What happens when your dog is quarantined

All pet dogs and cats entering Australia from category II and III countries are required by the Australian Government to spend a minimum of ten days in the Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ) at Melbourne. The length of the quarantine depends on the country your pet is travelling from and your pet's health status.

If you are planning to transport your pet to another city in Australia besides Melbourne, your pet will have a mandatory stopover at the quarantine facility. Here's all you should know about your pet dog or cat's stay.

Do all pets have to go to quarantine?

All dogs and cats have to spend a minimum of ten days at the PEQ in Melbourne when they enter Australia from category II and III countries, such Europe, United Kingdom, USA and UAE.

Pets arriving from New Zealand are not subject to a quarantine period because it is a rabies-free category I country. These pets can travel directly to one of the four major ports – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, or Perth and immediately onto their new home.

Where is the Australian quarantine facility located?

Australia's government-operated post-entry quarantine centre is a state-of-the-art facility located in Mickleham in northern Melbourne, thirty minutes from the international airport. Spread over 144 hectares, the facility caters to plants, horses, birds and bees, in addition to cats and dogs.

The officers at the quarantine centre will assess your pet upon entry into Australia to ensure that he or she is healthy and is not carrying dangerous diseases or parasites. Australia has stringent biosecurity laws in place to maintain its rabies-free status and to protect the countries flora and fauna. It is essential for any pet dog or cat entering the country to fulfil all veterinary requirements and be free from diseases and external parasites.

As the post-entry quarantine centre is in Melbourne, all pets flying into Australia must land at Melbourne International Airport.

How do I book space at quarantine for my pet?

Only pets that have fulfilled all import requirements are allowed entry into Australia. You can book space at quarantine only after your pet has received an import permit from the department of agriculture. Once the application is processed, the quarantine facility will send you a notification of the steps to follow and the time-frames for the same.

You will need to pay the applicable quarantine fees to complete the booking process. This is an important step in the process because only pets with a confirmed quarantine booking will be allowed to board the aircraft to Australia.

What are the facilities available at the quarantine centre?

The quarantine facility is a modern centre with state-of-the-art pet pens. Each animal will is housed in large, individual enclosures. If you are bringing in more than one pet, quarantine officers will try and accommodate pets from the same family in adjacent pens. The centre has around 400 climate-controlled pens for dogs, each with an attached outdoor area and underfloor heating. There are 240 cat pens in the facility.

The dog run has access to exercise yards and the veterinary examination rooms. If a threat of biosecurity risk is detected, the pet is moved to a special isolation suite, away from the other animals in quarantine.

What are the arrival and release protocols at Mickleham?

Once your pet arrives at the Melbourne International Airport, quarantine officers will collect them and bring them to the quarantine facility for further assessment. Pet collection hours are between 4.30 and 16.30 hours on weekdays. If your flight lands in Melbourne outside these hours, additional charges will be levied.

When your pet's quarantine requirements are fulfilled, the pet parent or the nominated pet transport agency can collect them and their crate from the PEQ facility in Mickleham at a scheduled release appointment time.

Pet collection hours are between 10.00 and 12.00 hours for the general public and registered animal transport companies can collect pets outside of these hours. Please note your pet cannot stay longer than their release date at PEQ. If you cannot collect your pet from the facility for any reason, it is recommended to enlist the services of a pet transport company to collect your pet on your behalf, and transport them to a boarding facility, or lodge them for their onwards flight.

Can I send my pet's favourite blanket and toys to Mickleham?

The quarantine centre provides bedding for cats and dogs to suit their breed and age. Do not send any toys or bedding to the facility; the centre destroys all bedding, toys and comfort items that arrive with your pet. They are considered a biosecurity risk and will be destroyed as soon as the pet enters the quarantine facility.

What will my pet be fed at Mickleham?

Pet dogs and cats are fed high-quality commercial dry food once a day at the PEQ centre. You can furnish a letter of recommendation from your vet if your pet needs to be fed more than once a day, and the officers at the centre will comply.

If your dog or cat is on a special diet, you will need to submit a veterinary form outlining the need for the special diet when you apply for the import permit. If the request is approved, you will need to source the food in Australia and send it to the PEQ facility. It is important to note that the food has to be sourced in Australia; quarantine destroys any pet food that accompanies your pet during import for biosecurity reasons.

Your pet will be exercised regularly at the PEQ facility. All pets will be bathed and groomed for biosecurity and hygiene reasons at the centre. If your pet requires additional grooming, you can make a special request.

Can I visit my pet at Mickleham?

Pet import in Australia is complex but well-defined. If your pet satisfies all pet import requirements, the quarantine period is generally ten days. During these ten days, quarantine officers examine your pet and assess them for any biosecurity threats. Pet parents are not allowed to visit their pets at the facility at this time.

Will my pet have access to veterinary care at the quarantine centre?

The quarantine centre at Mickleham has veterinary doctors to monitor and assess your pet's health for exotic diseases and other biosecurity concerns during their stay at the facility. If the vets at the facility recommend treatment or further assessment for your pet, a private, non-departmental vet will be called in for a consult. Officers from the PEQ centre will contact you or your nominated pet transport agency before providing your pet with the necessary veterinary care. These veterinary fees are not included in the quarantine costs, and the pet parent will be charged separately.

What are the quarantine fees at PEQ, Mickleham?

Quarantine fee for ten days is approximately AUD 2000 per pet. If your pet has to stay on for longer or if he or she needs extra veterinary care or other services, additional charges apply.

How do I contact the quarantine centre?

You can contact the Australian quarantine centre by phone, fax or email.

Phone: 1800 900 090 or +61 3 8318 6700 (outside Australia)

Fax: +61 3 9391 0860

Email:

Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 – 16:00 hours

Weekends and Australian public holidays: closed

Travelling to Australia?

Travelling to Australia with your pet is a complicated process because of Australia's biosecurity laws. If you want to transport your pet to Australia from a different country, it is recommended to use the services of a pet transport agency to assist with the move. Get in touch with our team at Petraveller for more information on quarantine in Australia and other details about pet relocation to Australia.

One of the downsides of travelling to Australia with your dog (or living in Australia and travelling overseas with a dog), is quarantine. Unless you’re travelling from Norfolk Island or New Zealand (a pretty short list!) your dog is required to stay in quarantine when it enters Australia.

I was pretty anxious about my dog’s stay in quarantine in late 2018, and I can understand that most other pet owners will also be anxious. So I’ve put together everything I can find out about your dog’s stay in post entry quarantine in Australia to ease your concerns.

Quarantine Rules for Dogs Entering Australia

I’ve previously written about the process for returning to Australia with my dog, which involved lots of preparation steps. Despite all this preparation, cats and dogs entering Australia also need to stay in quarantine.

The standard stay in quarantine for dogs and cats is 10 days. This is the minimum period; there is a chance a longer stay may be required. (The rules are only slightly different for assistance dogs, with the option for an isolated stay at a nominated address.)

So, why is a quarantine stay required, despite your dog already having a rabies titre test, multiple other blood tests and both internal and external parasite treatments (and checks)? The official statement is that the post-entry quarantine “allows biosecurity and veterinary officers sufficient times to assess that … animals are healthy and are not carrying diseases or parasites”.

In particular, they will ensure “there are no exotic ticks on cats and dogs as ticks can also carry diseases.” Australia is very strict on biosecurity, as it is free of many animal diseases and the authorities want to keep it that way.

If your dog is discovered to have an issue that increases the biosecurity risk, they will need to stay in quarantine for longer. For example, if a tick is found on your dog, it is stated that they will need to stay for at least 21-30 days, until blood testing can be repeated (at your own cost, of course).

The Post Entry Quarantine Facility in Mickleham

There is currently a single post entry quarantine (PEQ) facility in Australia for the majority of animals, including dogs and cats arriving in Australia. It is located on the northern outskirts of Melbourne in the suburb of Mickleham.

Due to its location in Melbourne, your dog should fly into Melbourne International Airport, from where it will be immediately transported to the quarantine facility by Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) staff.

Additionally, your dog should arrive during certain hours on weekdays only, to facilitate this. Flights outside of the core hours, including on weekends, may be accepted subject to PEQ management approval.

The Mickleham post entry quarantine facility is a large, recently built facility set on 144 hectares. It caters for a wide range of plants and animals including dogs, cats, horses, alpacas, pigeons and bees.

It only started accepting dogs and cats in November 2015, with a second stage that increased its capacity opening in late 2017. During its first three months of operation 525 dogs and 220 cats passed through the facility.

But what are the facilities like for your dog? Luckily, the official website now has more details, including photos of the facilities for dogs.

The dog compound is huge – comparable in size to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are 400 climate-controlled kennels for dogs, each featuring an attached outdoor exercise area and underfloor heating.

Dogs are allocated to an individual kennel (they can’t share a kennel due to the need to carefully monitor them), but if you are importing multiple dogs they will try to house them in adjacent kennels.

The dog compound also includes additional exercise yards and naturally veterinary examination rooms. There is also a suite of isolation pens, for when a biosecurity risk has been detected.

Can You Visit Your Dog in Quarantine?

When the standard quarantine stay for dogs in Australia was longer, it was possible to visit your pet during their stay in quarantine.

However, since the reduction of the standard quarantine stay to 10 days, visits are no longer permitted. This is because of the busy schedule in place to manage the administrative and biosecurity requirements to prepare your pet for release in just 10 days.

If your pet does require a longer stay in quarantine, there is the possibility that you may be able to visit your pet, following discussions with the facility manager.

Life for Dogs in Post Entry Quarantine

During your dog’s stay in quarantine, all of their needs are looked after by the staff of the facility, including feeding, bedding and exercise.

Feeding

It’s not possible to send food with your dog for their stay in quarantine. Any food sent in their crate from overseas will be destroyed on arrival due to the biosecurity risk. As a standard, all dogs are fed a “high quality, nutritionally balanced commercial dry food”, provided by the quarantine facility, once per day.

It’s possible to request a special diet for your dog when booking their stay in quarantine. This request must be accompanied by a veterinary statement. For example, I requested my small dog to be fed twice per day, instead of once per day, as is common practice for small dogs.

If approval is given for your dog to be fed a special diet, then you need to source it in Australia and have it sent to the quarantine facility.

Bedding

It’s also not possible to send bedding with your dog for their stay in quarantine in Australia. Any bedding that is sent in their crate (plus soft toys and comfort items) will be destroyed on arrival due to the likelihood of soiling plus the biosecurity risk. (However, it’s still a good idea to provide your dog with this for the flight.)

Instead, the facility states that they provide bedding for dogs and cats suitable for their breed and age.

Exercise & Grooming

When it comes to exercise, it is stated that most animals will have sufficient exercise from their individual kennel run, plus the additional exercise areas. Staff will ensure that your pet receives sufficient exercise, and if veterinary advice recommends additional exercise is required, departmental staff will provide it.

Grooming and bathing will also be provided if required by departmental staff, but only for biosecurity or hygiene reasons. If you dog requires specialised grooming during their staff, this needs to be discussed with the facility manager.

Release from Post Entry Quarantine

If all goes to plan, your dog should be released exactly 10 days after they are admitted into quarantine. This is what occurred with my dog, plus multiple other dogs whose owners I spoke to.

You will receive a status update from the quarantine facility confirming this. In my case, the release date was getting close and I hadn’t yet heard anything (as it was a busy time of year), so I called up to check. Note that you may only receive this notification a couple of days beforehand – just because you haven’t received it yet, doesn’t mean your pet’s release will be delayed.

On the release day, your pet (plus their transport crate) needs to be collected by 10am and 12pm. The collection address is 135 Donnybrook Road Mickleham, entering from Polaris Road.

If you are not personally collecting your pet, you need to specify the authorised agent on the quarantine booking. This is what you will need to do if you live interstate, and will be using a pet transport company to pick up your pet and fly them interstate, like happened in my case.

My Experience of My Dog’s Stay in Quarantine

My dog, Schnitzel, had flown all around the world and had previously had a short stay at a kennel without any issues, so I wasn’t too worried about his reaction to quarantine when we returned to Australia in late 2018, but it still didn’t stop me from being anxious.

Probably the toughest part about his stay was the lack of updates. Unlike a kennel where you often receive photo updates and can ring up and easily talk to the person looking after him, during your pet’s stay in quarantine it’s more about bureaucracy and biosecurity, with less updates provided.

My first update about my dog was received about 4 hours after the arrival of his flight into Melbourne. It was a short automated email stating that he had “arrived in post entry quarantine (PEQ) and is undergoing initial quarantine checks, which can take up to 48 hours”.

I tried to call to find out more, but there was going to be a long wait time, so I sent off an email. I didn’t receive a reply until about 2 days later, stating he had “arrived safe and well, he is eating all and toileting. Settling in nicely!”, plus his arrival weight.

Nearly a week after his arrival, the Thursday before his expected release on the Monday morning, I called up to find out further information. His state in the departmental system hadn’t changed from “undergoing initial quarantine checks”.

After waiting on the phone for over 20 minutes, I found out all was going fine and he was still expected to be released on the Monday. I would receive an update as soon as his final check had been complete.

I was also informed he was eating, toileting, plus – he was friendly! (No surprises, he loves people, especially if they give him food.)

The next day on the Friday, I receive the official system update that my dog had “complied with the required initial quarantine checks and is due to complete post entry quarantine (PEQ) shortly”, with a link to book his release appointment. I also received an invoice to pay the recovery of the airline handling charge ($97) for his arrival, something that needed to be done before his release.

And that was it! I didn’t personally visit the post quarantine facility in Mickleham, as I was staying in Sydney. Instead, I confirmed with my pet transport company that he was booked in to be released as expected, at their selected time.

They picked him up on the Monday and flew him from Melbourne to Sydney, where I was reunited with Schnitzel. He was very happy to see us and in good spirits. The only thing was he had lost a little weight, but we weren’t too concerned as he had weighed a little more than we prefer when he went into quarantine.

Contacting the Mickleham Post Entry Quarantine Facility

It’s possible to contact the Mickleham post entry quarantine facility by both email and phone.
If phoning the facility, their number is 1800 900 090 (inside Australia) or +61 3 8318 6700 (outside Australia).

However, be warned that it’s normal to have a long wait on hold, around 30 minutes based on my experience and other reports. Also note that phone calls will only be answered during office hours of 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

It might be better to email the facility, unless you are requiring an immediate response (well, within the next hour!) The email address is: [email protected]

If you wish to provide feedback following your pet’s stay in quarantine, it is possible to do this using the options listed on this page

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