Military Pet Relocation Services for PCS Moves
For service members on PCS orders and their families, and for DoD civilians on a permanent change of station. We plan and run the move for your dog or cat to the next duty station, inside the United States or OCONUS, and the quote lists each part on its own line so it lines up with your pet allowance claim.
Pet Travel Advisors books the airline, arranges the travel crate, prepares the health certificate and its USDA endorsement, checks your pet in at the departure airport and meets it on arrival. Book the whole PCS move door to door, or only the parts you need.
Does the military pay to ship pets on a PCS?
Yes, up to a limit. Since January 1, 2024, the Joint Travel Regulations have let a Service member, or a Service member’s dependent, on PCS orders claim the cost of moving one household pet, which the JTR defines as a cat or a dog kept for companionship. The rule is paragraph 050107, and the PCS pet allowance it sets up is paid back against itemized receipts after the move.
| PCS move | Reimbursed up to | What the JTR lets you claim |
|---|---|---|
| Within CONUS | $550 per PCS move | Mandatory microchipping, boarding fees, hotel service charges, licensing fees at the new duty station, and pet shipping fees when you fly rather than drive or the pet is shipped separately |
| OCONUS, Alaska and Hawaii included | $2,000 per PCS move | Everything in the CONUS row, plus quarantine fees and titer testing for entry |
| OCONUS, leaving a duty station listed in JTR supplement AP-PQ-02 | $4,000, with Secretarial Process approval | Costs above $2,000, only where neither Patriot Express capacity nor regularly scheduled commercial airline service is available for pets |
The JTR defines CONUS as the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, so a PCS to or from Alaska or Hawaii counts as OCONUS for this allowance. The $4,000 ceiling came in on November 25, 2024 through change MAP 52-24(R), and it applies only to departures from the duty stations on that supplement’s list of countries with a higher rabies risk.
A few conditions sit behind the figures. The order’s effective date has to be January 1, 2024 or later. Two Service members married to each other and traveling on separate orders can each claim for one pet. On transoceanic travel, Government or Government-procured transportation has to be used if it is available, or the transportation cost is not reimbursed; when it is not available, you need a statement saying so from your Traffic Management Office or Installation Transportation Office. Driving, for example to or from Alaska, needs no such statement.
Checked October 24, 2026 against DTMO’s pet transportation allowance FAQ and paragraph 050107 of the Joint Travel Regulations of October 1, 2026. Confirm your own case with your finance office before you book.
What does the PCS pet allowance leave you to pay?
Whatever the move costs above the cap, and every pet after the first. DTMO’s FAQ says the allowance covers one household pet per PCS order, that any others travel at your expense, and that you may choose which pet to claim for when two cost different amounts to move. A quote early on shows the size of the difference while there is still time to plan around it.
Paragraph 050107, read October 24, 2026, does not name the veterinary exam behind a health certificate or the purchase of a travel crate among the costs it lists. Ask your finance office before you count on either.
Sometimes the pet cannot go to the new duty station at all: Government quarters there bar pets, your dog’s breed is barred, or the airlines will not carry it. Since February 21, 2025 the JTR has allowed for the pet to be moved to an alternate location instead, or with your dependents to a designated place during an unaccompanied tour, as DTMO announced. The JTR’s table for those moves caps them at $550 or $2,000, depending on where each place is.
Can my pet fly on Patriot Express?
It can, if a space is free. Air Mobility Command’s pet travel page, read October 24, 2026, says PCS passengers can book their dogs and cats on Patriot Express flights, that pet spaces are very limited and go first come, first served, and that you book them through your Traffic Management Office or Installation Transportation Office. It allows two pets per family and asks you to sign its pet risk acknowledgement document before a space can be reserved.
Patriot Express is booked by you, through your transportation office, never by a pet shipper. Where your pet has a space, we can still handle the health certificate, the crate and the ground legs either side of that flight. Where there is no space, the non-availability statement lets you book commercial travel for your pet, and that is the move we plan and book.
Some airlines carry pets only for people on orders. Delta’s page on shipping a pet, also read October 24, 2026, says that until further notice it ships pets only for active US military and State Department Foreign Service personnel traveling with active PCS orders, and that a copy of the orders is needed for the booking.
How early should an OCONUS PCS with pets start?
As soon as you know where you are going, because the destination’s rules set the calendar, not your report date. The work runs in a fixed order: a microchip, rabies vaccinations, in some countries a blood test and a waiting period after it, then a health certificate signed by an accredited veterinarian and, where the destination asks for it, endorsed by USDA APHIS before departure. These are the OCONUS moves we are asked about most:
- PCS with pets to Japan: entry follows a rabies antibody test and a waiting period, so the clock starts long before the report date. Our Japan pet shipping page sets out the order.
- PCS with pets to Germany: the microchip, then the rabies vaccination, then the EU health certificate that USDA endorses. The Germany page covers the timing.
- PCS with pets to Korea: a microchip, a current rabies vaccination and an antibody test, all on a certificate USDA endorses. See the South Korea page.
- PCS with pets to Hawaii: OCONUS under the JTR, and run on the state’s own rabies rules. The Hawaii page explains how a pet qualifies for direct release at the airport.
If orders arrive with less time than the destination needs, your pet can follow you once its paperwork is ready, and we quote that later move from wherever your pet is staying. Every other country we serve is on the destinations index.
What do we arrange for a military pet move?
The practical side of pet transport for military families, with each part available on its own:
- Planning the route around the destination’s import rules, the season and your report date
- Booking the flight as air cargo with an airline that carries live animals on that route
- The travel crate, sized to the airline’s rules for your pet
- Preparing and checking the export and import paperwork, an import permit included where the destination asks for one, and the USDA endorsement
- Checking your pet in at the departure airport
- Meeting your pet at the arrival airport and delivering it to your new address, or collecting it from quarantine where the destination quarantines
- Road moves state to state, and the drive between home and the airport, with partner drivers who are USDA registered; see domestic pet shipping
For moves abroad, our international pet shipping page explains how the documents and the cargo booking fit together. Your own seats, any Patriot Express space and the travel voucher stay with you and your transportation and finance offices, and nobody from our side flies with your pet in the cabin. Pet Travel Advisors was founded in 2023, the team holds IATA Live Animals Regulations certificates, and the paperwork follows USDA APHIS requirements.
How does a military pet move work?
Five steps, from the first message to the receipt for your claim.
1. Send Us the PCS Details
The area you are leaving, the one you are going to, the report date, and your pet’s breed, age and weight. Orders do not have to be final for a first plan.
2. A Plan and an Itemized Quote
The route, the documents in the order they happen, and a quote with each part on its own line: airline freight, crate, paperwork and endorsement, ground legs and arrival.
3. Paperwork and Crate Training
Vet visits and any test are dated back from the flight, while your pet gets used to its crate at home.
4. Travel Day and Arrival
The team checks your pet in at the airport and the flight is followed through to the handover at the other end, or a partner driver takes it by road.
5. A Paid Invoice for Your Claim
Once you have paid, the invoice keeps the same lines as the quote, ready to go with the airline’s and the vet’s own receipts on your travel voucher.
What do we need from you?
- Your PCS orders, or the report date and the area you are going to if orders are not cut yet
- Your pet’s species, breed, age and weight, and its measurements for the crate
- The rabies certificates, the microchip number and any titer test result
- Whether you have a Patriot Express pet space or a non-availability statement
- Your own travel dates, so the pet’s flight fits around them
- Who is paying, if anyone other than you is
If someone else is paying for any part of the move, we need their written approval of the quote before we book. Our pet shipping cost calculator gives a first idea of the parts while you wait for the quote.
Does the same pet allowance cover DoD civilians?
No, a different rule applies. Paragraph 050107 is written for Service members and their dependents. For a DoD civilian employee on a permanent change of station, JTR paragraph 054103 says cat and dog transportation and quarantine charges are not a separate reimbursable expense, but may be claimed under the miscellaneous expenses allowance when that allowance is claimed as actual expenses. Other federal civilians fall under the Federal Travel Regulation, which since December 8, 2025 pays that allowance under each agency’s own relocation policy.
Ask your relocation office what it will pay before you book. The quote and the invoice work the same way for either claim, and our page on corporate and government employee pet relocation covers civilian and Foreign Service moves.
Get a Quote for Your PCS Move
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim the PCS pet allowance for two pets?
Not on one set of orders. DTMO’s FAQ says the allowance covers one household pet per PCS order and that any others are shipped at your expense. You choose which pet to claim for, and two Service members on separate orders can each claim for one.
Does the allowance pay for a pet shipper?
The JTR names pet shipping fees among the costs it pays back, within the cap, when you fly rather than drive or the pet is shipped separately. How your finance office treats each cost is its decision, which is why the quote shows the airline freight, the crate, the paperwork and the ground legs as separate lines.
When can I ship my pet?
DTMO’s FAQ says that when the order’s effective date is January 1, 2024 or later, you can ship your pet any time after you receive orders. Preparation paid for before the order took effect can still count, because some destinations need the work started early.
What do I need to file the pet claim?
Itemized receipts for the pet expenses, and a non-availability statement from the office that handled your transportation request if Government transportation was not available. Air Mobility Command says Patriot Express travelers get a memo receipt for pet travel fees at check-in. Our paid invoice keeps the quote’s lines, so it sits alongside those.
Do you fly with my pet in the cabin?
No. Your pet travels as air cargo on a flight we book, with you on Patriot Express in a space your transportation office books, or by road with a partner driver. The team checks it in at the departure airport and it is met on arrival.
Can you move my pet within CONUS by road?
Yes. Road moves run state to state, and between home and the airport, with partner drivers who are USDA registered. The JTR counts pet shipping fees when you fly rather than drive, or when the pet is shipped separately from you, so ask your finance office how that applies to your move.