WASHINGTON – The dog days of summer could be hell for American canines traveling outside the country thanks to a new U.S. policy that may well leave them stranded at the border when they try to return home.
Starting Aug. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer allow puppies under the age of 6 months to enter the United States. Dogs must appear healthy upon arrival.
Deborah Williams of Colden and her 12-year-old Labrador, Sam, enjoy a visit to Pat Sole Park near the Peace Bridge. Williams, who frequently travels to Canada with Sam, criticized the new CDC rules.
Every dog crossing into America – even those returning with their owners from a weekend at the beach in Canada – will have to have a microchip implanted before a required rabies vaccination, and the microchip number must appear on any vaccination records. Those vaccinations will have to be administered by a veterinarian certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Dog owners will have to fill out a new “CDC Dog Import Form” before their loved one’s paws can once again touch American soil, and that form will have to include “a clear photograph of the dog showing its face and body.”
There’s no exception to any of those rules for service dogs, but cats are entirely exempt.
Not surprisingly, dog owners are howling about it.
“What kind of mind conceived all these things?” said Deborah Williams of Colden, who travels frequently to Canada with her 12-year-old Labrador retriever, Sam. “What kind of a mind?”
Williams, a longtime citizen activist on cross-border issues, warned of potential ramifications from the new rules. Microchipping a dog can cost upward of $100, she said, and there’s no telling which vets are USDA-certified and which are not, making it difficult for dog owners to comply with the new rules.
And she predicted if they don’t comply, that could lead to tie-ups at the bridges between the United States and Canada, where U.S. Customs officers could be overwhelmed with enforcing the new rules.
Williams is by no means the only person worried about the new dog importation rules. On the U.S.-Canada Border Property Owners page on Facebook, the CDC doggie dictum was the main topic of discussion. A dog groomer from New Brunswick said the new rules would impact her customers coming over from Maine. Another said she had spoken to two veterinarians who offered different takes on what the new rules mean. Another speculated that the rules could reduce cross-border tourism.
To the CDC, though, the rules are absolutely necessary.
“CDC is updating its dog regulation to protect the health and safety of people and animals and prevent the reintroduction of dog rabies to the United States,” said Dave Daigle, a CDC spokesman. “Dog rabies was eliminated in the United States in 2007. This update keeps Americans and their pets safe and will address recent challenges seen with international dog importations, including the challenges posed by fraudulent documentation and dogs housed in unsafe conditions. The rule will also more closely align with the World Organization for Animal Health’s standards for the international movement of dogs from rabies-endemic countries.”
Then again, Canada does not appear to be a rabies endemic country. Canada reported three cases of rabies among dogs last year. Two of them were in Nunavut, the nearly roadless territory that stretches from the northern Manitoba border into the Arctic. The other case was reported in the Northwest Territories, which are sandwiched between Nunavut and the Yukon.
Hearing that, Rep. Timothy M. Kennedy, a Buffalo Democrat, termed the new CDC rules “a solution in search of a problem.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that families will be impacted on both sides of the border, and it’ll slow crossing times,” said Kennedy, a Buffalo Democrat who wrote to the director of the CDC, Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, in May to complain about the new rules.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican who’s running for re-election in a district that will include the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, also expressed concerns about the new rules. Tenney, who’s been known to bring her dogs along on the campaign trail, said she’s worried that the new rules will prevent Americans from taking their pooches to Canada and be costly to pet owners who decide to do so.
“I urge the CDC to reconsider this policy and prioritize the rights of pet owners and their pups over this unwarranted power grab,” she said.
Meanwhile, across the border, the Canadian Trucking Alliance called for a compromise, saying the new rules shouldn’t be enforced until the end of the year and that all currently vaccinated dogs should be allowed to enter the U.S. no matter when they were microchipped.
“The alliance believes this is a reasonable compromise, which will not only boost compliance, education and awareness of this policy, but will also ensure precautions are being taken to safeguard the health and well-being of the animals traveling with truck drivers who are servicing our Canada-U.S. supply chain,” said Lak Shoan, the alliance’s director of policy and industry awareness programs.
