What is the HARC?

The Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC) features in ITV’s Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport series 2 with a number of cute and cuddly animals making an appearance – including Llamas! We’ve taken a closer look at centre, its role, and the numbers behind it all!

Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC) is the Live Animal Border Inspection Post (BIP) for Heathrow airport. The centre is run by the City of London Corporation.

For more than 30 years HARC has been a world leader in the care of animals during transport. They receive and care for millions of animals including fish, reptiles, zoo animals and pets.

Last year alone 16,000 dogs and cats, 400 horses, 200,000 reptiles, 2000 birds and 28 million fish arrived at HARC!

HARC’s main responsibilities:

• Collecting animals from the aircraft and bringing them back to the Animal Reception Centre;
• Checking dogs, cats and ferrets paperwork for compliance when imported under The Pet Travel Scheme;
• Checking animal shipments are packed according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) requirements;
• Providing temporary accommodation for animals transiting through Heathrow;
• Upholding all EU and UK regulations relating to animal movement;

Want to know more about what it’s like to work at HARC? We’ve profiled two of their handlers – Will and Mel!

To find out more about HARC visit their website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!