Travelling to and from the USA to Dominican Republic

zeferus · Dec 1, 2024

Hi all

Wanted to share our experience in light of the new CDC rules since August 1 2024 of travelling with our service dog on American Airlines from Miami Airport (MIA) to Santo Domingo Las Americas Airport (SDQ) and back 10 days later.

Please note that there are likely other possible ways to do this, but wanted to shared our exact experience in case it was of use to others.

Booked regular economy tickets
Sent scans of the following filled out signed forms to sac@aa.com in an email containing passenger service dog handler name along with the AA Confirmation code.
1. CDC Dog Import Form Receipt (online form https://cdc-786687.workflowcloud.com/forms/090dc543-7b2f-4538-b2c7-2919d12ecc73 )
2. U.S. DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form (https://www.aa.com/content/images/t...vice-animal-health-behavior-training-form.pdf )
Within 10 days of flight, had a US veterinarian examine the dog and request the following online forms from USDA APIS VEHCS system. Once approved by the USDA, our vet was able to print the forms from the VEHCS to PDF and email them to us to save us a trip to the vet office.
1. Health Certificate for the Exportation of Dogs and/or Cats from the United Stated Sates of America to the Dominican Republic
  1. Our vet technician omitted our service dog microchip in the section "21. identification" but we did not have any problems with this at entry to the Dominican Republic. Next time I would make sure this information was there
2. Certification of U.S.-issued rabies vaccine (Required for live dog re-entry into the United States)
  1. This one took quite a bit of convincing, due to the vet technician told us reputedly there was no such thing until we told him to look at the following exact steps in VEHCS:
    - To complete the form in VEHCS:
      Select “New Certificate”
      Destination Country: Choose United States
      Commodity Type: Dogs
      Intended Use: Pet
When filling in the e-ticket for Dominican Republic, we specified that we were importing a live animal.
At the Miami Airport, all three documents were reviewed by the AA check in agent. We were allowed through TSA-PRE with a service dog.
At the Santo Domingo airport, after Immigration and checked luggage pickup but just before the customs x-ray machines, there is person on a booth that inspected our dog's documentation. Please note:
1. There was a cost of 500 pesos
2. We received a document titled "CERTIFICADO ZOOSANITARIO PARA IMPORTANCION PUERTOS - AEROPORTS PARA PERROS Y GATOS IMPORTACION" with our dog's information signed and stamped. We were told to keep this to leave the country,
3. We were also given a receipt for the payment
Within 5 days of leaving we found a local vet to fill in two documents.
1. Official bilingual Health Certificate from the Dominican Association of Veterinarian (come on multi color carbon paper)
2. Letter from vet that our dog is free of screw worm.
The day of flight back, we first went to the SANIDAD ANIMAL little office, it is on the lower arrival level. We entered via departure, and took the elevator down, went outside the airport, turning right as we were walking out. The sign says 8am to 4pm but the official stated 24 hours. A phone number of 809-761-7784 was hand written on the sign
The official (vet employment form the government) took a one of the copies (pink if I recall correctly) of the Dominican Health Certificate, and gave us a CERTIFICADO ZOOSANITARIO PARA IMPORTANCION PUERTOS - AEROPORTS PARA PERROS Y GATOS EXPORPORTACION along with a receipt for the further cost of 500 pesos. Of note the official wrote under observations: ""Este canino está libre de signos y síntomas de la enfermedad del gusano barrenador" (translation This canine is free of signs and symptoms of Screwworm disease)
Even though such notation from an official from the government of Dominican Republic likely satisfied the requirement screwworm note from the USDA, we also asked the official to sign and stamp the previously issued letter from the Dominican local vet stating our dog was free of screwworm
We went back upstairs to departure level to American Airlines checking in where they took a copy of all the US dog documentation.
Once landed in Miami airport, the CBP officer in the Global Entry line only looked at the CDC Dog Import Form Receipt with regards to dog paperwork. Even thought that was the case, I am pretty sure he saw the stack of papers we had ready just that particular document.