Navigating international travel for your pet can be overwhelming depending on your destination country. Each destination country has it’s own set of requirements and regulations.
 
These requirements are constantly changing both in the US and abroad. Abbott Valley offers International Travel services to help you navigate this process and ensure safe and legal travel for your pet. We have two USDA certified veterinarians on staff who have attended special training classes just for this purpose. They are the only doctors at our practice who can sign
International Health Certificates and investigate what specifically your pet will need depending on your destination country.

Before you plan any international travel we advise you to begin research on your own regarding what the requirements might be. The best website for this information is:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel.

Because this process can be long and complex, if you are planning to travel internationally with your pet, we require the following:

1. Make an initial appointment at least one month in advance of your travel date. At that time our veterinarian will meet you and your pet, perform a physical exam, begin the research process as to what you will need and advise you of any potential complications that may arise. During this visit you will be asked specific questions about your travel destination, airport of departure and address/contact person abroad. If you are a new client to Abbott Valley you should bring any paperwork you have documenting your pet’s vaccination history(specifically Rabies vaccine history) and whether they have been microchipped in the past. The cost for this visit is 175.00 which includes the research fee.

2. The doctor will then follow up with you via phone regarding any specific requirements that may need to be addressed based on their research.

3. Make a second appointment NO LATER than 10 days prior to your travel date. The International Health Certificates almost always have to be endorsed by a regional USDA certified veterinarian. Certificates have to be electronically uploaded to the USDA web site by our USDA certified veterinarian for approval. (There is a fee for this that will be passed on to the owner prior to traveling with the pet. ) Some countries require hard copies of these documents and not digital copies. This means that you will be asked to provide a prepaid mailing label which our doctor will also have to upload to the USDA/APHIS website. Once you receive your endorsed certificate in the mail you will be ready for travel. The cost for this visit is 125.00 which includes the actual health certificate plus the online fee for submitting to USDA/APHIS(usually around 35.00) The cost of the pre-paid overnight
mailing label is not included because owners arrange this on their own and provide the information to our doctor for uploading.

On more than one occasion, the regional USDA office has rejected an application because either there was a recent regulation change or they simply do not like the way the form was filled out. Unfortunately we are at their mercy. We’ve found that the system outlined above gives us the best chance of having this process go smoothly. There have been times when
owners have had to delay travel in order to take their pets with them on the same plane. Please be advised that we have NO control over the process once it gets to the level of submitting the documents for USDA/APHIS approval.