Member News

1. Have you Seen an Increase in pet relocations to the UK since the pandemic?

This is a difficult one to answer as over the last 12 months there have been several underlying factors that have dictated pet relocations.

Last year we all faced the restrictions on flight availability where airlines were either on severely restricted routes or not flying at all.  On resumption of “back to normal” there was a restriction on cargo availability for animals as some airlines would not carry animals as their focus was to maximise the general cargo capacity. This was further compounded by certain country restrictions on travel and various Red lists.

We experienced a high number of relocations from September onwards following the lifting of travel bans and certain industries realigning and restructuring their work forces.  Once the flights were available there was a sudden burst of relocation requests internationally, not just to the UK. This trend continued to the UK and was especially relevant around the end of the year where families were wanting to move back before the holiday period. 

 2. By how much?

If we take out the peaks of the above and flat lined it over the course of the year, in our experience there was not a significant increase in the numbers of pets travelling to the UK from previous years

 3. What kind of pets are being relocated?

As you would expect its mainly Cats and Dogs that make up the bulk of pets being relocated, however we have been relocating Rabbits, Tortoise, Birds and the occasional lizard over the last few months.

 4. Do most Brits take their pets back with them when they leave?

Again this is a tough one as due to the nature of our business, people only contact us when they are aiming to relocate their pets so we don’t get a close up on the figure of abandoned pets.   In our experience, Yes, most Brits take their pets with them when they leave as do most other nationalities.

 It is a sad reality that there is a significant number of abandoned pets in the UAE every year.  However, this cannot just be blamed on the cost of relocation as there are many ways in which owners can plan for their pets move when the time comes.  We advise for owners to keep their pets vaccinations up to date and any blood tests to be done in anticipation of potential moves.  This cuts the cost and delays down considerably.  We work with clients in finding the most suitable routing for them and their pets, offering advice on the options available, this might involve more work for the owner but ultimately it enables families to stay and move together.

 5. What kind of professions were these Brits working in?

The main professions to have been hit has been the airline and supporting networks, hospitality industry and education however, there has been a cross industry movement of people in senior management positions as companies have restructured. 

There has also been an increase in families with teenage children (12-16) moving back to the UK, some of the feedback we have had from clients is for school stability or due to reduced salary packages in these current uncertain times. We have also seen an increase in people leaving the UAE who have been here for 10-15+ years, taking earlier retirement or making the decision to leave under their own timescale rather than wait for it to be dictated to them in these uncertain times.

6. Have you seen more requests recently to bring pets back into the UAE from the UK as jobs return?

We have had several clients who left in 2020 return to the UAE this year, which is really positive.  The UAE is still seen as an attractive place to work, there has been a growing influx of new people arriving into the UAE for the first Quarter of 2021 as more stability comes back in to the country. In our experience there does not seem to be any one specific industry dictating this, although the dynamics of the people are changing. The age group is reducing to 25-35yrs and are either singles or young couples as opposed to families and there is a notable increase for smaller pets to be arriving rather than the traditional larger family dog.