Hi, hoping that someone may be able to point me in the right direction here. My mother is moving back to Ireland permanently on sep 28th ( she has been in England for over 45 years). She adopted a bichon frise from battersea last year and is obviously taking him with her. The trouble is she will be a foot passenger on the ferry ( her partner will not fly) and none of the ferry companies allow pets on with foot passengers. Irish ferries allow cats in carry cases and I have emailed them to see if a small dog could go this way but no reply yet. Does anyone have any idea how my mum will be able to get her dog over short of me having to take my car over to Ireland? Any help would be much appreciated.

you going to miss her plus the girls,

Two ideas spring to mind; hire a limo/car to drive her on the ferry then return. I mention limo as it's often cheaper to get an executive ride for a day than to pay for taxis.

or

A rescue centre that brings dogs from Ireland to the UK might take her over with them. There's one here.

I would think that a dog the size of a bichon would be let on if they allow cats.

Where is she going from?

I will miss her terri. She is travelling holyhead to dublin. Mum has spoken to one company they have given 2 bits of conflicting advice so still waiting to hear from irish ferries.

Try and post on the show part as its Belfast Dog Show that weekend i am going from Holyhead to Dublin on the 30th on the 2am ferry i am pretty sure there will be a lot going out on the friday 28th to make a weekend of it that could take him on for your mum then pass him to her at the other end..

Some ferries have on board kennels.

Lori's suggestion of contacting one of the Irish Rescues seems to be a brilliant suggestion to me. A donation to their rescue would, I imagine, be most useful and they are experienced with dogs travelling by ferry - your mum may also be able to travel in their transport with them thus only being separated from her dog just for the ferry crossing.

It is something I would definitely investigate further - beneficial to both parties it would seem :)

Wiccaweys is another rescue that regularly brings dogs over from Ireland.

They have made this rule recently as earlier in the year a Friend went as Foot passenger to mate her bitch, but having missed she wanted to go back and found the cost prohibitive as they wouldn't allow her as a foot passenger despite the kennels for the dogs.

My husband is from Ireland BUT the last time we went was 4 years ago and we carried three chihuahuas in pet carry bags.They also had kennels on board. We travelled at the Fishguard to Rosslaire ferry.

Stena FAQ

I'd rather not leave my dog in the car. Is there an alternative?

Pets can travel in kennels on the car deck on all routes between Britain and Ireland*. We cannot take advance reservations however and kennels are issued on a first come, first served basis.

*Excludes ferries operating on the Fleetwood - Larne route and the Stena Lynx Express on Fishguard - Rosslare route.

Taken from        http://www.stenaline.co.uk/stena_line/stena_line_uk/holyhead-d_laoghaire/gb/faqs.html#pets

Hope this helps

Billy

She's going on the irish ferry not stenaline :) i'd rather leave mine in the van where its well ventilated, comfortable and known to them rather than an onboard kennel...

Thanks for all your replys. Good news the organisation that is looking after mum with her move back home is government based and they have asked the ferry company on her behalf to allow the dog on. They have agreed that if she brings Murray on in a crate he can be taken down to the kennel area for the trip and mum can collect when they dock. Mum is sooooo relieved. I have told her to get copies of the emails sent and the name of the person that has said yes because you know when she gets to the boat they won't know anything about it!!!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes: I really thought I was going to gain an extra dog for a week or two until I could get over to Ireland myself. No need now!

Thats good, where abouts in Ireland is she going home to?

I would take some cleaning stuff with you as some of those crates are disgustingly filthy