The Hardest Part

Almost Two years ago my wife and I had the "baby" talk and ended up with a puppy. Now we have our baby so what do we do with her? The first idea is to take her but it will take about 10 minutes of research to learn that if you have money to spend and trust just any veterinarian to care for your pet then sure you can take your pet anywhere. In the event you don't have either a fat savings account or a steady stream of income then this is not an option. We opted to send our little baby to Mexico to live with my mother in law. If I had it my way I would leave here here state side but we don't have anyone here that we could leave her with for an undetermined amount of time so off to Mexico she goes. At this point in our travels we don't know how long we will be bouncing around from country to country or if we will get a "home base" somewhere. If we do get stable then we plan on shipping her to where ever we are, depending on the country we end up calling home depends on what we will have to do next.

When you cross international borders with a pet, you need to have a lot of documentation stating your pet is up-to-date on their shots, they are micro-chipped and that they are disease free. The whole process could take up to six months depending on your home country but in the states you can get everything done in a month as long as you find a vet to help. I currently live in the 8th largest city in the United States and there was only 1 vet here that would agree to do the health certificate that our pet needs to leave the states. The pet health certificate you will need to leave the states costs approximately $200 not including any shots, the micro chip or other Vet fees which they can easily tack on and you must start the health certificate 10 days before they are to leave. It's the one time in my life I felt like I was the dog, jumping through hoops and begging for a treat. The micro chip you need to get for your pet before you go to most European countries can't be a simple chip it must be compatible with ISO standard 11784 or 11785 if not you must provide a micro chip reader. You also need to ensure you have the chip implanted well in advance because some countries require you to have your pets rabies shots done a certain amount of time after the chip was implanted and before the expected flight date. I will repeat myself, you MUST start looking at the requirements from both the home country and receiving country so give yourself as much time as possible and it would be helpful if you are starting to plan your trip to get out a calendar and start putting the dates down.

Other than all of the red tape you have to go through to ship your pet anywhere there is also the stress you will have for the stress that your pet will have. The transition from our apartment to my wife's aunt has been confusing enough for her and the next step will really blow her mind, we never crated our puppy and to fly your pet internationally, the pet must be in the cargo hold area and can not ride in the cabin with you. So now to ease our pet's stress we need to buy a carrier that the airline approves and crate her now before we leave so she is at least familiar with the cage and that will be one less thing to freak her out. Again, I stress to those of you who have a pet and want to travel, do your research early and often because there are a million and one regulations. After you satisfy the border crossing requirements you still need to figure out the requirements of the airline, train or bus line you choose. We are planning on flying our pet to Mexico rather than by bus or train so I haven't had to look at those requirements and while I probably should help out anyone reading this blog and try to translate their requirements too but I'm not a super blogger yet. Do your pet justice and think about them in this move, what will be best for them no matter how you feel. If taking your pet all over the world will work for your pet and you can afford it then by all means enjoy all that the world has to offer. If taking your pet will cause you mental and financial problems then either find them a loving home or work from a home base. Good luck with your pet travels, I know my puppy is worth it and I'd bet yours is too.

Here are some helpful links.
USDA
Another USDA Link