Hello,

I have a dog coming into Heathrow in the new year and wondered if anyone knows how long (roughly) it takes to clear customs? I dont want to arrive at Heathrow when the flight gets in if it takes 3 hours to clear the dog for release.

It varies, took about that tiem when we went with our friend to pick up her boy in May, also it cost over £500 in their charges, on top of the Cargo charges.

If you ring the Quaratine section they should be able to give you a rough idea.  We still had to wait around for half an hour or so.

Hi, thanks for reply. I called them today and they said they charge £147.00.

That's what I was told, but there wre other charges too, so don't be surprised.

yes. Someone I knew bought a dog in from the states last year and because it hadn't been transferred into their name at this point they were charged VAT. Apparently if the papers had already been in their name they wouldn't have had to pay as they would have been bringing their own dog into the country. Worth checking out.
There is no option to argue the case either as they won't hand the dog over to you unless you pay.

In my friends case the dog was in her name already, but there are other charges that are not just the Q charges, as we too had been told it was around £150 only to be slapped with over £500 in total, there are charges for checking the paperwork, handling the dog off the plane as well as customs clearance and the time in the Q kennels which is for 48 hours no matter how little time they spend there.

Did you avoid all these charges by flying your dog into France and coming in through the tunnel? I would like to bring in an american dog myself and seem to remember that you flew into france and had your dog as luggage?

Yes I flew into Brussels as that was the closest, direct flight from JFK.

Oh dear, I bet I get a nice £500 bill, thats just my luck! well I can't do anything but pay it but they should say upfront.

Does anyone know what HARC hours are or are they 24/7?