Moving to Greece with dogs

Question
I have the opportunity to live in a beautiful coastal part of Greece permanently.  However, I have two medium-large dogs who are family members and who cannot be left behind.  Do you know about Greek laws and regulations pertaining to importing dogs?  Also, what is the most comfortable type of transport for large dogs?  I am not sure that they would survive being in crates on an airplane.  Is there some sort of way to transport them by ship where I could be aboard with them?  Thanks for any assistance you may be able to give me!

Answer
Dear Gene
Thanks much for your e-mail.  I can be of MUCH more help to
you if I knew where you are; or, where you would leave from
to go to Greece! Are you in the USA?
Air travel is the ONLY practical way to travel to Europe.
The Cunnard Steamship Lines operate the 'Queens' from NYC
to UK, some are planned to the continent.  You might want
to contact them.  At one time freighters were a big item.
Not much anymore.  You might try contacting some travel
agent that specializes in this type travel.
Air travel is most safe.  We ship and receive pets from
all over the world with NO problem.  So long as your dogs
are healthy, should be no risk
Since Greece is part of the European Union, their rules
apply.  From USA:  dogs need microchip.  Rabies vaccination
at least 30 days old and less than 1 year.  APHIS 7001
international health cert issued within 10 days of travel
and endorsed by usda.  Then: the most important certificate
is the EU 998 which is a bi-lingual cert, depending upon
country of arrival: eng - ???. This records microchip and
rabies info.  This must also be endorsed by usda.  This
cert can be as old as 4 mos at time of travel.  This cert
is sometimes referred to as a health cert.  It is NOT.
If you can arrange direct flight to Athens from USA, then
you would have the English-Greek version.  If you were to
go to: say, Frankfurt, then travel by car or train, you
would also need: eng-german.  You could fly to Rome, drive
to say Bari, Italy and take a ferry boat across the
Adriatic to Greece.  All kinds of romantic possibilities.
Be aware some breeds are forbidden in some countries!!
If you land on the continent other than Greece, best to
secure the EU Pet Passport for further travel.  Not available in USA.
Please visit:  EU pet travel on the internet.  A wealth
of info for you.
Once you can be more specific about yourself and the dogs
then I can likewise be more specific as to possibilities.
I really envy you being able to take this adventure.  I
have been there!!!
Hope to hear from you soon
Jerry Mishler