USDA Certified…Dog?
Ever tried to have your dog USDA certified? We have! It’s not exactly the same certification as the beef we eat, but it does prove that our dog is legit for international travel.
It turns out you need to have the USDA APHIS form 7001 signed and dated within 10 days of your border crossing. Not only does it need to be signed by a USDA certified vet, but it also needs to be signed by the state department, which is located in the Capital. Well we will not be crossing the border within 10 days of our departure. And since we are driving, there is no way we can get this form filled out prior to every border crossing we are going to have. Not to mention ever country has different rules and regulations for what they require (requirements by country can be found here).
Now please keep in mind, we are not just discovering this now. We have known about the International health certification for quite a while now. When we started asking our vet about the process about a year and a half ago they told us to wait until we got closer to our departure date. Tried again about six months ago…”wait till you get a little closer”. Tried on Monday…”We will not be able to fulfill your request as you wish”. So, instead of being able to work our options out for the past year and a half, we are now doing the run around in the final hour. In hind site it’s our own fault for putting our faith in the vet’s knowledge of the process. And in their defense, this trip isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill vacation.
Personally, I feel like the form is more of a formality than anything, and the border guards aren’t going to even look at it, but our vet thinks differently. We tried to get them to leave the date blank so we can fill it out prior to crossing, but they said something about losing their license to practice or something…I’m not really sure how they wouldn’t be comfortable doing that for us, but it’s their loss. So with a 10 day crossing window we are left in a slight predicament. Currently there are a couple of options on the table:
1. Leave the dog behind until we get close to our border crossing date, have him examined, form signed, and loaded onto a plane to California. Not only would this be inconvenient for anyone who is left in charge of Brady (he can be a handful) it would also be a long and anxious trip for us and the dog.
2.Get the document signed by our home vet and forge the date when we get to the border. Although not completely crossed off our list, the consequences can involve up to $10,000 and is punishable by no more than five years in jail. Piece of cake, right?
3. Find a vet in California who will help us out by examining the dog and signing the APHIS form, then proceed to locate the correct USDA department in Los Angeles. Anyone who has not driven across the California border before would think this would be a simple task. However, the California Department of Agriculture will take everything from you, down to the very apple you are eating. This is probably our most likely option but I would imagine there will be some loopholes to jump through.
We have not completely sorted through the options/BS but we think Sarah has a good lead in California. Keep your fingers crossed for Brady!
Stay tuned…
hey bud, I am sure you are already following this people but if not you should talk to http://www.sprinterlife.com and http://www.equipt1.com
they both are traveling around central/south america with their pups. They said for the most part no one gave a crap nor asked for any papers with the exception I believe of Belize?
Supposedly Panama makes a big deal about the paperwork too…
You can always get a vet in Mexico to do a cheap checkup on your pup, then write a clean bill of health (sans date). A digital document would be best so you can add your own dates…less chance of a sue-happy Cali vet coming after you guys. I believe that’s what SprinterLife suggested to us, but we never got that far with our dog.
Thanks for the tips guys! We had been in contact with Ramble Writers a while back and they mentioned the same things and said panama is the hardest border crossing with a dog.
The general feeling we are getting is that the form is this big unknown, and made out to be a big deal, when in reality it’s just a signature on a simple form. It also sounds like everyone gets it and “modified” it to their needs.
Hey Guys,
Jonathan said to check out this website for all the different rules and regulations for each country. I don’t know if you have found a similar page or this one before. Hope it helps.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/pet_travel/pet_travel_basics.shtml
<3
ps- Jonathan says the State Vet in CA would be located in Sacramento http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/. You could fed ex the paper work over night to them and have them fed ex it back to you instead of driving up there if you are not going to be near Sacramento. Let Jonathan know if you have any questions that he might be able to help you guys out with. Hope it all works out for you three! I can’t believe how soon you guys will be leaving!! SO exciting!!!
Hey Jena,
Thanks for the links! That is probably what we will need to do. I spoke with a guy from the Sacramento USDA APHIS office the other day and he recommended doing the same. They have an office in LA but I’m not sure if we will be driving into the city. We may ask Jonathan about any additional meds he suggests taking other than what we already have. Also, we’ll need to get together and do another dinner before we leave!
Hey, found you on Facebook through home on the highway. We are driving to Argentina also-we left home a month ago and have been on the Baja for 3 weeks. At the border in Tijuana they checked our papers for the truck but never asked for anything about the dog.
We have our paperwork and I was a little surprised that they didnt ask.
We had to overnight our paperwork to the office in New Mexico and they just mailed it back the next day. It was very quick but not cheap!
Good luck and when is your departure date?
Kari
Hey Kari!
Good to know about the paper work…that’s kind of what I was thinking would be the case. I wish we were in Baja right now! Just wrapping up the last couple of jobs I have and we are leaving. It should probably be around the end of August. How long are you guys on the road for? Also, do you have a website?
Glad to see you are getting the final papers in order to make the leap.
I can tell you that having our pup along has been a real pleasure and hasnt been any issue at all. Yes, we got the required paperwork, but it hasnt ever been asked for or looked at (thus far).
We are looking into the various ways to get to the mainland as we understand conditions for pets on the ferry are “less than prime”, but so far weve had no issues whatsoever.
look forward to hearing new of your departure and maybe meeting up along the way!
bryan
http://www.thedangerz.com
also…we used Oceanside Vet clinic as we passed through on our way south.
They were great at not requiring a new set of tests and giving us all the docs we needed. Karma loved them!
bryan
http://www.thedangerz.net
Hi! We are a Dutch couple also traveling with our dog. We will start in Canada early March. We will have an International Health Certificate for our dog already stamped in the Netherlands in February. Did they ever check the papers for your dog? Have you been going to the Vet in every country or has it never been a problem?
Hi Erica, have have our certificate but no body has checked it so far. The only place we had an issue with the dog was in Belize. You need to fill out the BAHA form in advance and send it in. The repercussions for not filling it out in advance was a lecture and a $20 fee. Safe travels, we hope to see you on the road!