Hi everyone,

We are perusing the idea at the moment of moving to America for a couple of years.  Still very early stages but one question has come up - can we take our beloved dog??  I can only seem to find information on taking pets from America to the UK and not vice versa.  Is the 6 months quarantine still active or is that old news now?  Any help much appreciated...

Thanks.

As far as I know America has no quarantine, so your dog should be able to go straight in. Your best bet is to contact DEFRA or the US Embassy for up-to-date advice.

Of course, the quarantine/Pets Passport problem will arise when you want to bring him back ...

Thanks, i will put the DEFRA thing into a search engine as I'm afraid i haven't heard of that.  I never thought about the US Embassy either.  Hopefully things will be more straightforward that i thought.  Thanks for your help Jeangenie.

This link seems helpful about taking him into the States, and this one explains what you'll need to do to bring him back into the UK.

Hope it helps! :)

Some have reported a very uninterested reception in the US with dogs, many people have not even had the paper work or animal looked at, and might as well have imported a sheep! :D  Some states/airlines have restricted months, when you can't fly with pets due to the climate being too hot, so make sure you check that. Leash laws vary between states, so might be worthwhile to look into that- in some states you are not allowed to keep your dog off the lead anywhere or remove a bitch on heat from your private property, some states will "allow the dog to bite once", some apparently allow you to shoot a dog as long as you felt frightened!

(We had a Move To The US scare a while back, but thank God it passed! ;) )

Ussher,

I believe the only state that has any quarantine for dogs is Hawaii. When you know in which State you will reside you can check with the State officials to see if there are any special requirements.  Also, depending on the state of entry into the U.S. and the airline you choose, there may be some paperwork you are required to supply or are recommended to provide (like a health certificate).  Given the U.K. is rabies-free, I don't believe you would even need to vaccinate your dog against rabies before entry.

Right now you can check with the CDC <www.cdc.gov>, which stands for the Centers of Disease Control and   Prevention.

When you bring your dog to the U.S. you will need to comply with whatever the State and local requirements there are for dogs.  Usually this means you need to have the dog vaccinated against rabies, you will need to bring proof (vet will supply) of vaccination to your local town offices, you pay a fee, and they will issue you with a dog license.  Usually you will get a small tag to attach to your dog's collar, it has the license number on it.  Generally you need to do this once a year.

I've never known anyone that's had any difficulty importing dogs into the U.S.  It's also no longer difficult to bring dogs into the U.K. from the U.S. or Europe, it just takes more advance planning.

Stacey