Find Pet Transport in Glasgow

Looking for pet transport in Glasgow? Whether it’s a dog taxi across the city or getting a pet to the Cairnryan ferry for Northern Ireland, here’s a rating-sorted look at who actually operates locally, one important thing to know before flying a pet in, and what the DEFRA licensing tells you.

A note on the ratings below: these are Google’s, from real reviewers, not our own inspection.

Flying a pet in? Glasgow isn’t Scotland’s Animal Reception Centre — Edinburgh is

Worth stating plainly and early, since this genuinely catches people out: if your dog is flying into Scotland, the Animal Reception Centre is at Edinburgh Airport, not Glasgow. Our guide to pet transport in Edinburgh covers this in full — Extrordinair operates Scotland’s only Border Inspection Post there, and it’s the facility you need regardless of which Scottish city you’re actually travelling to. If you’re arranging a pet’s arrival by air and assumed Glasgow would handle it since it’s the bigger city, that’s exactly the mistake worth avoiding — check the Edinburgh page before booking anything.

Glasgow’s real angle: the motorway hub and the Cairnryan crossing

Where Glasgow genuinely earns its place in this directory is logistics on the ground, not by air. The M8, M74 and M80 converge here, making Glasgow the natural hub for pet transport moving across west and central Scotland by road.

The specific route worth knowing about: Glasgow sits around 81 miles from Cairnryan, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours via the A77, where Stena Line runs ferries to Belfast and Larne. That makes Glasgow the nearest major Scottish city to this crossing — genuinely useful if you’re arranging pet transport to Northern Ireland and don’t want to route through England. Our Belfast pet transport guide covers what happens on the other side of that crossing, including the Northern Ireland Pet Travel Document requirements.

Pet transport operators based in Glasgow

It’s A Pup’s Life
23 Third Ave, King’s Park, Glasgow G44 4TH
★ 5.0 (18 reviews)
Phone: 07872 123288
Google Maps · Website

Originally known for dog walking across Glasgow’s Southside, It’s A Pup’s Life also runs a dedicated pet taxi service — collection and drop-off for vet visits, with a chauffeured option if you’d rather travel with your dog than send them alone.

Pets on the Move
Cargo Building No.1, Units 1 & 2, Campsie Drive, Paisley PA3 2SW (Glasgow Airport)
★ 4.4 (28 reviews)
Phone: 0141 889 4189
Google Maps · Website

Based right at Glasgow Airport’s cargo terminal, Pets on the Move specialises in international pet relocation and export, with over 25 years of experience and IPATA membership. Worth being precise here: this is a pet relocation and export specialist, not the official Animal Reception Centre for pets flying into Scotland non-commercially — that’s still Edinburgh, as above.

Beyond these two, our search this pass didn’t turn up further genuinely verifiable Glasgow-based independents — a couple of names surface on pet-sitting marketplace listings, but without a real address or independent website behind them, we’ve left them out rather than list something we couldn’t confirm.

National operators who also cover Glasgow

The same recurring UK-wide names show up here too — The Pet Bus, ExecPets, 101 Pet Express and others among them. None of that makes them the wrong choice, particularly for longer or international moves, but they’re covering Glasgow from elsewhere rather than being based here.

Checking a DEFRA licence in Glasgow

Type 2 (long journey, over 8 hours) authorisations are published as open data by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and updated monthly. Type 1 (up to 8 hours) isn’t published anywhere public.

We checked the current register against both local operators. Pets on the Move is listed (authorisation reference UK/AYR/T2/00115286) — consistent with the longer, international journeys much of their work involves. It’s A Pup’s Life doesn’t currently appear under that name, which does not mean they’re unlicensed — their work is mostly short, local vet-run trips within Glasgow, the kind that commonly sits under Type 1 authorisation, which simply isn’t published anywhere we or you can check independently. Ask any operator directly for their current authorisation reference regardless of what you find in the published register.

What to have ready before you travel

A DEFRA authorisation reference on request, confirmation of whether your pet travels alone or with others, and a written quote before booking are the same basics that apply everywhere in this directory — our pet transport hub covers the full list of questions worth asking and red flags to watch for. If your dog is a puppy coming from a breeder, our guide to puppy couriers covers what’s genuinely different about that specific journey.

For dogs that find travel or a new environment stressful, some owners find a natural calming supplement helps take the edge off — worth having a look around Calmshops. It’s not a substitute for the checks above, just something that can help alongside them.

Written by Georgiana & Figo. Have a question about pet transport? Have a look around Calmshops or drop us a line — we answer everything.