‘They were going overboard’
Windsor dog lovers are happy that “common sense has prevailed” after the U.S. was hounded into relaxing onerous rules it planned to impose on Canadians crossing the border with canine companions.
“It’s really good news,” said Mark McCondach, who regularly visits Detroit with his dogs, Baxter and Teddy. “The original rule and original process always struck me as a solution in search of a problem.
“Here we are dealing with Canada, low-risk for rabies, entering the United States, low-risk for rabies. They were basically going overboard.”
The update from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday means dogs coming from rabies-free or low-risk countries, including Canada, will not require documents filled in by veterinarians as originally planned.
The earlier version of the rules, set to take effect August 1, would have required, among other things, that pet owners provide a government-issued rabies and microchip certification form filled out by a veterinarian. The form would have been valid for varying periods of time depending on if and where the dog was vaccinated against rabies — in some cases, it would only have been valid for 30 days and for a single entry into the U.S.
The planned change was met with backlash from citizens, veterinarians and the tourism industry in Canada — a country that is not high-risk for dog rabies.
“We wouldn’t have been taking daytrips and spontaneous trips over to Detroit, for example,” said McCondach, who also takes his dogs to Georgia for months at a time.
“It just would not have been in the realm of possibility with those rules in place. It’s nice to see that common sense has prevailed.”
McCondach, whose dog suffered a ruptured disk in May, said the concern went beyond interrupted travel plans.
“We had a referral from our vet to go to Farmington, Mich.,” he said. “We had him over in Farmington in 45 minutes, whereas the alternative was to drive three hours and 10 minutes to Guelph.
“I was always concerned about what was going to happen with otherwise healthy dogs who have been referred to a U.S. specialist.”
Now, as of Aug. 1, requirements for owners of dogs from Canada will be to fill out a CNC dog import form and ensure the dog appears healthy upon arrival, is at least six months old and has a microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner.
Anyone who brings a dog into the U.S. is required to fill out the form. Each dog must have its own form. They can be filled out on the day of travel, but the CDC recommends filling it in a few days or up to six months before travel “just to be prepared.”
The receipt can be printed or shown on a phone to a U.S. customs official.
Those who plan to cross the border with a dog from a high-risk country will be subject to stricter entry requirements as planned, including providing a U.S.-issued rabies vaccination form or a health certificate filled out by a veterinarian.
— with files from Postmedia News