By Kimberly James; WBAP and KLIF News, Dallas, Texas.
DALLAS – (WBAP/KLIF) – New rules go into effect August 01, 2024 for those traveling with their dogs or attempting to bring a new adoptee back home to the United States. Importation rules from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been through many changes after Americans traveling out of country with their dogs or those who hadn’t heard about the changes following a 30-day advisory period were denied entry, at least, with their four-legged friends in tow.
An average one million dogs enter the United States every year; of them all, four cases of rabies have been proven since 2015. That’s four positive rabies cases in approximately nine million dogs imported. Yet, the stated goal of the CDC is to keep rabies at bay and not allow imported cases to revive the disease in the U.S., although numbers have held steady for many years. The type of rabies virus that normally moves between dogs by a bite or cut exposed to saliva carrying the virus was wiped out in North America through vaccinations in the 1970s. Rabies is a fatal virus that cannot be cured once symptoms begin.
As of August 01, 2024, all dogs that have visited countries where rabies is “common”, or considered a threat by the CDC, applies to breeders, rescue groups, pets traveling with their owners, or people adopting and bringing home a new pet.
Required:
-dog must be at least 6 months of age; old enough to be vaccinated if required, and for the shots to have take effect
-dog must have a microchip under the skin with a code that can be used to verify rabies vaccination
-completion of a new CDC import form online, and a receipt to prove you submitted it and it was received.
There may be more requirements or restrictions, including blood testing from CDC-approved labs, based on where the dog was the past six months.
Original CDC regulations regarding potential dog imports were last massively updated in the 1950s. More people now travel internationally with their dogs; more rescue groups have set up operations in countries around the world to meet the demand for dogs, and to help lower population rates in addition to the tried and true spay/neuter efforts.
Pushback comes from diplomats, military personnel, rescue groups and private American owners; the new rules taking effect are seen as too costly, unnecessary, and limiting in that a traveler cannot adopt a foreign puppy, and in a time frame generally seen as the most effective to socializing and training dogs.
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