Singapore Pet Quarantine: 30 Days for Malaysian Pets

Owners usually meet the 30 days as bad news. It reads better as a fixed point. Every other date in the corridor floats until a lab result lands; Singapore pet quarantine is the one block you can put in a calendar and budget for.

This guide covers how long the stay runs, what it costs in 2026, what happens inside the centre, when you can visit, and the booking terms that quietly add money. Still weighing road against air? Our Malaysia to Singapore pet transport service sets out both. The video below follows one owner through it.

The length is not negotiated case by case. It follows from where your country of export sits in Singapore’s three rabies-risk Schedules. Our companion guide to the Schedule III rules that apply to Malaysian pets walks through that classification in full.

Three points decide the whole stay:

• Schedule III is a residual list. It covers any country or region not named in Schedule I or II, which is where Malaysia sits.
• Thirty days is a floor, not a fixed term. The published requirement, as at the AVS import page updated on 5 August 2026, is post-arrival quarantine of at least 30 days.
• The space is your responsibility. AVS puts the duty to book on the owner or the appointed agent, not on the airline or the vet.

One more thing separates Schedule III. Pets arriving from these countries are vaccinated against rabies on arrival, on top of the vaccination and blood test already done in Malaysia. AVS states the categorisation can change, so read the current conditions on the AVS page on importing dogs and cats before planning around any figure here.

The room rate is the number owners quote each other, but it is not the bill. Two one-off charges attach to every Schedule III arrival, and the deposit lands long before the pet flies. Our cost to move a pet between Singapore and Malaysia breakdown covers both sides.

The deposit is the figure to watch. It is non-refundable and taken when the space is confirmed, often months before departure. Private veterinary care sits outside the bill too — you engage and pay your own vet.

This is the quietest cost variable in the corridor. Two Malaysian families whose dogs share a kennel wall can pay different daily rates, purely because one applied earlier. The ladder below prices the same 30 nights three ways; our pet relocation pricing covers the Malaysian side.

Across the aircon column the increase is roughly two-thirds in two steps: a stay costing under S$800 in 2025 sits above S$1,300 by early 2027.

The application date sets the price. The arrival date only sets the dates.

Owners brace for the quarantine, then lose months to the serology clock. The blood sample can only be drawn 28 days after a valid rabies vaccination, and must then sit 90 days before export. Our guide to the AVS licence for bringing a pet into Singapore shows where the paperwork slots in.

The lesson is sequencing, not speed. Nothing in the first 118 days can be bought down, so the only lever is booking the vaccination early. Owners who start from a flight date usually find they are four months short.

Owners picture the worst. The published facilities are closer to a kennel with a vet on site, and compare reasonably with our guide to a pet’s stay at KLAQS quarantine.

• Dog kennels measure 4.3m by 1.8m by 2.14m, with an indoor room and an outdoor run attached.
• Cattery rooms measure 1.7m by 1.2m by 2m, housed separately from the dog kennels.
• Fan or air-conditioned rooms — the choice that drives your daily rate.
• Daily checks by on-site veterinary staff, plus commercial dry or canned food.
• Morning walks in the exercise fields for dogs, run by the centre’s handlers.

Grooming is the gap. AQC provides no grooming or bathing service, so you bring your own equipment and use the grooming room yourself. Bedding and toys are welcome, though the centre takes no responsibility for items left behind — send comfort things, not valuables. Our list of what to pack for a pet’s quarantine stay applies neatly here.

Medication is the detail owners most often miss. Declare it in the booking application — staff administer medicine only with a prescription and written instructions from your vet.

Visiting is the question Malaysian owners ask first, and Singapore pet quarantine is more generous on this than most expect once you map it to a week. The pattern will look familiar from our note on visiting a pet at KLIA quarantine.

Two facilities are worth booking. Dog owners get 15 minutes in the exercise field, reserved free on the day at reception. Grooming rooms run 30 minutes and must be booked two days ahead, in person on a visiting day.

That half-hour window makes arrival timing matter more than most owners realise. A pet landing Friday evening waits until Monday for the transfer, and those nights are spent at the airport station, not the kennel you booked. Our guides to the Tuas Checkpoint pet crossing and driving a dog to Singapore via the Causeway cover the road route.

The air side adds a further layer, per the AVS notice effective 1 April 2026:

• An AVS-recognised pet agent must handle clearance at Changi, appointed before the pet arrives. Owners can no longer clear a personal pet themselves.
• Animals landing outside CAPQ’s opening hours wait at the ground handler’s holding area until the next working day.

Crates are a smaller trap with a real cost. Any container larger than 82cm by 64cm by 58cm must be collected in person at CAPQ or Tuas; uncollected crates go to a private contractor you then pay to retrieve them from. That co-ordination is the layer My Pet Mover absorbs on both sides of the Causeway; full details sit on the AVS page for CAPQ.

None of these are penalties for doing something wrong. They are the ordinary terms of the reservation, and each one punishes a moving date that is still soft — the mirror image of what we set out on our pet export from Malaysia page.

1. The deposit is not refunded if you cancel. It equals ten days of fees plus the transport charge, so cancelling a confirmed aircon booking writes off around S$425.
2. Amendments get expensive close in. Beyond 30 days before arrival the first amendment is free and later ones cost S$65. Inside 30 days, every amendment costs S$65.
3. The space is held for three days. A reservation is kept only three days past the allocated schedule date, so a delayed flight can cost the slot.
4. There is no extension at the other end. AVS states plainly that extension of quarantine is not allowed, and the pet must be collected between 10:00am and 12:00pm on the release date.

The fourth rule catches Malaysian families hardest. If your own move-in date slips a week, the release date does not slip with it — someone has to be at Jalan Lekar in that two-hour window. Confirm the terms on the AVS Quarantine Management System page before committing to dates.

Treat the quarantine as the anchor date and the rest arranges itself. Work backwards from the release day to arrival, to the export date, and to the rabies vaccination that starts the clock.

Next, read the detail behind Malaysia’s classification in our guide to the Schedule III rules for Malaysian pets, and the corridor overview on our Malaysia to Singapore pet transport page.

1. How long is Singapore pet quarantine for a dog from Malaysia?

At least 30 days at the Animal Quarantine Centre. Malaysia is not listed in Singapore’s Schedule I or Schedule II, so it falls under Schedule III, which carries a minimum 30-day post-arrival quarantine plus a rabies vaccination on arrival.

2. How much does 30 days of quarantine cost in Singapore?

Under the rates in force since 1 December 2025, accommodation is S$26 a day in a fan room and S$35 a day with air conditioning. Adding the S$75 transfer and the S$68 rabies vaccination, a 30-day stay comes to about S$923 or S$1,193. Rates rise again on 1 December 2026.

3. Where is the Animal Quarantine Centre and can I visit?

The centre is at 2 Jalan Lekar, Singapore 698919, nearest MRT Choa Chu Kang. Visiting hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 3pm to 5pm and Saturday from 2pm to 5pm. It is closed to visitors on all other days. AVS asks owners to use public transport, as parking is limited.

4. Do I have to book the quarantine space myself?

The owner or the appointed agent is responsible for reserving the space through the Quarantine Management System. Booking requires the microchip number, rabies vaccination records and the antibody blood test report, plus a non-refundable deposit equal to ten days of fees and the transport charge.

5. Can Singapore pet quarantine be shortened or extended?

Neither. Thirty days is the published minimum for Schedule III arrivals, and AVS states that extension of quarantine is not allowed. Pets are released between 10:00am and 12:00pm on the release date, including on days the centre is closed to visitors, so someone must be available to collect.