Pets clearance in Caribbean - UK based sailing trip

[--Si--]

Hi guys

We are planning a round trip from the UK to the Caribbean via the Canaries and on return via the Azores and France where we shall organise our dog to be taken through the correct route back to the UK. We have already moved aboard in preparation for this and are planning to go April 2009.

We have a PETS passport for our dog. He is microchipped, has had a rabies innoculation, and the passport has been stamped showing the rabies innoculation dates and a stamp confirming from a vet that the blood sample which has been taken has met the required titre.

Our itiniery are far as the Caribbean goes is quite flexible, although we would like to travel to Trinidad,Tobago, the Grenadines, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Is there anything else that we need to do before we depart? I know that in certain countries tick and tapeworm innoculations must be completed 24-48 hours before arrival and that must also be recorded in the passport. I have read on Noonsite that some countries require a "health certificate".
Is this something else we have to arrange?

The plan is to be abe to take our dog ashore for walks etc

If there is anyone out there that has done something similar, ie, take a pet dog from the UK to the Caribbean and back, I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks

Si

[Agur's Wish]

I don't really have an answer to your question because believe me it will depend on who is manning the desk that day has to what hoops you are going to have to jump through. This just happened to us yesterday. We have been flying our dog back and forth to the Bahamas multiple times a year for 6 years. We always apply for a permission to import form from the Bahamas several months ahead of time. Sometimes it gets here and sometimes it doesn't but that's another story. This time it got here. So we took Stanley, our dog in within the 24 hrs before flight that is required by the airlines for a health certificate. He checked out fine but this time our same old vet. had a new form that said we had to submit this form and get it stamped by the Dept. of Agriculture, for exportation of a pet. We call the Dept. of Agriculture and ask about this since we have never done this before. They ask when we are leaving and we say in 24 hrs. They say that is really short notice, do you have an appointment. An appointment ?just to go get a paper stamped. They say they can't understand how we've been getting Stanley out of the country for years. Arrgh. Sorry just needed to vent!

[rockerdar]

Si,
We sailed from the Med to the Canaries, down to the Cape Verdes, then to the Caribbean, arriving in December 2008. We have our pet cat with us, who has an EU pet passport & is microchipped. We have had no problems at all, nor questions, in any of the countries we've visited, including St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe & Antigua. Two years ago we sailed down from the U.S. & visited USVI, BVI, St. Maarten & St. Barts; again, no problem. We have friends that have done the same with their dog(s) and have no problems. Enjoy!

[Hud3]

Si,

Since you're coming from a rabies-free country (the UK), you shouldn't have any problems with quarantine wherever you go. Your pet passport and microchip should be all you need in the Caribbean. The "health certificate" may refer to the vets certificate of health, stamped by the Department of Agriculture that Mary mentioned. We had to present one of those, along with a rabies inoculation certificate, a microchip and rabies blood titre test results when we imported our U.S. cat into Nevis.

All this is only an issue if you plan to take the pet ashore, which I assume you will since it's a dog. When we were cruising the Caribbean, our cat stayed onboard at all times. We declared her as a pet onboard, but there was no issue of health certificates or inoculations, etc. since she wasn't going ashore.

[dpollitt]

quick questoin: your friends with dogs....do they have no problem taking their dogs on shore? when you say, 'no questions' does that mean the issue never comes up upon clearing in?

thanks alot
david

[onotoa]

si,
we are not just sailors but also run an animal transport
business (by air only).

you should take special care about:

a.get the rabies blood test (RNATT) and have it inserted in the pet passport (para V)
for most countries the blood test is valid as long as the pet has continous rabies vaccinations so you should do it before you start!

b.take care that most countries not only look at the origin of the pet but also the country you are coming from - and thats maybe not classified as rabies free

c.look for the rules to re-import the dog to the UK at
Defra, UK - Animal health and welfare - Pet Travel Scheme - What you need to do to bring your pet into or back into the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme

have a good day,
helmut