Pet Transport in St. Louis, Missouri
We provide international pet transport to and from St. Louis, planned around the weather, the season and your destination’s entry rules. A move to or from another state goes by road with a partner driver or on a domestic flight.
Book the whole move, or only the parts you need.
- Airline booking
- Export and import paperwork
- Check-in at STL
- Door-to-door relocation
- Meeting your pet at the arrival airport
The City of St. Louis requires every dog and cat kept there to be vaccinated against rabies and registered.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 1-877-540-0555
St. Louis at a glance
How a move from St. Louis works- Flights from
- St. Louis Lambert (STL)
- Door-to-door pickup
- Roughly one to two hours’ drive of St
- Airline guides
- Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines
- Export paperwork
- USDA endorsement through VEHCS
- Service area
- Midwest
Pet Relocation from St. Louis
Saint Louis (STL) sits in the middle of the country. From Lambert International, a trip abroad is booked as one journey so your pet is never handed off blindly, and the route is chosen for each move on the weather, the season and airline availability.
The planning realities here are seasonal. Winter cold and July and August heat both limit when a pet can fly, so we book morning flights and watch both ends of the route.
How a Move from St. Louis Works
A St. Louis move can be as small as one STL reservation or as complete as a door-to-door relocation.
Flights and check-in
We book your pet’s flights from St. Louis Lambert (STL), set the dates around the weather, the season and each airline’s rules for pets, and handle the check-in with the airline on travel day.
Door to door, when you book it
Door-to-door pet transport adds the road legs. A partner driver collects your pet from home, anywhere within roughly one to two hours’ drive of St. Louis, and handles the check-in personally, and we meet your pet at the arrival airport. We do not run local rides to the vet, groomer or daycare.
Paperwork for a move abroad
For a move abroad from St. Louis, the paperwork starts with the destination, which is where every international pet relocation we plan begins. APHIS’s export page, read September 16, 2026, says to verify your destination country’s entry requirements every time you plan to travel, and that a USDA-accredited veterinarian submits the health certificate for USDA endorsement on your behalf. APHIS calls VEHCS the fastest route to endorsement, says processing there is staffed Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time outside federal holidays, and says there is no in-person or drop-off service. We prepare the file with you, including an import permit where the destination country asks for one, and check each document against its rules before your pet flies. Our destination guides cover the rules country by country.
Arriving
Moving a Pet to St. Louis
Coming from another state? APHIS’s interstate pet travel page, read September 16, 2026, says the receiving state or territory sets the requirements for a pet moving in, and its list of destinations includes Missouri. The City of St. Louis pet registration page, read September 23, 2026, gives new arrivals 30 days to register, and says the veterinarian’s office hands you the registration certificate and tag when your pet is vaccinated. A dog coming from another country also has to meet CDC’s entry rules, which our guide to the CDC dog import form sets out.
How the service works from start to finish is on our pet transport services page.
Flying a Pet Out of St. Louis
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)
Location: St.
Louis, Missouri, approximately 14 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis. St. Louis Lambert International Airport serves as the primary airport in the region.
Airlines that fly pets from St. Louis
Each airline named on this page publishes its own rules for animals. Our guides set out what each one says:
Alaska Airlines: cabin fees, carrier rules and its seasonal embargoes.
American Airlines: cabin, cargo and PetEmbark.
Delta: cabin rules, fees and who it ships pets for.
United Airlines: what it publishes for dogs and cats.
How Our Pet Transport Process Works
Consultation
We review your pet’s details, destination requirements, and preferred timeline during the consultation.
Travel Plan and Timeline
We build a travel plan that aligns airline rules, routing, and seasonal considerations.
Pre-Travel Preparation
We guide you through crate selection, documentation, and pre-travel readiness steps.
Transportation Coordination
We coordinate airline booking, airport pet check-in when required, and ground transportation logistics.
Arrival Support
We provide guidance for arrival procedures, customs clearance if applicable, and post-travel considerations.
Our Pet Transport Services
Air Pet Shipping
We guide pet owners in choosing the best air routes, manage airline documentation, and coordinate airport pet check-in at STL when required.
Ground Pet Transport
Ground transportation is arranged for regional moves or pets not eligible to fly, with carefully planned routing and timing.
Moving a Pet Abroad from St. Louis
From St. Louis, a move abroad covers the import permit, the health certificate, customs on arrival and the airline booking out of Lambert (STL).
Door to Door Relocation
Door-to-door relocation combines ground pickup, air transport, and arrival planning into one coordinated service.
Types of Pets We Transport
Dog Transportation
Dogs are the moves we plan most often. We match the crate to your dog’s size, book around airline rules and summer heat limits, and plan the routing through St. Louis (STL) so nothing turns into a last-minute scramble on travel day.
Cat Transportation
Cats travel best when the day stays calm and the waiting is short. We choose airline-approved carriers, sort out the cabin-or-cargo question early, and plan the schedule so your cat spends as little time at the airport as possible.
Bird Transportation
Birds need a little more care: species-specific paperwork, airline approval, and travel that holds a steady temperature. We walk you through the health certificates and routing so nothing slips through the cracks.
Small Mammals
Rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small pets travel in approved carriers on carefully timed routes. We confirm that the airline will accept your pet well before the date, so there are no surprises.
Reptiles and Exotic Pets
Reptiles and exotic pets each come with their own rules. We review the airline policies and temperature requirements one by one and build a route that genuinely suits your animal, not a one-size-fits-all plan.
Service Areas Near St. Louis
We provide pet transportation services throughout Clayton, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Florissant, St. Charles, and Metro East Illinois, and we also coordinate pet relocations nationwide and internationally.
St. Louis moves belong to our Midwest service area, whose cities include Chicago and Milwaukee.
Ready to start?
Book the whole move, or only the parts you need.
What to Expect When Shipping a Pet Through St. Louis Lambert Airport (STL)
Who actually handles your pet at STL
Air General runs the cargo warehouse at 9833 Air Cargo Road, Building 2A, and that is where a pet booked on Alaska Air Cargo Pet Connect is dropped off and collected. Acceptance runs Monday to Friday, 5:00am to 8:00pm, and the counter is closed Saturday and Sunday, so a St. Louis pet move has to fall on a weekday.
American Airlines Cargo is the other option here, through its PetEmbark service. Delta ships pets only for active US military and State Department Foreign Service personnel with permanent change of station orders. United publishes its own policy on its pets page.
Temperature limits and ground handling
Airlines decide whether a pet flies, not the airport. American transports warm-blooded animals when ground temperatures are between 45F and 85F. Below that it requires a letter of acclimation signed and dated by a licensed veterinarian, which covers 20F to 44F, and it will not carry an animal at all below 20F. Alaska Air Cargo says many of its stations have seasonal temperature embargoes for animal shipments over a summer season that generally runs from May 1 to October 16. Between drop-off and loading your pet waits in the cargo handler building rather than a dedicated animal terminal, so the acceptance window and the handler opening hours are what a travel date has to be built around.
Questions about moving a pet to or from St. Louis
Request a QuoteFrequently Asked Questions
How does St. Louis’s weather shape the travel timeline?
St. Louis sees both cold winters and warm summers, so timing matters at both ends of the year. Airlines set temperature limits for animals in cargo in extreme heat and extreme cold, and we plan your St. Louis move around the forecast, picking the safest departure window from Lambert and adjusting routing when the weather does not cooperate.
What kinds of pets do you relocate from St. Louis?
We coordinate travel for dogs, cats, birds, small mammals, and select reptiles or exotics from St. Louis, whenever airline and destination rules allow. Each species has its own requirements, and snub-nosed breeds and older pets get extra planning around routing and the weather.
What paperwork does a pet need to fly from St. Louis?
Pet travel runs on health paperwork, and the timing is strict; a health certificate from a USDA-accredited vet is usually valid only for a short window before travel, and many destinations add their own steps. We map the vet visits and paperwork for your St. Louis move so nothing expires at the wrong moment.
Do you help with crates and carriers for St. Louis pets?
Yes. The crate is one of the most important parts of a safe flight, so we size it to your pet and to the airline’s rules, which set the dimensions, ventilation, and labeling a carrier will accept. For St. Louis pets we confirm the crate well before travel so there are no surprises at Lambert.
Will my pet have layovers flying from St. Louis?
St. Louis has good domestic coverage, so many moves fly direct. International routes usually connect through Chicago or Dallas, and we book those legs as one journey rather than separate tickets. When a layover is unavoidable, we choose connections with enough time and the right conditions to keep the total trip as short as possible.
What does pet transportation from St. Louis cost?
Every St. Louis move is priced on its own, because the route, airline fees, your pet’s size and crate, the season, and the destination’s rules all change the total. Tell us where and when, and we’ll put together an estimate: request a quote. For a closer look at what drives the price, see our guide to pet shipping costs.