below 45°F for more than 45 minutes unless a veterinarian has certified the animal is acclimated to colder temperatures. In airport animal holding areas, 9 CFR 3.19 limits temperatures outside the 45°F to 85°F range to no more than four consecutive hours.

Snub-nosed (brachycephalic) breeds face extra risk. IATA states that transporting snub-nosed dogs such as boxers, pugs, bulldogs, and Pekingese "in hot season is not recommended," because they have difficulty maintaining a normal body temperature in hot weather.

How to solve it: Plan travel for milder months when you can, choose routings with fewer ground handling stops in hot climates, and be honest with your vet about your pet's breed and health. Federal rules also prohibit transporting a dog or cat that is "obviously ill, injured, or in physical distress," so a pre-travel health check is about safety as much as paperwork.

What Happens If Something Goes Wrong at the Arrival Airport

The flight landing isn't the end of the risk. Pets still have to clear customs and be handed off to the right person. For U.S. airport terminals, 9 CFR 3.14 requires the carrier to attempt to notify the person receiving the pet on arrival and at least every six hours after. If that person can't be reached within 24 hours, or doesn't pick the pet up within 48 hours of being notified, the carrier must return the animal to the shipper, who is responsible for the cost of return transport and care.

Internationally, the stakes can be higher. A pet whose paperwork doesn't match its microchip, or who arrives missing a required document, can face delays, quarantine, or return, depending on the country's rules.

How to solve it: Make sure a named, reachable contact is on the shipping documents at the destination, double-check every microchip number on every document before departure, and know in advance what the destination's customs process looks like. This is also where a destination-side partner earns its keep, since someone on the ground can clear customs and handle delivery.

Why These Risks Stack Up, and What Actually Reduces Them

"Most of the risk in an international pet move is invisible until it isn't," says Georgiana Strait, Marketing Manager at Starwood Pet Travel. "Families usually do each step correctly on its own. The trouble shows up when the health certificate, the airline booking, and the destination's rules don't agree on the same dates. The fix is less about working harder and more about checking the destination and the flight first, then fitting every vet appointment around those two things."

That sequence is the common thread across every risk above. If you want the full picture of how destination rules, USDA paperwork, and airline policy interact, our Rules & Risks of Pet Travel complete guide walks through each system in detail. For a look at the most common pain points families report, see Why Do Families Struggle With International Pet Shipping Services?

Ready to talk through your pet's move? Request a free quote and our team will review your destination, routing, and timeline with you.

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