How to travel with a pet [Video]

Matt Perrault has shipped animals in and out of Canada on behalf of owners for more than two decades, handling creatures ranging from birds to bearded dragons, rabbits and ferrets.

But lately, it’s requests to haul cats and dogs that have been raining down on him.

“It’s been growing,” said the owner of Ottawa-based emBARK Pet Transport. “Lots of people are moving for work. And some people just want to be with their dogs on trips,” he said.

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“It’s like their baby.”

Pet travel has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. The number of dogs coming into Canada each year — temporarily, permanently or returning from an adventure abroad — rose by more than 400 per cent between 2013 and 2019, when it hit an estimated 37,400, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

While …