Pet import

Don't know about Doha, but I have a pet and over the years, I have always flown in and out of Kathmandu - to and from Europe - using pet friendly airlines. Not only that but because my pet and pet carrier together weighed less than 10 kilos, I have always been able to fly, travelling  with my pet in-Cabin. Personally, I would never place my 4kg pet in the hold, although it is obvious that big dogs (over 10kgs) have to go into that hold and be treated like vulgar freight, no other way, as a matter of worldwide airline policy. (I talk about dogs here, but similar remarks would apply to cats and small birds) It also goes without saying that your pet must have all the necessary vaccinations, pet passport if from the E.U.,  embedded microchip number, vet's certificates, etc. But once you reach TIA airport, I think you'll find that they don't even check your pet's documents. Over a decade or not, I know they never checked mine!
Turning to choice of carrier, I think you will find that none of the arab airlines accept dogs, any more than the hindu/indian ones and that includes Air India, Gulf and Qatar of course. No offense, but  I guess dogs are not in their culture.
So the choice is limited and in your place, first thing I would do would be to systematically check all the airlines that fly from Doha to Kathmandu. I use Turkish Airlines to fly in and out of Kathmandu, and Turkish is pet friendly (pet of less than 10kgs, in-cabin authorized) but I don't know whether they do the liaison with Doha? but if you could go via Istambul, no problem. Up until two years ago, Thai Airlines used to accept dogs in cabin, but they changed their airline policy. Aso see if you can go from Doha to Kathmandu on a european airline? All european airlines are pet friendly. And if the pet is over 10 kgs, naturally it has to go into the hold. No other choice.
I remember reading that if you have a falcon, you can take that falcon in cabin with you on an arab airline, but not a "vulgar" dog. Dogs noses are dirty, I was once told by a muslim shopkeeper in Kathmandu, who asked me to step out of his shop and not come back....Different culture and for them, and perhaps religious beliefs too. So falcon yes...but a canary...probably NOT, in-cabin anyway.
Once in Nepal, I think you'll find that nepali people increasingly now tolerate dogs but from my experience, I can't say that the majority of the people here are that pet-friendly either - they are not. Nowadays, they increasingly utilize dogs to guard their property, but as pets, not really. As a general rule, dogs in Nepal are meant to live outside, and not inside homes.  Attitudes are changing, but mighty slow.

Yeah, I agree. I took my pet (dog) to countries like Burma and Thailand and never had any problem. I could visit any of the 3500 temples of Bago in Burma in the company of my canine, and no buddhist monk there would ever object. They like canines in Burma. Same with any of my visits to Wats in Thailand. I could visit any temple there and no one ever stopped me. But try to take your dog inside the holy compound of Pashupatinath .....see what happens!! They don't even allow westerners inside their temples there....(have to be Hindu, to enter)  so dogs, forget it!! They may have "dogs' day " in Nepal every year, but that may be about the one and only day out of 365 diems that they are tolerated. From what I have seen here, cars won't even slow down in the street if they see a dog crossing their path. Why brake? They are just as apt to run it over, couldn't care less about the life of street dogs. In the street, it is common to see people especially children kicking a dog. Not kind to animals at all, from everything I have observed in this country over a period of many years. As for pets, they are still too new to them, and people here have yet to come to come to terms with the idea that "dogs are man's best friend". These low creatures are all too foreign to them!! It's correct to say that dogs in Nepal are ok to guard property and ok to spend their lives outside, but the extent of it. In Nepal, it is rare to see a dog inside a nepali person's living room. Dogs are most apt to be kept outside and help on a chain for hours and hours on end. In this area, nepalis have a long way to come and a lot to learn. Dogs are not in this predominantly hindu culture (making up more than 80% of Nepals' population)

From a Buddhist point of view, cats and dogs and other pets are equally "precious beings". And according to Buddha Dharma, all sentient beings have Buddha nature, with the potential therefore to become enlightened.
Nepal being predominantly a Hindu country (80%), and with Buddhists accounting for less than 10% of the population, no surprise really to hear that the majority of the people in that country don't much care for pets - as pets - really, and probably rarely tolerate them - inside the home. It's a different culture.

It's hard to believe, but I swear one of these corner street merchants on Thamel Margh in Ktm became downright obnoxious and after my pet peed too near his store.  This antagonistic store owner, a Brahmin, went as far as actually posting 6-8  "No pee wanted posters" on the walls of the street, specially printed out and marked with a big X over the word "pet" - The wording of the posters left me in no doubt that my bad neighbor across the street for the last decade was taking a swipe at my pet - and me indirectly - otherwise he would have written the word "dog" on all his posters. But the irony is that in his mind, it was OK if regular street dogs and runts did their thing or even their poo in the same area, but not my pet. Hard to understand. 
I swear to God, I never did anything to antagonize this man. On the contrary, I had been a regular and loyal client of his across the street food shop for the past decade. So it's not as if he did not know me, but the message he posted out there could not have been clearer that he despised pets.
So from my personal and bitter experience, I full agree with what has been written here. To me, it's clear that this 80% hindu country simply doesn't like pets and barely tolerates dogs.
Having learned in life that you can change yourself but not the "other", I never even attempted to reason with this guy or call in the SPCA or the police. Beside, I am one of those who remains suspicious of men or women who do not like animals.
I take the view that the merchant is not well in his head. He's also lost an old client and my daily business. And of course,  I am careful to keep my pet well away from this sacred shop! Who knows what a man like this might do next? Actually I feel sorry for people like that, but not my cup of tea!

Hi,
I'm planning to take my pet (Pug) back home to Nepal next month as I'm going for a vacation. But have no idea what are the formalities and charges required in Nepal airport. My pug Lily is microchipped & fully vaccinated.

Can anyone help me out where can I find the proper information?

While surfing, found out that in Nepal airport a huge amount of vat needs to be paid for bringing pet but don't know where to contact and what to do plus the charges.

Hoping someone could help me out .

Regards,
Jana.

Very much like you I believe, I had a small pet dog, a bichon, weighing less than 6 kgs placed in an over the shoulder carrying case and must have flown in and out of Kathmandu airport at least half a dozen times, if not more, over the years. Never once did I experience any difficulties at TIA. The only limiting factor was finding a carrier airline which by special arrangement accepted to take my pet in cabin with me on international flights. I refuse to place my pet in the hold like vulgar freight. After Thai Airways changed its policy and no longer accepted pets in cabin, I used Turkish Airlines most recently and flew to and from Europe via Istambul that way.
My pet also has a microchip, an EU pet passport and other documents, but whenever I flew in to to TIA, it's worth noting I was never stopped, never once asked any questions about my pet nor had to pay anything on the way in. Let's be honest, Nepal is not England, where there is a strict quarantine of 40 days in place if you try to take a dog into the country. No such thing in Nepal, thank God.
On the way out, however - when you leave the country with your pet - I believe there is a requirement to have a "good health certificate" prepared by a nepali government approved vet. The people at TIA may not even ask you to produce it, but it's best to have it ready, and on hand, just in case they should ask you for it. Ask your vet to prepare it or have it prepared in the right format. It will complement any other vaccination or other certificates you have which might have been prepared outside of country. Also, when you leave Nepal with your pet, the airline you fly on is sure to charge you so much for kilo for your pet for what they call "extra baggage" , but this has nothing to do with airport officials. It's an airline charge. To find out the cost++, just phone the airline that you plan to fly on. They will tell you the rate - so much per kilo, including the bag/carrier case.
As you can read, my experience shows that it's actually easier/less complicated to fly out of Nepal than it is to fly in accompanied by a pet (in cabin). When you fly in, nobody sees you or seems to care. Like I said, we are not in England.
When you fly out, the airline wants to collect zee monie, monie, but that's the extent of it!!
That's my personal experience anyway.

++ If on the other hand, we are talking about the possibility of flying with your pet placed in the hold and treated like freight, that's a totally different ball game, which I know nothing about. I won't do that. I only fly with pet in cabin (for any dog or pet weighing less than 10kgs) on airlines whose policy allow it. Turkish is my choice but not all airlines allow it.

Wow, that's great . Thank you so so much for sharing your experience and giving me the tips.

Well, I have my two pugs Lily & Tiger,one is  6 kg and another one 7 kg and  planning  to take them home next month along with me and leave them back home.

But I'm quite stressed worrying that I might be stopped in TIA plus seems that their is high amount of vat for bringing pet.

Is that true ? Do you have any idea regarding this?

Appreciate if you could deliver any info regarding this.

Thanks.

I think you are right, you may well become subject to "very high import and VAT taxes" if you try to bring in your pets as air cargo into Nepal or at least this is the information provided in the website of pettravel.com
I could not find any other information on how much this might cost you. The same website does indicate, however, that "a pet owner can enter Nepal with two (2) animals without an import permit". It also strongly advises people to avoid India, particularly if one changes airplanes in that country, before flying on to TIA.
I don't want to mislead you or give you false hopes, but as I said, I never put myself in the situation of putting the pets in the hold - like freight/cargo - preferring to take them with me as checked/accompanied hand luggage and flying with them "in cabin". All I know, I repeat, is that with the pet(s) placed in a shoulder bag, I never had any problem and never paid a rupee of VAT or tax, coming into Nepal. Maybe just good luck, but it worked well for me all those years.
The starting point is finding an airline that has a policy of allowing up to 2 pets to fly with you in cabin as "checked/accompanied luggage" and which goes to Nepal. It's a lot easier and less headaches to do that. The international norm is up to maximum of 10 kgs per pet for in cabin flight. Forget Indian or arab airlines, they won't do it. I don't know which country you are coming from, but choose Turkish if possible. I flew with as many as 2 pets with Thai in the old days but that was before that airline changed their policy. Today, they no longer accept pets in cabin, unfortunately, so this is no longer an option.
In summary, if your pets go into the hold, you are exposing yourself to the good possibility of your pets being taxed by authorities as "freight/cargo" on their arrival.
If, on the other hand, you can find an airline that allows you to fly to Nepal with the 2 pets in cabin, in 2 separate handbags, each one not exceeding 10 kgs in weight, I cannot guarantee anything but you are certainly LESS likely to have any tax or other problems and with a bit of luck, pay nothing except the standard hand extra luggage fee you will have paid to the airline at embarcation, at point of departure. I recommend the latter course. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot. This was really helpful.

Well, I'm flying from Doha to Kathmandu with Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines allows only one pet in cabin with one person but If 2 pets than one should go in cargo.

If Incase any of my friend travels with me than I think I can carry 2 pets in cabin. That I need to check with Turkish Airlines.

Once again, thanks for your effort and time to advise me and the useful information.

May I know your good name please!

Regards,
Jana.

I am so very happy for you, Jana. Dog lovers will always remain dog lovers and the same around the world. We are one of the same minds! I found Turkish to be very courteous and most helpful in every way. Yes, try to find a friend who can take the second pet, so both pets can fly in cabin, thus avoiding potential problems you might have on arrival if one pet goes by freight/cargo/in the hold. That should work because I think you will find that on any day, an airline usually allows up to 2 pets in the airliner per flight, in cabin area. Only requirement from the airline I know of will be that you register one pet on your airline ticket, with weight of dog etc. and register the second pet with weight and other data on the OTHER TICKET which your friend will buy separately. Name of airline ticket holder appears on one line and pet details appear on line 2 of that same reservation ticket. That should work. Get confirmation from Turkish on this. You'll just need to buy two "airline approved" shoulder strap pet bags. When you go to the pet store, don't spend a lot of money to buy the best of the brands because the better made/higher quality one may turn out to be much heavier than the cheaper models! Cheap and especially lightweight variety is the better option...Reason is this. On the day of your flight to Ktm, Turkish will no doubt weigh each dog placed in the bag at the check-in counter..and that total number of kilos should NOT exceed 10kgs, the max. limit,
Also don't place any other items like dog shampoo and brushes in that pet-bag either. If you do, you'll pay $6-10 for each extra kilo, seriously, in excess of 10kg (because it's treated like hand luggage) Best idea to deal with these weight problems is to place dog and bag, both, on a scale before you buy and actually pay for the bag(s) the day you go to the pet store in Doha. This way you'll play it 100% safe.
When you get to Kathmandu, simply place your two dog bags on the trolley together with your other luggage and walk out with your head high, looking straight ahead As you are bringing into the country only 2 pets (within the maximum number allowed by law)  I see no reason for you to use the red line and declare anything. You can do as you wish, but I know I would use the green line and not the red one.
If on the other hand, the second pet has gone by freight, this is where complications may well occur. First, you may have to go to the freight terminal the next day, have to deal with Custom officials there, and pay....who knows?
Keep things simple is my best advice....and have a good stress-free voyage.
Theo is the name and out of country at this point.

Yes you are right , Theo. Dog lovers will always remain a dog lover and they can only understand the value of their pets.

You know what, even a thought of leaving them behind kills me apart and tears starts rolling down. Most of my colleague says that I'm crazy to take a dog home spending so much money.  As in cabin Turkish Airlines are charging 120 QR per kilo that should be not more that 8 kg along with carrier bag and whereas in cargo it will cost 240 QR per kg and my Tiger weighs 7 kg plus his crate 3.9 kg which is around 11 kg. And, moreover while surfing through google found out that Nepal airport is charging USD 100 - 250. Ahhhhh I'm so stressed..

My family were insisting me to sell them here instead of bringing them home as they were saying that miximum by 25,000 INR,  I can buy new one. But, how to make them understand that how much they means to me. Lily is with me for almost 2 years 8 months now and Tiger around 9 months now. Both of them sleeps with me and they are so pampered. Last vacation I left them here in Doha and both of them didn't eat for almost a week and Lily kept crying.
Ohhh , my babies .. I love them so much and can never think of leaving them behind.

My flight is on 17th October next month but planing to reschedule for 24th or 25th oct depending on the availability as on 17th Oct it's a festival time there in Nepal and heard that during these days the customs guys charges much more.

Well... well... well... keeping my fingers crossed hoping that everything will be solved and can take them home easily .

Once again thanks for everything.

Stay in touch .
Regards,
Jana.

Jana - Most people have heard the adage "dog is man's best friend" and I think it's true. Dogs render a multitude of services to mankind. They are wonderful guards, great companions, help police and firemen the world over, locate human bodies in avalanches and earthquake ruins, help the blind find their way, warn us of dangers, have a nose which is 800 times better than man's, possess great natural instinct, raw intelligence too, and the list is long. In certain european countries, they now allow, in fact encourage the elderly to have a dog as their best companion inside "old peoples homes". People are happier that way, because dogs provide humans great company. Some doctors also claim that to caress a dog has for effect to calm humans down, de-stress us and slow down our heartbeat.
In Spain, it is my understanding that the authorities now have half a dozen dogs which are trained to find human cadavres - not only on land (or in snow) - but in water, like lakes and the sea. I find this truly amazing. And yet, it is true.
Personally, I am wary of people who do not like animals.
Without making too many comparisons between dogs and humans, let's just say that dogs don't go around killing others, wage no wars, are completely loyal, and don't let their masters down. I stop there.
Dogs are great companions and, yes, I would agree that they are man's best friend, as already stated.
If people don't understand these things, what to doooo in kathmandooo?
Maybe someone (?) needs his/her head examined?
One doesn't leave a baby or a child behind....so why leave man's best friend behind?
Sell the pet and buy another?? what kind of talk is that?
Only one word for that: pure hogwash
I wish you the best of luck on your forthcoming trip come October 17th, and most definitely take your two pets with you that day. Don't let anyone dissuade you.
All the best.
Theo
PS My small 5kg bichon frise "Elle" says hello to you!! Born in France, she arrived in Nepal back in 2009 and is now traveling with me in EU territory. She has her own EU passport, photo, date of birth, names of parents, chip number, etc. (I am serious. No joke). She is a very happy little dog and free to travel!

I need some help regarding pet travel, my pet is a golden retriever, 2.9 months old, he is 26kg .The problem im having now is the size of the cage and the weight including my dog's weight. I want to fly via china southern airlines but the size they mentioned 40*60*100cm   and it shouldn't exceed 32kg with my pet inside which is a small size cage and will exceed 32kgs, they told me i cannot fly with my dog. Then the other option i have now is THAI CARGO because THAI CARGO does live animals shipping, i want to know do we need to pay at custom if we do CARGO? and if we need to, how much would that be.


Help much needed,

Jatte000. Don't think you have much choice. Do use Thai. Afraid you have no alternative but to send it by air cargo as you say.  Over all those years and a multitude of flights into Nepal, I personally had no problem, never paid a rupee of tax or import duty because my pet was less than 8Kg and I always flew with my little companion in cabin as accompanied hand luggage, and placed in an over the shoulder carry-case.
Yours is a totally different proposition. With no experience to impart, I therefore suggest you check out the web site of www.pettravel.com which states the following and all I  can do is quote and refer you to that, and for you to carry out further investigation:
"Know that Nepal has very high import and VAT taxes for dog entering as air cargo"
Dunno if you'll be able to ascertain what they are, but do try. In the final analysis, it may be left to the whims of the man on duty at customs that day!! Suppose it will depend on his degree of corruption.

What thing required to bring dog (puppy) from mumbai to kathmandu?

Avoid cargo and use an airline that accepts dogs-in-cabin like Turkish or Thai and bring your pet to Nepal that way. (I don't think Indian airlines allow it). Place your pet in carry bag and just come in to Kathmandu airport with pet in the form of "accompanied luggage". Cost is based on weight of bag+pet inside, meaning a few kilos. This is determined when it's weighed in at check in/departure counter.  I did it many times, and all I can say is that no official ever stopped me at TIA to ask any questions on arrival.

@Kristin Agrawal I am not sure how to update this aside from commenting on my own post several years later. Do not, I repeat DO NOT fly your pets into Kathmandu. They held them, threatened to send them to the zoo if we did not pay 3500 USD. The US embassy was no help.  We ended up paying $2,500 to get them out and of course we left without issue 7 months later. Extortion? I would never fly there again with pets and you must aknowledge you are powerless there. Corruption is an understatment!

@jl1234 hello with gratitude

May I ask if I can adopt a dog from this beautiful land?

I would smile to look an avalokitesvara in my home

Thank you in advance

Alex

Thank You So Much. So Amazing!!