Traveling With Pets to Dominican Republic
Traveling with pets to the Dominican Republic and Zoosanitary requirements to import dogs and cats by air travel. The requirements established in this document apply to the importation of the following animals considered by the Dominican Republic as pets: Dogs and Cats.
1. Animals must be accompanied by a health certificate issued and signed by a veterinarian; If the veterinarian whose name and signature appear on the certificate is not an official veterinarian, the certificate must be countersigned and stamped by an official veterinarian.
2. The certificate must contain the name and address of the owner and the complete identification of the animal(s) (name, breed, sex, color, age, microchip and/or tattoo).
3. The certificate must specify: the vaccines applied, vermifuges and the control of external parasites.
4. Additional information:
4.1 The animal(s) was/were examined within 72 hours prior to the date of departure, found free of infectious or contagious diseases, treated against external and internal parasites and come from an area in which no Diseases of importance to the species have occurred in the last 60 days.
4.2 The animal(s) was/were vaccinated against rabies. The vaccine must be based on inactivated virus and administered no more than 12 months and no less than 30 days before the date of departure, in the case of animals that start their immunization program.
4.3 All dogs vaccinated against rabies for the first time must receive the vaccine at least 4 weeks (30 days) before travel.
4.4 Puppies should not be vaccinated against rabies before they are 3 months (12 weeks or 90 days) old. The rabies vaccination certificate must include the puppy’s age or date of birth.
4.5 Adult dogs (15 months and older) must have a history of receiving rabies vaccinations (first given after 3 months of age) and have a record of all booster rabies vaccinations. With this registration it is not necessary for adult dogs to wait 4 weeks before traveling.
4.6 Your dog’s rabies vaccination certificate must not expire during travel. Verify that it will remain valid throughout the trip.
5. The rabies vaccination certificate must include all of this information – Name and address of the dog’s owner. – Breed, sex, date of birth (approximate age if the date of birth is unknown), color and markings of the dog. – Dog’s microchip number – Date of vaccination against rabies, information on the product used and expiration date of the product. – Vaccination expiration date. – Name, license number, address and signature of the veterinarian who administered the vaccine.
6. To import dogs and cats on a commercial scale, an authorization is required. This must be requested through the Single Window for Foreign Trade (VUCE) using the Importation of Domestic Animals form.
6.1 The letter requesting the import permit must indicate the following information: – Species, sex, race, color, age – Quantity to import – Country of origin – Country of origin – Port / Airport of embarkation – Port of arrival – Conveyance – Commercial securities
6.2 All requests must be signed and stamped by the person or company concerned, with a telephone number so that they can be reached if necessary.
If you are traveling back to the USA, be sure to visit the CDC and USDA pages to stay current with regulations in place, the alert below can be critical to travel with a dog or cat back to the States.
– – A L E R T – UPDATE —
Starting August 1, 2023, the temporary suspension for dogs entering the United States from high-risk countries for dog rabies has been extended. This includes dogs arriving from countries without high risk of rabies if the dogs have been in a high-risk country in the past 6 months.
Import eligibility for all dogs (pets and dogs intended for resale/adoption) from high-risk rabies countries will expand and allow import options for dogs vaccinated for rabies in the U.S. as well as in foreign countries provided the dogs meet the requirements outlined on the CDC’s website. Learn more on CDC.gov.
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