The Hairy Heartbeat of Your Home

{Yes, I totally stole the title from the More Than commercial. Unless of course you haven't seen that commercial.....in that case, it's completely original.}

I was particularly worried about shipping our dog to Italy from the U.S. I had heard horror stories of people being turned away at the airport, for any variety of reasons, left scrambling to find care and transportation for their pets. And quite honestly, I can say that I have seen this first-hand a few times...and for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, things went quite smoothly for us, but I attribute that to a great deal of research and preparation. I was a nervous wreck about it and making sure that I had every contingency planned for soothed my nerves!

My advice is START EARLY. If you even think that you may be getting orders overseas, go ahead and get your dogs or cats chipped if they aren't already. Specifically, your pet must be microchipped with an ISO 11784 or 11785. Huh?! Yea, I don't know what that means, but I do know that Homeagain microchips are recognized in Europe and in the States so that seems like the easiest way to go. Widely available, reasonably priced, easy to continue registration online. Easy peasy.

Are there other options? Yea. Easier options? I can't imagine it.

In addition to being chipped, dogs and cats must also have a current rabies shot. The shot must be administered between 30 days and 11 months from the date of travel. While I do not see it on the checklist from the vet clinic, my dog also required a blood test that had to be completed at least 3 months before depature. Because there are specific dates and timelines that must be met, it can feel like you're doing some sort of paperwork limbo.

If your base has a veterinary clinic, rely heavily on their knowledge of the process. They've done this before and they have all of the regulations at their fingertips. {Though I still researched the topic to death! Did I mention I was a nervous wreck?}

The vet clinic at our losing base had very limited number of available appointments and was generally difficult for me to use. So, I got all of the documents that I needed from them and used my civilian vet to accomplish all of the necessary shots and bloodwork. Because she was not familiar with the process of pet exportation, we worked closely, I explained the process, and then I had all paperwork double-checked by the base clinic. Totally worth the extra legwork!

Ouch! Don't remind me!

After all of the shots, chips, bloodwork, x-rays, MRIs....okay, maybe it wasn't all THAT bad, but after all the actual work is done, you will still have to visit either your base clinic or a USDA-accredited vet to complete your pet's Bilingual Veterinary Health Certificate {Pet Passport}. This is accomplished within 10 days of travel. The certificate expires 10 days after the date of the vet's signature.

You really should plan for delays in travel and wait as late as you can before getting this completed, that is to say, as close to your actual date of travel as possible. My husband got stuck in Germany for 2 days while traveling with our dog. There were mechanical problems with the aircraft. He didn't know how long he would be there. Her paperwork was for Italy ONLY which meant he needed to get to Italy before those 10 days expired. {Did I mention I was a nervous wreck about the dog?}

All ended well though. They made it here safe and sound.

There is a lot more to say about bringing your pet to Italy and I plan to cover that in the next few weeks. There are differences in commercial and AMC rules regarding pets. There are weight limits, required fees, and equipment guidelines that must be met. Hopefully, having some of this information will help you have fewer sleepless nights than I did.