U.S. releases tight leash on strict rules for dogs crossing Canadian border

A sigh of relief for dog owners and veterinarians in Montreal, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States walked back their plans to implement expensive forms for people crossing the border from Canada with their furry friends. 

The changes were supposed to take effect on Aug. 1 and included having dogs microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and accompanied by two forms to keep dog-variant rabies out of the U.S.

On Monday, the CDC said it would relax the requirements since Canada is a rabies-free country. Dogs that have been in the country for the last six months can cross the border with just an import form that can be completed online the day of travel.

Owner of Sherwood Park Animal Hospital and Veterinarian, Enid Stiles, says the news is encouraging.

“We’re relieved for our patients and their owners who like to be able to go to the United States on travel and for various reasons,” said Stiles.

“We’re relieved for ourselves because there’s a lot of work that they were asking us to do, we’re relieved for our Canadian government because it was going to be a lot of work for them to do,” Stiles said.

Despite the new decision to drop the requirement, on Tuesday, Canada’s Health Minister Mark Holland said the relaxed rules may only be temporary and described the CDC decision as a nine month “grace period.”

“It’s still a little bit different than it was, now dogs have to be still six months of age or older, so no puppies crossing the border,” Stiles said. “They need to be microchipped and that microchip needs to be either an ISO compatible, which is a special type, or at least readable by a universal reader.”

Dog owners Jim Johnson and Efi Freedman on the Angel Woods Off Leash Dog Trail in Beaconsfield West Island rejoiced and raised more questions following the announcement.

“It’s complicated, because there’s lots of rules in terms of making sure you have the right medical information,” Johnson said on bringing his dog over the border.

“You have to make sure that every time you go see the vet, that you bring the documents with you, so you have that when you cross the border.”

Freedman said she has her dogs microchipped and has always been an avid traveler and is excited to finally bring her pets to the states.

“I actually never took them to the States with me and I go often across the border but that’s because I make many stops and shops, so it’s not ideal,” she said.

“But I would like to go hiking with the dogs sometimes, so that would be cool.”

Freedman said she previously lived in four countries and was always able to travel with her pets on the plane, saying it was always a simple process.

“I’m just curious to see how it will affect the waiting time at the border,” she said. “If there’s an additional inspection needed and it’s going to slow things down for people with the dogs and the people without the dogs as well, then that’s going to be not so fun.”