Moving With Your Pets Abroad

Alina, our Nervous Nellie

Last year I blogged that we would be moving with our furbabies to Belize. You don’t want to wait until the last minute to make plans for moving your pets abroad with you. It takes time and careful planning. First, find out whether your dog or cat will be subject to quarantine. Belize falls under live animal importation rules and these rules are regulated by the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA). Dogs and cats can be brought into Belize without quarantine. Pet owners must have a valid import permit, and an international vet certificate within 48 hours before shipment. The vet certificate should state that the animal is free from infectious diseases and has been vaccinated for rabies not less than one month and no more than six months prior to departure.

Restrictrions or Acceptance Exceptions

You will also want to check with your airlines to make sure that they will carry your breed of cat or dog. I found that American Airlines will no longer accept brachycephalic, snub-nosed or mixed breeds of snub-nosed animals of certain dogs and cats. Also, check for any other restrictions or acceptance exceptions the airline may have.

Kennel Guidelines

Kennels must meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Live Animal Regulations. We have some really large doggies. Two of our dogs are between 75 and 100 pounds. The kennel must be specific to the height and weight of your pet. I told my husband this morning that we were putting our pets on a diet. NO more treats. Make sure you follow international guidelines when purchasing your kennels. 

Helpful Tips

1. Bring your leash and collar so that your pet can be walked if necessary.

2. Make sure you have attached ID tags with your name and phone number.

3. Never transport an animal with a choke collar or muzzle.

4. You may need to sedate your pet for travel. Our dog Alina we call a "Nervous Nellie", she gets very upset with change. So we plan on asking our vet for something to give her during the flight

5. Purchase the kennel in advance to allow your pet to become familiar with it. Hopefully this will ease some of the stress of travel.

6. Airlines will  not transport warm-blooded animals if the actual or forcasted temperature exceeds 85 degrees Fahrenheit at any city on the the routing.

You may also want to check out this Live Warm-Blooded Animal Acceptance Checklist.

MOVING WITH YOUR FURBABIES TO BELIZE

Benjamin, Barney, Alina and Snowy

  

We plan on bringing our 3 furbabies with us to Belize, we could not imagine leaving them behind.  They are 3 Siberian Huskies, Alina Moon, Snowy Moon and Barney Moon...and no Moon is not our last name.  Our daughter wanted Alina, our very first one's name to be Moon..so we just gave them all the middle name of Moon to make them all feel connected with each other.  We also had Benjamin Moon, but he past away last year, he was the most gorgeous of them all. 

They have some beautiful thick fur and they can stop traffic with their looks.  Everyone just goes crazy over them..and wants to stop and pet them.  They are friendly with other people..but they do not like other dogs or animals...They love going for rides on our golf cart, so they will feel right at home in Belize riding a golf cart through town.

Most people always think where we live in Mississippi is too hot for our huskies, but they have adjusted to the heat.  They are mostly inside dogs, staying inside where it is nice and cool.  I am sure they will miss what little bit of cool weather we do have here in MS. but they love the water, so they will be taking lots of swims to cool off in Belize. 

Dogs and cats can be brought into Belize without quarantine, unlike most other foreign countries which require at least a 30 day quarantine.  You must have a certificate from their veterinarian stating that your pet is free from any infectious diseases and has been vaccinated for rabies.

The Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) handles this process, you would need to contact them and request an application form from their permit department in order to bring in any domestic animals to Belize.  Domestic pets are allowed in the country once you have an import certificate, recent veterinary certificate (14 days), rabies certificate and your pet would have to be inspected by a quarantine officer, for a small fee of course.  You must notify the Director of animal health 2 days in advance of date and time of arrival and point of entry.  Make sure and check with director on times that they are open as well or you will be sitting at the border with your pet.

American and Continental are 2 airlines that I know will fly larger pets like ours into Belize.  Lots of people I know have driven to Belize in order to carry their pets with them..but we do not plan on driving, therefore our pets will be getting their first ride on an airplane..I am not so sure how much they are going to like it..but it will be much quicker than the drive would be.

Belizeans generally do not view pets as most Americans do, considering them a main part of the family..our children.  They consider them mostly for watchdogs..but we were told that most have no problem with pets and many people moving to Belize bring their pets with them to live in Belize. 

Here is the info for the BAHA's permit department.

Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA)
Belmopan Showgrounds
Belmopan City
Telephone 501/822-0197
Fax 501/822-3084
Email address  baha@btl.net