Shipping live animals by air means moving them as manifested cargo under the IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR): in a species-specific container, on their own air waybill, with a Shipper's Certification signed by the shipper and not the forwarder, plus the veterinary, quarantine and CITES papers that the origin, transit and destination countries require. The airline still has the last word: it can refuse a species or embargo it by season when every permit is in order. Confirm carrier acceptance first, then build the timeline backwards from the quarantine or border slot.
A pet on a passenger ticket is not cargo
A cabin pet booking and a cargo shipment are separate products, not one service at two prices. A pet in the cabin (code PETC) goes through an in-cabin checklist, and which animals qualify is each operator's policy. A pet checked into the hold on a passenger's ticket (AVIH) is excess baggage. Commercial animals, and pets moved without a passenger, travel as cargo, with a consignor, an air waybill and a formal acceptance check. Access can differ too: since 1 September 2025 Cathay Cargo takes direct pet bookings only from IPATA or Animal Transport Association members, IATA-accredited forwarders and holders of a valid LAR training certificate.
What the IATA Live Animals Regulations require
IATA calls the LAR the worldwide standard for commercial transport of live animals and says member airlines are bound to it through Resolution 620. It also reaches into law: EU Regulation 1/2005 requires LAR-compliant containers, and US wildlife rules (50 CFR Part 14, Subpart J) apply its container requirements to wild mammals and birds flown to the US. The current edition took effect on 1 January 2026, and as of November 2026 IATA has published changes for the 53rd edition (2027), which revise container rules including snub-nosed breed dimensions and ventilation. Check which edition applies on your flight date.
Each species maps to a numbered Container Requirement (CR); CR1, for example, covers cats and dogs. Work from the current CR, not a copied crate size. IATA's acceptance checklist tests size, ventilation, construction, cleanliness, escape proofing and handholds that keep handlers clear of the animal. Absorbent material must not be straw, because some countries prohibit importing it.
AVI, the air waybill and the Shipper's Certification
Live animals are booked and handled under the special handling code AVI, and the crew is told through the NOTOC. IATA's cargo checklist has 24 questions, and a single "no" means the shipment is not accepted. The air waybill must carry only the live animals, list every booked flight, show a 24-hour emergency number under Handling Information, and have all permits attached, with copies on the container.
A forwarder should not sign the Shipper's Certification. The shipper completes it in English, in duplicate. IATA's checklist tells acceptance staff to confirm the signatory is not an IATA cargo agent, consolidator, forwarder or indirect air carrier, and Cathay's form and SWISS WorldCargo's rules say the same.
Embargoes, temperature limits and stowage
There is no universal temperature limit or species list. Each airline publishes its own. As of November 2026, SWISS WorldCargo:
- embargoes live tropical fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects from 1 November to 31 March (exemptions may apply for tropical fish);
- applies restrictions above 27°C outside temperature for pets, small mammals and vulnerable zoo animals, and may rebook them;
- refuses horses, cattle and other hoofed animals, monkeys and wild-caught animals;
- requires the most direct route, citing LAR 4.2, and a health certificate no older than 10 days.
Cathay Cargo, by contrast, advertises racehorses and day-old chicks, so an interline routing must satisfy each carrier's own list. Governments set limits as well: for dogs and cats, 9 CFR 3.19 stops a US holding area staying below 45°F (7.2°C) or above 85°F (29.5°C) for more than four consecutive hours.
Dry ice is the classic stowage conflict. It sublimes into carbon dioxide, which is why dry ice shipments must vent, and in a hold with animals that gas is the hazard. 9 CFR 3.16 bars carrying dogs and cats with materials such as dry ice in a way expected to harm them, and in October 2018 Air Cargo News reported that Lufthansa Cargo had provisionally stopped carrying dry ice in 747 passenger bellies because of conflicts with animals in the hold. Quantities and distances sit in the airline's loading instructions. Chapter 7.4 of the WOAH Terrestrial Code adds that radioactive materials should be at least 0.5 metre from live animals on journeys up to 24 hours and that incompatible animals should travel singly.
CITES permits for listed species
CITES controls trade in listed species through permits from each country's Management Authority. It adds to health rules and does not replace them, just as plants need phytosanitary certificates separately.
| Listing | Export side | Import side |
|---|---|---|
| Appendix I | Export permit, only after the import permit is granted, or re-export certificate | Import permit, only if not for primarily commercial purposes |
| Appendix II | Export permit or re-export certificate | No CITES import permit; national law may require one |
| Appendix III | Export permit from the listing country; otherwise certificate of origin or re-export certificate | No CITES import permit; that document is presented |
- Each consignment needs its own permit, and a copy cannot replace the original unless endorsed.
- An export permit can be used only within six months of grant. CITES Resolution 12.3 limits an import permit to 12 months.
- Authorities must be satisfied that a living specimen will be "so prepared and shipped as to minimize the risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment".
- Captive-bred does not mean exempt: IATA lists a certificate of captive breeding among the CITES documents.
- Listings move. Most amendments from the CoP20 meeting took effect on 5 March 2026, and the Dutch authority RVO reports some delayed to 5 June 2027.
- National law can be stricter. The EU requires import permits for Annex B species, and the US requires 48 hours' notice to the Fish and Wildlife Service for live wildlife (50 CFR 14.54).
Veterinary certificates, import permits and quarantine
The destination country decides what enters. WOAH, the World Organisation for Animal Health (formerly OIE), sets reference standards and does not issue certificates: its Terrestrial Code carries model certificates in chapters 5.10 to 5.13 and advises arranging certification several weeks ahead of a livestock shipment.
United States. USDA APHIS requirements vary by species and origin. Apply through APHIS eFile on form VS 17-129 and allow at least 7 business days. A regulated animal merely transiting the US needs a permit and a written contingency plan. Live poultry faces at least 30 days' quarantine and bans on origins affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza, and day-old chicks have their own APHIS page. Horses face quarantine of 3, 7 or 60 days, and since 1 October 2026 APHIS accepts only health certificates reflecting its new model.
European Union. Every consignment of animals gets official controls at the Border Control Post of first arrival (Regulation 2017/625, Article 47). The operator gives notice at least one working day before arrival (Implementing Regulation 2019/1013; four hours where logistics prevent that) by filing a Common Health Entry Document, the CHED-A for animals, in TRACES. Belgium's food safety agency says a rejected consignment is eligible for return, slaughter or euthanasia, so a wrong certificate is not a paperwork delay.
Welfare rules: EU Regulation 1/2005
Regulation 1/2005 covers live vertebrates moved in the EU in connection with an economic activity. For air it requires conditions that keep air quality, temperature and pressure in an appropriate range for the species and sets space allowances (1.19 m² for a 400 to 500 kg horse). Its eight-hour journey limit for horses and farm livestock does not apply to air transport. Animals must be fit for the journey, which rules out females at 90% or more of gestation or that gave birth in the previous week, and sedatives need veterinary supervision. Article 5 matters to forwarders: nobody may contract transport except to authorised transporters, so check your road legs. A replacement proposed in December 2023 was still under negotiation as of November 2026.
What a forwarder must check before accepting
- Species by common and scientific name, CITES status and national listings.
- Written acceptance from every carrier, for that species, season and aircraft, and permits for every transit point.
- Container checked against the current CR, with "Live Animals" and "This Way Up" labels.
- Certification signed by the shipper, and all originals in hand.
- Consignee, quarantine and border inspection confirmed for the actual arrival time.
- Fitness: Cathay's form refuses animals that gave birth in the last 48 hours. Any sedation disclosed on the container.
- Feed and bedding legal at destination, and stowage needs sent to the airline in writing.
Who is liable if an animal dies or is injured
Where the countries involved are parties, the Montreal Convention applies. Under Article 18 the carrier is liable for loss of or damage to cargo during carriage by air, unless it proves the loss resulted from inherent defect or vice, defective packing by someone other than the carrier, war, or an act of public authority on entry, exit or transit. For animals those defences are real: natural death, a failed crate, a border rejection. Cathay's certification also has the shipper accept that carriers are not liable for death from natural causes or injury from animals' own conduct, "such as biting, kicking, goring or smothering".
The limit has been 26 SDR per kilogram since 28 December 2024, about US$35, so a 500 kg horse is capped near 13,000 SDR unless a special declaration of interest is made. See carrier liability limits, and ask a broker whether a cargo policy covers mortality, because that cannot be assumed. Under Article 31, complain at once and within 14 days of receipt for damage or 21 days for delay. Article 35 gives two years to sue.
Instructions matter as much as limits. In Singapore Airlines Cargo v Principle International [2017] NSWCA 216, as reported by the law firm Wotton Kearney, 18 cattle died from poor ventilation on the lower deck on a Melbourne to Harbin flight. The defective packing defence failed because the crates were standard, but the shipper had drawn an upper-deck loading plan and never passed it on, and the court put 80% of the loss on the shipper. A forwarder's exposure depends on whether it acted as agent or carrier: see forwarder liability insurance.
What to do next
- Identify the species and check CITES and the destination's import conditions before quoting.
- Get written carrier acceptance for each sector and check embargoes for your dates.
- Book the quarantine or border slot, then work back to permit lead times and certificate validity.
- Give the shipper the current CR and the certification to sign, and send stowage instructions in writing.
If you need help on a lane, more than 29,300 logistics companies are searchable by country and service in the CargoLinked directory, so ask each directly about live animal experience. The public requests board lists freight that shippers have posted for forwarders to quote on directly.
This guide is general information, not legal, veterinary, customs or insurance advice. Airline rules, permit conditions and quarantine periods change, so confirm the current requirement with the carrier, the issuing authority or a licensed professional before you ship.
