Dog Transport from United States to San Miguel de Allende

Starwood Pet Transport is supposed to be good.

Where do you start out?  We're in Texas and intend to rent an SUV and drive it to the border (we're talking multiple animals here)  There a Mexican transport service will pick us up and carry us to San Miguel.  Expensive, but then we don't do it every day.  And by the time you figure the airlines and the hassle....

I just received a referral from the location where I board my dog. Apparently, there is a local vet in Dallas by the name of Dr. David L whose office has a relocation/pet transport service as well. Apparenlty, he handles this via airvets.com. I filled out information for a quote (which can take up to 5 business days) and will let you know if its astronomical. If so, I may need to follow in your foot steps. Any recommendations for the service you are using across the border would be welcome. Thank you for the response!

Yes, please let me know when you get your vet's quote.  The track from the border to San Miguel will set us back $950.  But we figure by the time we buy 2 plane tickets and pay for transporting all the critters to Leon and from there by shuttle to San Miguel, we're probably close to $950, too.  But again, we have 2 dogs and "several" cats.  And just like in your case -- we're a package deal :-)

Yes, please let me know if you find out a price range per pet or per pound  or per crate...

Airvets.com provided a prompt and detailed response but cost for one (1) 50lb dog was $5750. Too bad I can't just buy him a seat on the plane; that would be a lot less expensive and I'd enjoy the company. :-)  However, due to his breed he also is susceptible to brachiocephalic. With that said, I'm looking into ground transportation carriers. If you have any recommendations please let me know. In the meantime, I will continue to keep you updated on what I find out. Have a great day!

That is totally bizarre -- who could pay that?  Let me ask my husband tonight about the contact info for the Mexican outfit that will send us the driver.  We have a total of 6 critters, and $950 from Laredo is steep but not outlandish.  We had considered driving, but both of our cars are small, and then what would we do with a car in San Miguel, right?  I'll get back with you tonight.  Marty

Yes please keep me updated!  I am looking at the same but my dog, with regular nose, is 55#.  Why isn't there an airline that would let them be passengers!

Our big dog is 55 pounds, too, but regular nose.

Can we drive from the border to San Miguel de Allende? we have two dogs and two cats, I'm trying to figure out how to get there.
Thanks!

For that money, you could almost buy a small plane!  We have pet transport services here in Houston and I had to use one once to ship a critter to Europe.  I about had to take out another mortgage on the house...

Sure you can drive if you get all the border paperwork in order.  I'm told it's about a 10 hour drive, including potty breaks for people and dogs.  Being in Houston, our vets are familiar with the vaccination/de-worming/de-flea-ing and the paperwork that goes with it.  We intend to invade that vet's office with our flotilla of 6 to have everything done, just about 10 days before we leave.  I think the vet certificates need to be less than around 15 days old.
I've heard from several people here on this forum who regularly drive from San Miguel to Laredo and back.  They advise to stick to the toll roads, drive on Sunday because otherwise you'll get stuck behind all the trucks, and to start early so you'll arrive in daylight.
We can't do that because both of our vehicles are small city vehicles that wouldn't even begin to hold all the pet-and-people necessities, plus we really don't need/want a car in San Miguel.  Buses run constantly and are so cheap I can't even do the math (and I'm a CPA), and cabs are $2.50 anywhere in town.  The house we will rent does not come with a garage, so we'd have to pay money to store the car somewhere else and then hike to that place every time.  Plus the insurance hassle and the prospect that all kinds of little authorities on either side of the border will make us jump through all kinds of hoops...

I dare say that my dogs would be better behaved than some of those people on the plane.

Also they wouldn't go on social media and make a big public drama out of every little hiccup.  Their FaceBook is the nearest tree where they can "read" the pee-mail left by other dogs.    Hope to see you in SMA.  I'll be able to breathe non-poisonous air, wow! (We had 3 chemical leaks close to our house during the last month which gave me almost daily migraines. - See why I want to get OUTTA HERE?)

Hi! You mentioned using a transport service from Laredo to San Miguel. Would you recommend this service? We are moving so SMA with our dog for a year, and will have too much stuff for a regular size car. Any info you can give us would be very helpful! Thanks!

did you move to SMA? Did you drive down? We are doing so with our dog in August, and need to figure out what is the best option.

Ok, we just made the treck.  I'm sure it'll make for a funny story a few years down the road, but right now we're still a tad exhausted.  But then, we're no spring chickens.
We have 4 cats and 2 dogs and wanted to wait out the summer in San Miguel, i.e. 4 months.  For short vacations we've hired petsitters in Houston who charge about $100/day because the dogs need to be let in and out.  Well, 4 months of that...
In Houston we rented a Dodge Caravan -- plenty of room for the big crate with the dogs, 4 cat carriers, plus luggage which we restricted to bare clothing necessities. It took about 5 hours from Houston to Laredo, quite comfy.  Spent the night at the LaQuinta -- NOT the airport LaQuinta that's more expensive plus won't even take dogs. There's another LaQuinta, a little shabby, but clean and serviceable and of course free breakfast. 
The next morning, the transport service came to the hotel to pick us up.  The name of the service is Best Tours:  Efrain Mendez Lopez (part owner with his brother Antonio).  Email: [email protected].  Website www.besturmexico. Efrain had brought his wife Jennifer along in case he should get too tired to drive.  Both of them spent the night at the same LaQuinta, on the US side.  Their biggest vehicle is a Chevy Suburban which was pretty dang tight for our pet flotilla, but we squeezed everything in there:  4 people (Efrain and Jennifer plus us), 2 dogs (we had to collapse the crate), 4 cat carriers, luggage. 
I can't say that the 10 hour trip was relaxing but Efrain is a first class driver and speaks excellent English, and weekend traffic was not bad.  We only stopped twice for potty breaks, Jennifer had brought some trail mix and that was lunch. En route, Efrain gave us some good info about SMA pertaining to shopping.
Before we left, we spent a small fortune on the vet bill:  6 x rabies (and the nasty vet snuck in all kinds of other vaccinations which were not required but the vet made money off), 6 times de-worming and de-flea-ing, 6 health certificates.  Obviously they know Efrain at the border because he only slowed down slightly, then was waved through, no stopping.  Nobody wanted to see our precious paperwork.

Several of our friends and relatives will come down here and stay with us during the summer, and Efrain will go pick them up at Leon.  He gave us a better price than we paid to another service last year when we visited here for only 10 days.
Dogs being dogs, they seemed to enjoy the ride.  The cats however... we've been here for a week now and they still aren't back to normal.  But I've moved with critters several times, so I'm not too worried.

There are plenty of pet supply places in town - not the best pet food, but several of them offered to order Royal Canin and Hill's, and acquaintances of ours told us about an excellent vet not far from the house.
We ended up paying a bit over $1,000 for the trip from Laredo to here.  BUT:  at least $200 of that went for tolls on the toll road - $400 for the round trip; toll roads are the safest and fastest way to go, and there's a toll booth every few miles it seems.  Gasoline is the same price as in the rest of the world, i.e. you pay for a quart here the same as you pay for a gallon in the States, and a Subaru is not an economy vehicle. Wages for 2 people for 2 very long days, over the weekend to boot. So you can do the math - I did - and they're really not making a whole lot on the treck.  For sure I wouldn't do it for that money.
We also did the math for flying our flotilla to Leon and being picked up there, but it came to about the same, except that In the past I've had severe problems in that regard, if I can avoid it at all, I'd rather do the road trip and be with the critters.
Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have any questions.  But we were very happy with Efrain's service, with his English, with his attitude and would do it again.  Just not right away, please...

Meanwhile,  of course Houston had another flood in Houston (but sure sure, there is no climate change) and a huge chemical spill in the ship channel, about 2 miles from our house.   

And San Miguel is TOTALLY AWESOME!  My husband's asthma went away almost overnight, my migraines already come a lot less often, and walking those cobble stone hills is taking the pounds off our chubby bodies.
Marty

Hi Marty,
Can't thank you enough for such a thorough and informative reply!! I feel much more confident about going by land and not submitting our dog to unnecessary stress flying. I will definitely reach out to Efrain.
I hope you all are enjoying yourselves in SMA.
Can't wait to get there.
Thanks again!
Jeannine

Hi animal lovers...I found your thread because I have been thinking about how I can possibly move to SMA part-time...one day.

I am hoping someone can help me with some information now though. I am currently visiting - I leave Tuesday - and I came across a young kitten about 6-7 weeks old. I am trying to find someone to either adopt her or to foster her for a few months so that she can get her shots to return to the USA (I'm a former cat rescuer in Baltimore).

Does anyone have any recommendations or know of anyone who might be able to help. I can pay the Vet costs and even a bit extra if I eventually find a foster.

All help appreciated! TY Julie

Julie,
there is a no-kill SPA in town, also a cats-only shelter (Santuario Felino I think it's Macalled).  I would try those first.  If you absolutely cannot find a solution, let me know and we'll think of SOMEthing!  Email address is ***  Marty

Great Marty, I'll look into those options and I may be in touch!! Thank you so much for the referrals and your contact info. Take care...Julie

Any chance he is or could be an emotional support (ESA)? I don't think there are size limits for in-cabin pets that have a letter from a doc.

Thanks for your informative post Marty! And a special thanks for the last comment about the asthma going away! I shared that with my sister who suffers badly with asthma in Prescott, AZ...hoping to convince her to join me one day!

Tricia