North Bay animal rescue groups say new federal rules on dog importation will hamper their work

Until about two weeks ago, Odessa Gun was considering bringing two dogs from China to her rescue farm in Santa Rosa, hoping to give them shelter and a better life.

Both dogs were fully vaccinated, microchipped, spayed and neutered, and underwent “titer” testing proving they had antibodies from rabies inoculations.

Cupcake was a 6-pound white and red chihuahua and King George, whose back legs were cut off at a meat market, would receive mobility wheels once he arrived at the 7-acre Little Troopers Ranch.

The trip from Harbin, China, to the SFO was scheduled for April 22, but the arrangements were scuttled when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rejected his request. The dogs are expected to be quarantined in Los Angeles.

“I can’t take two or three extra days to fly to Los Angeles and then wait until the dogs are in quarantine for them to make an arbitrary decision about whether or not the dogs should get back on a plane, at our expense”, in China or authorized to come to our aid.

Starting August 1, CDC rules for importing dogs are becoming more restrictive and some animal rescue groups, including those operating in North Bay, are not happy.

The updated rules stem from the CDC’s temporary pandemic ban on the importation of dogs from countries with a high risk of rabies. But new rules now apply to countries considered low-risk or rabies-free.

The rules apply to all U.S. dogs, puppies, service animals and pets entering the country. They apply to everyone, whether you are a U.S. citizen, legal resident, or foreign national.

If a dog is refused entry into the United States, it will be returned to the last country of departure at the owner’s expense. The country of departure is where he boarded the plane to the United States, not where the dog was born or previously lived.

After the CDC released its new import and travel rules on May 8, animal advocates quickly balked.

The Humane Society Legislative Fund, an affiliate of the Human Society of the United States, said in a statement that the new rules would disrupt international rescue efforts and make it harder for families to return to the United States with their animals. of company.

“The CDC’s job is to maintain public health, but these new requirements could unnecessarily delay the return of Americans – including members of the government and military families – to the United States with their pets, creating a large distressing and breaking up families,” Tracie said. Letterman, vice president for federal affairs at the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

Letterman said the new rules risk sowing confusion and causing groups to abandon international rescue efforts.

Under the new CDC rules, all dogs entering the country, including those from rabies-free or risk-free countries, must:

*Look healthy upon arrival

* Be at least six months old

* Be microchipped

* Be accompanied by a CDC Dog Import Form online submission receipt.

Other rules include: All dogs must provide either proof of rabies vaccination or veterinary documentation based on the countries the dogs have been in using the new CDC forms.

Dogs vaccinated in the United States can now enter at any U.S. port with proof of U.S.-issued rabies vaccination, the CDC said in an email. Additionally, the agency said all overseas vaccinated dogs who have been in a high-risk country in the past 6 months must now make a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility before traveling. ‘arrive.

“The CDC will no longer issue dog importation permits for overseas vaccinated dogs arriving from high-risk countries,” the agency wrote in the email.

The CDC says the new, more restrictive rules are an effort to prevent the latest variant of the rabies virus from entering the United States after it was eradicated in 2007.

The changes are also a response to “recent challenges” with international dog imports, such as the use of fraudulent documentation and dogs being housed in unsafe conditions despite not meeting entry requirements in the country.

Gunn, a former professional cyclist and longtime animal welfare advocate, said dog rescue groups would never use fraudulent documents. This practice, she said, goes against the dog-centered mission behind rescue operations.

Gunn speculated that any increase in the use of fraudulent import documents, such as fake vaccination records, likely came from unscrupulous dog breeders.

“We’re not in this for the money,” Gunn said. “Why would we forge something? We care about animals. If we forged something and got caught, it’s the animal that suffers. And no one in rescue would do that.