I am astounded at the negative reviews GAT has had. I can only tell you my positive relationship with Michael & Susan Foley. Not only are they professional & call back in a timely manner I have never dealt with such kind human beings. These people truly treat all the animals they deal with as THEIR children. Furthermore , I have used them to transport 3 of my dogs from Europe to Cali without any problems whatsoever. Plus , their rates were far below their competitors. I have NO CLUE why they have any negatives !! I do know that many Yelp customers do use yelp as way to hurt a company they have a vendetta with. My husband is a double boarded physician. Every once in a while he gets a negative review even though he is rated 10 ten docs in CA. I have hundreds of patients letters on his professional skills. It astounds me when I see a negative review & realize it was from a person one just couldn't make happy or has a personal problem. Therefore , in the case of GAT I feel it might be the same. We would NEVER use them if they weren't outstanding. I never go for average. Only THE BEST. We leave our fur babies with The Foley's all the time. Once Michael, on his own accord took my heart Dog to the vet because he thought he wasn't acting right. It turned out she had a mild bladder infection which was cured by antibiotics. But it would have turned into a kidney infection had Michael not acted so swiftly. Honestly , I have yet to meet a couple who go so above & beyond to transport & care for your pets. They go the extra mile. Which in this day & age is so rare to see. Because they truly care. I would never hesitate to use them. read more

A Year of Wasted Time, Empty Promises, and Total Incompetence I am writing this review after a nightmarish experience with Global Animal Transport that lasted for about a year. If you are looking to transport a pet--especially an exotic animal like a tortoise--do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. This company is filled with issues, and working with them was a complete waste of my time. My primary contact was Michael Foley, who promised a lot at the beginning but never delivered anything useful. I paid $700 to get started and I was hoping for some service. He was incredibly unresponsive throughout the entire process. I frequently had to send multiple emails over long periods just to get a single reply. It felt like I had to beg for updates on a service I was paying for. Even the initial step of obtaining the U.S. permit, which should have been the easy part, was an absolute struggle. It took many, many months and was plagued with problems before they finally obtained it. That alone should have been a red flag, but the incompetence only got worse. Michael was often confused about the details of my case and seemed totally unaware of what was actually required to deliver a tortoise to Canada. The situation reached a breaking point regarding the cross-border paperwork. A few months after we finally dragged the U.S. permit over the finish line, Michael realized we also needed a specific permit for Canada. This is basic industry knowledge that a "professional" transport company should have known from day one. By the time I managed to secure the Canadian permit myself, the hard-won U.S. permit had expired. Instead of taking responsibility for this massive oversight, Michael had the audacity to ask me to pay again to restart the whole process. He was incredibly rude! It is baffling that a company would expect a customer to foot the bill for their own negligence and incompetence. Global Animal Transport is unprofessional, incompetent, and easily one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. Save your money and your sanity--avoid them at all costs. read more

If I could give zero stars I would but do not let these people (Susan & Michael Foley) of GAT tell you their prices are strictly based on the safety and security of animal transport. We know there's a big difference as I informed Michael we received quotes from their competitors who have the same certifications he does but charge half what they do. We utilized their service once before but it was not as smooth as they make it out to be but they'll never admit anything is their own fault. Go onto their google reviews and it's all right there after every negative review. However Michael took it a step further with his professionalism or should I say lack thereof and if you are thinking of using their services there are other transport services that won't charge you an arm and a leg and will not accuse you of being the one trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes. They say their quotes are itemized because they have "crates & kennel" and "Special services" listed with no break down of why it costs $125 for a crate meant to house a parakeet for an hour flight. Then dance around the question when you want an exact breakdown of why they're charging $768 when a Delta flight with a certified shipper is $125 and at most $200 but you have to be an IPATA shipper which they are. If we had went the extra mile and shopped around we would have never even considered them based on their "free estimates." Which I find so funny that that's one of their sales tactics. Anyone can give you an estimate for free. Nothing special about that if they want people to actually consider using their services otherwise I'm sure they'd charge for that too! read more

See all

I cannot thank Michael and Susan of GAT, enough! My mom had to fly back to England after just a week in the US with her dog, Darla. I contacted GAT and they were able to get to work right away on picking up Darla from my home, handling the veterinarian and USDA paper work and arranging kenneling, flight, customs and delivery of Darla from LHR to my moms hometown. Every care was taken to make sure we had all the information and that Darla was well taken care of along the way. Communication with both Michael and Susan was excellent at every step of the process. Thank you again for bringing a silver lining on to what was a really turbulent week for us! We appreciate you, so very much! read more

Global Animal Transport - Darla happy to be flying home to England! Thank you GAT! - Pet Transportation Near Me - Simi Valley, California

My experience with Michael was a challenging one to say the least. I wanted to really give him 2 stars cause of his arrogance, rudeness and lack of customer service but at the end of the day, my pet arrived safely in Australia and that's what mattered the most (in relatively good condition). What I was extremely frustrated and annoyed about was the severe lack of communication. My pet was stuck with him in LA for over 9 months as there was no flights. I would send numerous emails without replies requesting for picture and video updates and they only responded with updates after I contacted them on their phone. Honestly 2 months went by without any updates and I felt we were at their mercy to not piss them off cause our pet was in their care - but we were so so anxious. Michael would also get extremely defensive when I would ask him questions and certainly did not display good customer service. On top of that when my pet arrived it had another pets collar attached to the cage and some of his pet documents were missing. If you're on a tight budget they are the cheaper option however if you want 5 star customer service you may want to consider else where. They are a small operation and I believe only have Michael and his wife Suzanne working so I am willing to cut them some slack. What I won't stand for though, as a paying customer is rudeness and lack of empathy. read more

Mike Foley, the owner of Global Animal Transport, is professional, reliable, personable, and has no "drama". After hiring him for a first trip driving 3 elder female Pyrenean Mastiff dogs from the Los Angeles area to Spokane, WA in August 2019, I have not used any other transporters. Prior to hiring Mike, I hired other transporters to bring dogs from LA to WA on 3 previous trips. I wrote and posted a review about the first transport by Global Animal Transport. This is the second time I have used Global Animal Transport to have a Pyrenean Mastiff driven from LA to Spokane, WA. The 6.5-year-old, 120 lb male had only ridden in a vehicle once before, to be evacuated for a wildfire. Mike picked the dog up at the designated time and delivered him within 30 minutes of the estimated arrival. Each time Mike stopped for a dog potty and exercise break, the PM did not leave the SUV. So, when Mike was to stop to sleep in a hotel with the dog, Mike instead slept in the front of the SUV with the dog in the back. Mike does not leave any animal in the vehicle overnight while he sleeps in a hotel. When they arrived at my property, the dog would still not get out, even though the van pulled into an insulated barn. I was wearing a mask due to Covid 19. Once I took the mask off, the dog was more relaxed and could be lured out of the van. He explored the barn in a curious and relaxed manner. He was very responsive. I guess he just did not like riding in a vehicle, this being his second time. Mike kept me and the previous owner up to date via text during the trip. He also texted me when he was 2 hours away, and when he was 15 minutes away. read more

We shipped our two dogs from LAX To London and to be honest this company was less than professional. WATCH THEIR FEES! as they seem to have one for everything even $195.00 fee for transport to airport even though we brought our dogs to the airport ourselves! The fees just kept adding even after the flight was through. Michael literally picked up the dog crates from a pet store on his way to the airport and assembled them in the parking lot of our hotel 500 yards from where they were to be loaded! I'm sorry to say I will not be using them again. All of the paperwork fees that where crazy expensive I ended up doing myself. after our dogs where in the air I received a call from the Animal Reception Center in London saying they had not received any of our paperwork, so I had o send them everything myself at 3:00am. watch there fees!!! read more

While our vets provided a fantastic service to our dogs when we needed their vaccines and had a small emergency, when it came to our needs for preparing our dogs to travel with us to the UK we had a terrible experience. They passed us on to a company called Global Animal Transport, LLC who they work with exclusively for all animal travel needs, such as getting your dogs the necessary health certificates, etc. First off, it took them over a month to return my initial inquiry, then, when we finally got to speak and I explained that I had discovered that our dogs need a different kind of microchip to the one they currently have, the Global Animal Transport representative argues with me that this was not the case (despite the fact that the manufacturer of the chip had given me this information). If you are travelling to the EU then you need a microchip that is ISO compliant. Which is what our dogs need. Global Animal Transport finally changed their minds and agreed with us. This early dispute did not inspire confidence. Fast forward another couple of weeks after a series of conversations with British Airways pet passport desk and some online research I established that we would buy our own crates, book the dogs flights with BA directly and on the day of travel take them to the Cargo division ourselves so we could keep them out of their crates for as long as possible. When I explained this to Global Animal Transport they told me this was not possible, that it was against airline policy and that we had to legally use a company such as themselves to transport the dogs with, that we couldn't take the dogs to the Cargo division ourselves and would need to pay the associated fees of a provider such as themselves (who by the way were quoting $195 to collect the dogs an deliver them to the Cargo office -- a journey that would cost $60 in a cab!). I went back to the BA pet passport desk to ask them why the Global Animal Transport would say this. Was it true? Were they lying to me? Would we have a nightmare on the day of travel and find BA suddenly refused to take our pets when we showed up at the desk? No. BA firmly explained that when owners are travelling on the same flight as their dogs and have the correct paperwork and crates, that the owners can legally deliver tehir dogs to the Cargo division for the flight. Just to be sure I called a friend who works for BA as a flight attendant. So, in effect, Global Animal Transport - the supposed animal travel experts lied to us. The question is why: were they trying to get their fees paid, were they just ignorant. Who knows. On this news I decided to move my dogs to a different vet where we are able to get the health certificate completed by one of their veterinarian, not by some external company who appears to be extorting money from us. I called VCA Wilshire and explained the experience I had. They said they would review their relationship with Global Animal Transport. Just thought I'd share my experience so you can decide. I know one thing. By doing all of this detective work I have saved us over $500 in fees, feel much happier with the service we are receiving and will be even happier when I know I have personally handed our dogs over to the BA Cargo team on the day we fly. read more

Global Animal Transport helped ship me my English Bulldog puppy back in 2003. I got my puppy safe & sound, little hastle, and it wasn't too expensive either. :-) Was very happy with my experience WAAAAAY back then, and just noticed that they have a Yelp page now, so wanted to show some love. Thanks Guys! read more

THE MOST CARING PEOPLE!!! The Foleys are true animal lovers. They truly live for their "kids." Our history goes back almost 4 years ago when they rescued a horribly treated Boerboel named Ginger. We adopted Ginger through them. Since then, we have used boarding services with Global Animal Transport. They are honestly the ONLY people we trust to watch our Ginger....not even family or friends. The Foleys know how to handle her like nobody else. She gets all the love and attention from them while we are away. We always have peace of mind knowing Ginger will be taken care of. They are also very flexible and thoughtful. They are over an hour from us and Michael always offers to meet halfway and has even comes to us! I've never met any other people like the Foleys. They would and have done everything to save dogs/other animals. They are special people. Truly selfless job they do everyday. You can trust these people. read more

I was in the process of getting my mini Doxie from a breeder in Canada, prior to all the Covid-19. Once the border closures occurred, it became close to impossible to get him over to California. Thanks to Michael Foley, an angel, I was able to get my puppy. Michael was so professional and handled all the logistics in order to get the puppy across. This was not an easy task as the puppy was on the eastern side of Canada. Thank you Michael and Susan for taking my calls and doing everything you could to get my baby home. I am forever grateful! read more

Read all of the postings on this company. Make sure to get the delivery date in writing. The delivery date discussed didn't matter. When I was apprehensive about producing specific personal information that should have been a sign to not complete the deal. A simple car trip from California to Kansas was going to cost me close to $1900, with a discount. Though I later learned a different customer was paying for two pets to go from Canada to Australia and that few was $1500 a piece. Due to issues with that costumer my pet got bumped. Not my issue but my pet and family was told to wait. I had to call the day before the discussed, agreed upon, delivery date to learn of the issue. Had I not called to check on my pet I would have been waiting for the delivery the next day as the company did not bother to advise me of a different client issue which was affecting my delivery. I was told I would have to wait an additional week and a half for the delivery of my pet. After a great deal of negative comments and emails from mr Foley, I had to have a friend pickup my pet and get a different shipper. Needless to say I was not happy with this company I would NOT recommend this company to anyone for anything based on this experience. Had I read the most recent reviews here on yelp I wouldn't have used them at all. read more

This is a scam. Please do not trust. My pet was to be delivered by 2:15 p.m. The pet either never boarded a plane or was never to arrive by 2:15 because around 2:25 i reached out and they said they were stopped at a delay and couldn't board the plane because they needed 500 dollars due to covid-19 for insurance that would be refunded in cash after they delivered safely. They never even called me to tell me that had a delay and was stopped and at a stand still. I called them. I asked questions due to skepticism and they became frustrated and threatened to send the pet back to the sender because we had "trust issues". After all the skepticism we sent the extra money anyway and called them they said they would let us know when they board and we never heard from them again. read more

I can not express how happy we were with Michael and Suzanne have been such caring and helpful human beings ... Highly recommend there services such a great team ...... Thank you XXXXXXXXX read more

Global Animal Transport helped ship my cat from the US to Sydney. Michael was great and made us fell less worried with this stressfull process. Our cat arrived in Melbourne safe & sound, little hassle, and it wasn't too expensive either. :-) read more

Mike and Susan have been awesome to work with. Always available when you need them and we can trust them with our rescues! Dependable, trustworthy and very caring of all our animals. We don't hesitate when it comes to reaching out for help in the Southern California area. I highly recommend GAT to anyone who needs to move any animals with care and expertise. Thank You, San Francisco Samoyed Rescue read more

They were great doing a last minute transport of our cat, but when he returned to us he was definitely traumatized. He is jumpy, no longer friendly with people, hides all the time, and he is scared of vehicles. He was nothing like this when we sent him. He would check out cars, welcome visitors by jumping in their lap, and no loud noise use to bother him. We had housed him with them for four months. Also, I suggest not shipping anything for your pet, you won't get it back, even if you offer to pay for it. Don't expect pictures either because you'll get it only when payment is due. I wouldn't use this service again. I gave it two stars since we got our baby back, but it was a stressful experience. Four months and only two pictures and in a crate. And to find out how your pet is doing is pulling teeth. Unless you need a last minute transport with no housing, wouldn't use them. read more

If I could give these people negative stars, I would. As others have mentioned, the owners seem very happy to charge you for things they don't need to charge you for or without letting you know as was my case. The rudeness is horrible as well. They took 5 months to get my dogs shipped to the UK. They took about 3 months to finally get back to me and said they've been extremely busy, which is their excuse for everything and used very excessively. I don't know how busy they really are since they don't have many reviews of good service. Anyway, after finally getting a call back, they didn't send me a contract until a week before I was to leave. This caused lots of stress and anxiety as I wasn't going to be able to send contracts and whatnot because I was preparing to move myself. The only time I got lots of correspondence from them was when they needed a payment. The folks that would transport my dogs in their crates in the UK said they filled out the incorrect forms and would be discussing it with those in the U.S. that allow them to do business as such because it was not excusable for them to provide incorrect forms. When my dogs arrived, they had practically nothing left that was to be shipped with them in their kennels. GAT stated that they told me most of the stuff wouldn't be shipped. This was false as he guided me on what to send and my mother said Michael, when picking them up, said everything would be fine. Later, Michael said my mother was told that it was too much but that she didn't take anything out. Michael's story changed quite frequently as to what he told my mother. There is absolutely no reason for my mother to ignore his request as the blankets that were to go with my dogs were important as it is cold in Scotland where I am now. And why would my mom lie about what he said, or lack of conversation as was the case, and not take things out if he said they were too much? It makes no sense at all. The dogs arrived shivering and wet. It was very saddening. He also sent the torn blankets and kept two nice blankets, saying he donates these blankets to shelters. I don't know why he would send the torn, thin blankets and not the nice, warm blankets instead. It makes no sense unless his motive was to always keep the nice blankets. But that's my assumption. I contacted him asking to send them to my mother's at least because he never discussed with me that he donates excess animal property. I was excessively kind as I knew I wouldn't get anywhere if I was rude and he may not return them if I sounded upset. He continued to be incredibly rude and unprofessional. It is now 3 months later and he will not return my emails or phone calls. I tried having my boyfriend call to see if he could arrange for them to be picked up since he didn't want to ship them (he even asked me initially to pay for shipping them to my mother's house despite the fact that they should have been shipped with my dogs). His wife was even more rude. She said she wasn't shipping them out of spite, saying she doesn't know why I'm making such a fuss and "are they gold lined"? She also said she was looking at them as they spoke and would send them when she felt like it. Then Michael sends me another long winded, nonsense email saying even more lies, calling my boyfriend my "so called boyfriend". I have no idea how this man does business because his onslaught of insults are ridiculous. I should have said "you got me! I hired this 'so called boyfriend' and now I'm hoping for a happy ending like in Pretty Woman". He also charged me extra for sending my dogs on a Sunday, nonbusiness day, and never let me know. He was very rude via email about it saying he gave me a discount. He never said why he couldn't ship them on Monday as requested but he was so rude, I didn't want to argue with him anymore. My dogs had a very long layover because of shipping them on Sunday and they were probably shivering in their kennels, wet with few blankets. These business owners make it so hard to trust them with your fur-kids. I'm so saddened that they treat people so badly when they don't get their excess money and now seemingly excess supplies. They take too long to get you going, fill out the wrong forms, and do business in such an unprofessional way, you wonder why they charge so much. I would NEVER recommend this business. I wouldn't even recommend anyone living within a 1000 mile radius of them. They make the world a sad place. read more

Unprofessional and money driven! Submitting a BBB complaint... Made me drive my dog to L.A. instead of picking her up like they said they would. They were over an hour late to the drop off, ended up handing off my dog in a random parking lot and then they CHARGED ME A TRANSPORTATION FEE which I never agreed to!!! Asked for a refund and he refused. Told me I had the wrong forms for the Australian health certificate, even through I confirmed with both the USDA and Australian government. Refused to tell me what the right forms were or where to get them so that I had to have him complete them. After paying the fee, he sent me the exact forms I had already completed. Basically used scare tactics to make me use his service. Such a waste of money! Luckily, my dog did make it safely to Australia, but would never use this company again. read more

I contacted Michael and his wife about receiving my pet birds from Sydney at LAX in September 2015. It took two weeks and followup emails from me before they sent me a quote. When I finally did get one, Michael was quick to answer questions about the quote line items (and did so thoroughly) but I noticed that his prices were about quite inflated over other brokers. For example, they wanted an additional $50 over other brokers for D&C of the airplane. They also wanted $50 over other brokers for filling out and filing paperwork such as the FWS 3-177. I was honestly very torn about whether to use them or not (as many people know, importing animals is a costly experience and I wanted to keep inflation under control) but I decided that I trusted their industry expertise over other brokers (they specialised in animals where as the others I spoke to didn't). So I wrote Michael back to let him know I'd like to work with him and then he never responded. I gave him a week to respond before I went ahead with another broker instead. Like other reviewers, I found GAT's response time lacking and ultimately I can't trust a broker whom I can't reach. These animals are my children and would you leave a child with a nanny who never returns calls? I also felt very suspicious about the way they bad mouthed one of the bonded drivers for quarantine. I had spoken with Susan (Michael's wife) on the phone and the vitriolic language she used made me wonder if this was a personal issue, not a professional one (she couldn't say specifically what he did wrong just that he was a bad person). So I actually called the driver she was bad mouthing and he seemed excellent. Just another reason to make me feel like GAT couldn't be trusted. Bottom line: GAT do not respond to emails fast enough to earn my trust (if I can't reach them now, how can I trust that they will update me when my birds arrive?). GAT bad mouth other industry professionals with ad hominem attacks and then can't substantiate their claims (makes me think they don't work well with others and are unprofessional). GAT inflate their prices above industry standards (makes me feel like their take advantage of vulnerable people who can't be present to substantiate their prices or work). I've read the other reviews here and I can see that many people have had positive experiences but I wasn't willing to take the risk. Michael and Susan, if you want to improve your customer experience and win more business, you need to work on your communication response time, build more transparency into your quotes, and assure clients that you will be a great choice -- not that everyone else will be a bad one. Don't burn your industry competition; it always bites you in the end. read more

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING the most HONEST and GENUINE people. My rotti pushes me out of the way to get to his Uncle Mike.. its adorable. Mike has been there for me from day one when i rescused my pup from the humane society. he is always makes time for me even at last min notice and is more than trustworthy. I am VERY VERY particular with who i leave my baby in the hands of and Mike is the only one he goes to. He is the best animal transport around. without a doubt. You will not find better. These are midwest people liviing in Cali, which is impossible to find. (im from the midwest, i would know) i have been using Mike and Susans service for over a year now. susan is also sweet as pie. i first spoke with her on the phone and she was genuinely concerned about helping me rescue my pup. theygive my dog vitamins in meatballs and do vets visits for him when needed when i am away on biz. I trust them 100% cannot beat the price on top of all of it. Their entire lives revolves around animals. They call them "their kids". Its great! read more

In 2016 when I decided to move to New Zealand one of the first things I saw was if the country would accept my baby, that's when I discovered that the required quarantine process was 6 months in another authorized country (USA, Chile or Argentina) after long search I did not get answers, I started to get desperate, because all the reports were that people ended up giving up their animals, but that was never an option for me. I knew the process would be expensive and long, but that was not what worried me, but my son's safety, even though he was not with me. That's when I contacted Global Animal Transport and Michael gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. I was already 6 months in New Zealand, and I handled everything by email and whatsapp, I will not say my heart was not tight and distressed, but I had to trust someone. Anyway, after deciding everything with a Brazilian company that sent my baby to Michael I have no words to describe how it was quiet for my heart, to have Michael and Susan in my life taking care of my little baby in this long process of 6 months New Zealand requires for Brazilian animals. During all 6 months Michael sent me photos, videos and left my heart calm, the process was long and very complicated, requiring many exams, vaccines, documents, and exact dates for all of this to be sent.Michael has always worked very professionally and Love with my little baby. I could not have chosen the company better to help me in this process, including Michael was careful in choosing the flight company that would send him to me, always being very sincere, that made me very calm. My baby arrived here on the scheduled day, it was very well treated, all the necessary documents he provided. If you think about taking your pet to some country, I would not hesitate to say that Global Animal Transport is the best company, and I just have to thank you for everything you have done for me. Hugs off all my heart Ursula Wiest Stepien read more

The best!! Michael was an angel for me and my pet. I left her with him from quarentine and she couldn't be better treated. His company made an amazing job and my pet spent the minimum period of time in quarentine. Me and my husband have no words to say him thank you for his amazing job!! God bless him and his family! read more

I had a virtually identical experience to Gemini A. I needed health certificates to travel to the UK with my pets, and Wilshire Animal Hospital referred me to Global Animal. They didn't respond to my first inquiry. When I called back, I talked to Mike. He gave me wrong information, and when I tried to explain that I had been given the correct information by officials at the USDA and DEFRA in the UK, he proceeded to argue with me. Then he said he had to go and promised to call me back. He never did. read more

Mike and Susan are so helpful, informative, and really love our animals. They make transporting our animals less worrisome. Thanks for your services! read more

In September 2014 I was preparing to return home to the Philippines with my Alaskan Malamute Service Dog. The process to travel internationally with any animal, let alone a service animal, is daunting and I didn't even know where to start. Fortunately, I learned about Global Animal Transport (GAT) and the services they provide. The entire experience with GAT was absolutely outstanding. Michael explained each step of the process and the requirements in detail and was especially patient when I expressed concerns and/or asked questions. Compounding the situation, I was in New Mexico and had to get to Los Angeles with Onyx (my Service Dog) for our scheduled flight on Philippine Airlines (PAL). Michael was never too busy to take my phone calls or respond to my emails. He made me feel like Onyx and I were the only customers in the world and that our arrangements were his highest and only priority. When we finally arrived in L.A., Michael met with us in person, made immediate friends with Onyx, and noted that the food and water cups in her kennel were really too small for such a large dog. He immediately went to a pet store and purchased large cups at his own expense and provided them to us. He worked closely with PAL to ensure all of our documents were in order, especially confirming free flight status for Onyx as a Service Dog, and he even liaised with PAL Cargo folks to recommend they put ice in the kennel cups so Onyx would have moisture throughout the 13 hour flight. Michael's footprints were everywhere throughout the process and no issue was overlooked. Everything that GAT did was efficient and extremely effective. The service provided by Michael and his company was so professional that Onyx and I breezed through Customs and Immigration at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila without a hitch. Subsequently, I have recommended Michael and his company to close family friends who wish to travel to the Philippines with their pets. I recently had to return to the U.S. for medical appointments and again was traveling with my Service Dog. Michael arranged for a Philippine company to assist me with the documentation needed for Onyx to obtain an Export Permit from the Philippine government. Their efforts on our behalf were good to excellent. However, Philippine Airlines insisted on charging a fee for Onyx contrary to International Law pertaining to service animals. Michael did everything in his power from L.A. to rectify this injustice and illegal charge, but PAL bureaucracy refused to budge. Nevertheless, he expended a great deal of time and effort trying to fix this situation and I was most grateful for his intervention. When I return home with Onyx later this year, I will again ask Michael and GAT to assist me in making the arrangements. He and his company are absolutely terrific. read more

This company is amazing. I exported kitties to Australia and GAT did a fantastic job!. Transporting kitties to Australia is a long process and GAT helped in every step. Mike and Susan, owners of GAT, were so kind and so helpful. They answer all questions, calls, and emails. They are so personable and really care about your pets. Thank you so much Mike and Susan for the smooth transition for my kitties to Australia!! read more

I contacted Global Animal Transport for service helping me relocate me and my service dog to Hawaii since the process is so difficult. I spoke with Susan who was very curt and she told me that NO airline lets service dogs ride in the cabin. I told her I would appreciate any other information she could help me with. She told me she would call "Michael" and call me back. I researched and found that several major airlines allow service dogs in the cabin. Hawaii Dept of Ag will work with this too as far as the quarantine proceess goes (provided you have all your ducks so to speak in a row and this is not easy) and per DOT 14 CFR Part 382 Non Discrimination in air travel on the basis on disability, it is doable. I called her back to let her know what I found out and she went off on me telling me I "know more so I should do it myself", started yelling at me about all the "exotic animals" they transport all over the world like rhinos (I have a small terrier) sounding like a nut case and hung up on me. Very unprofessional and I wouldn't recommend doing any business with or even calling this business. I would have complained to the owner or "Michael" but he has the same last name as Susan and is probably related so nowhere to go....over all very traumatic experience. None of us need this... Retired LEO read more

When ever we call, GAT has always been there for us. Mike and Susan are our go to people in Southern California when ever we need to transport to Northern California. They are trustworthy with the dogs, very dependable, and caring. I'll continue to use them any time a transport is needed. read more

This is an honest insight on the services of Global Animal Transport (GAT). I used GAT to transport a number of goats overseas. It was an awful experience to say the least. I think the most alarming part of that ordeal was the approach Michael (at GAT) adopts to do business when things don't go the way he likes. To make things clear, when you want to ship an animal, airlines will not deal with you (the customer) directly, and that's why companies like GAT exist. I had a contract with GAT to ship a number of goats overseas on a particular date. Close to shipping date, GAT had issues with whoever they use for airlines and consequently my shipment was canceled. Yet Michael did not hesitate to take his payment in full out of my credit card, by then I didn't have a problem with that because I was confident that GAT will solve that problem for me since it was their issue. A few days to solve the issue turned into a few weeks and a few weeks turned into a few months! The delay cost me money since I had to redo the health certificates, and pay boarding charges. Anybody with a little bit of business experience and a modicum of common sense would think that GAT will take care of any charges or extra payments caused by their delay, since it was their fault. Unfortunately this was not the case! Michael said to me that it was not his fault, it was the airlines. The only problem with that was the fact that I wasn't dealing with the airlines, I was rather dealing with GAT. The Delay became irritating since nobody was keeping me informed on what was happening. GAT started ignoring my phone calls and emails! And whatever emails they answered, they were extremely rude. I told Michael it was OK if they can't finish this transaction I will be fine with it, provided the give me my money back so I can find another company, he said he will refund part of it only! He continued to delay and beat around the bushes. I told him to look for other airlines but he insisted on Cargolux for some mysterious reason. And this whole time we were communicating through an agent because he ignored all my phone calls and emails (One can only imagine what I was dealing with). I honestly felt like I was dealing with some backward country not the United States of America. He refused to take any blame for anything. Finally I managed through the agent to convince Michael to ship the goats with another airline. I naïvely thought that this was the end of my ordeal, not quite! The goats arrived here in terrible shape and some of them near dead from thirst, hunger and exhaustion. The trip was almost 4 days and the only thing they had for food and drink was whatever was put in their kennels when they first left the airport in USA. So much for a company that boasted years and years of experience in transferring animals safely and happily. When it was brought to his attention, once again Michael refused to take any blame for it. Until now I don't know at what point GAT is going to take blame for their short comings. And at the end of it all, I received not one word of apology from GAT! I will not speak for everyone, but in my experience, their years of experience did not show in customer satisfaction but rather in their ability to evade responsibility and to look clear legally. I'm sure some other customers had good experience with GAT, and I would agree with that if one asked me what I thought of them when things were going their way the first few weeks. They spoke very politely, but that changed when the tide started going against their plan. personally, I totally lost faith in them. read more

I agree with some of the others who have posted... If I could give them negative stars, I would. Called to inquire about transporting my bosses dog to Ireland. Asked for basic information as I had no idea whatsoever what was required to do so. The woman who handled my inquiry was exceedingly rude, vague, evasive and unwilling to provide even the most basic and fundamental of information. Babbled on about not being able to answer any of my questions because the information is "proprietary" and if Im just looking for free information, go to the internet. I reiterated several times that I was not looking for free information, but rather was attempting to ascertain what THEIR company required to be able to transport my bosses dog to Ireland as soon as possible... Its true what they say... You never get a second chance to make a first impression and suffices to say I will NOT be using Global Animal Transport. This woman is doing a great disservice to her company and should definitely consider a career that does not involve customer service! read more

This company and especially the owner Michael are HORRIBLE!! Do not use them for anything!! They SUCK!! I hired Global to transport (2) cats from IL to OR. They were supposed to be picked up on 12/4/2012 at my vets and never were. They stayed late and no one showed. No calls, no emails, nothing!! I finally got ahold of Michael on the afternoon of the 5th and he said pretty much "OOPS" and cant do what he was contracted to until at the earliest Sunday the 9th. I inquired about the additional boarding costs I was going to incur from his lack of doing what he contracted to do and was tolld that he was not responsible and "too bad" it was not in his control. Well Sunday became a Monday pick-up and delivery, but neither he or anyone else would confirm that was actually going to happen until the last email I got from him. Because I asked questions, wanted to make sure and confirm that he wasn't going to screw me twice, he said and I quote, I was "whiny" and he was "tired of my bitching". WOW!! Aint he a sweetheart!! So, I did a Donald Trump on him and fired his ass!! Do yourself a favor, never and I mean NEVER, use him or this crap company for anything. They lie, dont communicate and really couldn';t give a shit about you or your pets. read more