Travel with Pets - HELP! Need to travel 11Dec10 LHR-MOW with Labrador

I am relocating to Moscow from the UK next week, and I need to take with me Jazz, my 5yr, 34kg Labrador. I am having no success so far getting Jazz booked as accompanied luggage. Background is:

She cannot be shipped as cargo, because cargo in MOW takes 8 hours to clear, even if it is an animal. I spoke to a friend last week who imported her dog to DME. It took 6 hours to clear cargo, using diplomatic channels. The cargo facility in MOW is not heated, and the temp is about -20C.

So far, had various roadblocks:

1...... .British Airways currently is not making animal shipments to Russia.

2...... I contacted Aeroflot at Heathrow, they informed me Jazz could travel as excess baggage ONLY IF the gross weight of container + dog is no more than 32kg, Anything in excess of 32kg has to be sent as cargo.

3...... A booking was made with Transaero, when we followed up on the confirmation for Jazz, they said that Jazz could not be taken by them after all, only UK airlines can take an animal.. So that booking with Transaero was cancelled.
4...... A booking was then made with BMI.. I noted on their website that pets are permitted to travel with the owner.. When we asked BMI to confirm Jazz for excess baggage, they said she would have to travel as cargo, the excess baggage is for short-haul flights only and ‘this is a medium-haul flight, it is a different procedure for this particular routing’..
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So the situation as it is, I have a booking on BMI LHR-DME. And Jazz, well as far as I know, she has no booking yet.

I don’t know what to do!. I have tried so many avenues, so far with no result.. I must be in Moscow next weekend as we are flying to NZ for Xmas on 15 December.. But I cannot leave the UK until flights etc are arranged for Jazz.. Time is running short.... Any help or advice ?

I hate to say this, and it will not help you, but you really needed to start making arrangements earlier in advance when you are traveling with a pet.

That being said, there are agencies in the UK that help people relocate with pets. I don't know what they are called, but I know Brits who have used them moving to Cyprus. Perhaps if you contact your veteraniarian, they would know an agency. At this stage of the game, I think you need an agency to help you with this pet relocation problem.

Good luck to you and Jazz.

Have you tried checking what the procedures are like if you travel to Moscow in 2 short-haul hops (i.e. LHR-TXL and then TXL-DME)? Have you explored the option of flying your pet to LED and then bringing it to Moscow by rail?
In your situation I would recommend driving to one of the cities in EU which has a rail link into Russia (Berlin, Helsinki, Baltic States) and taking a train from there.

I have checked the RZD (Russian Railways) and it appears they will accept pet of any size for transportation. You can even accompany your pet, provided you buy the whole compartment.
There is direct service to Moscow from Nice , Berlin, Prague, Helsinki, Warsaw, Budapest, Riga and Tallinn. I believe your best bet would be to drive to Berlin or Nice and take a train from there. Do you speak any Russian at all? if so, give RZD a call at +7 (495) 266-83-00.

Also, have you looked at taking the Eurostar to somewhere like Paris and starting from there?

Your only other option might be to put her into kennels in the UK for a short period, until you can get a confirmed booking with her.