Pet-owning residents of several counties in the states of West Virginia, Ohio, & North Carolina are urged to have their pets vaccinated for rabies if not already immunized.  Keeping the level of antibodies in your pets at a high level through booster vaccinations is strongly urged.

With wildlife rabies reported in raccoons in Greenbriar County, West Virginia; Columbiana County in Ohio, and Davidson County in North Carolina — health department officials in the three mentioned states offer the following advice: do not handle wild animals that appear to acting strangely, keep your dogs leashed at all times when out of doors, do not leave unconsumed pet food out of doors, report any contact with wildlife, particularly raccoons to your local health departments, and remember, rabies is spread through the saliva of affected animals.

With five variant strains of rabies virus in North America, raccoon rabies is the most common form identified.

When in doubt of your pet’s rabies vaccination status, have the pet receive a rabies booster from your local veterinarian.

Overseas visitors to the USA are enticed when visiting regional shopping malls to find puppies for sale.

The pet shop owner, eager to sell the overseas visitor a puppy, entices the sale by saying “all you need is a heath certificate from a veterinarian, and you can take the puppy in the cabin with you as you travel home.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.  For example, a colleague in the northeast was contacted by a visitor from Sweden who was encouraged by the Brooklyn pet shop to purchase the puppy, find a veterinarian to issue an international health certificate, and take the pet in the cabin of the airline upon their return to Stockholm, Sweden.

For pets to enter Sweden, they must have a microchip, a rabies immunization, and a blood test for Rabies antibodies four (4) months after the Rabies vaccination.

Along with treatment for both internal & external parasites, the puppy then can enter Sweden without quarantine.

Summary: for overseas visitors coming to America this winter for vacation, family gatherings, etc … understand the rules and regulations for the entry of pets into your home country before purchasing.  Especially since most live animal purchases are not refundable.

The internet is not the place to purchase a puppy.  Think before you act when you are asked to wire funds via MoneyGram, Western Union, CanadaPost, etc to a total stranger in another country; for example, Cameroon.

Very clever internet predators post photos of pretty puppies: Yorkies, Bulldogs, Chihuahuass, etc. on a variety of web sites with the alleged purchase price much lower than what you would pay locally in your community.

Over a period of several hours to several days, you are asked again and again to wire more funds.  Once they have snared enough money from you, the internet thieves indicate Air Animal will be sending you the alleged puppy purchase.

Air Animal is not involved in the transport of puppies between a seller and a buyer. Air Animal is the Tampa, Florida based pet transport service for relocating families.

When you are contemplating purchasing a puppy via the internet know the breeder.  Do not trust a broker in another country who offers you a puppy or puppies at bargain prices that involve another company to transport your promised purchase to you; wherever you live.

Unfortunately we see and field calls on this all of the time.

Puppy Buyer Beware!

The recent finding of three (3) rabid racoons in Central Park should give Park goers cause for concern; especially with two (2) in the past week.

The New York City cluster of positive Rabies cases (20 this year: 14 from the Bronx, 4 from Manhattan, one from the Queens, and one from Staten Island) indicate all five boroughs are infected.

With no human case of Rabies in New York City since 1953, pet owners are urged to be wary of any animal acting strange, and immediately report the animal’s behavior to 311. Animals that have been attacked or may be attacked should be reported to 911.

New York City pet owners:

• Are urged to have their pet’s Rabies vaccinations current or be updated
• Leash your dog when walking it
• Do not leave dogs outdoors unattended.
• Do not attempt to separate animals that are fighting, you may be an accidental bite victim.
• Feed pets indoors.

New York’s Animal Bite Unit may be contacted at 212-676-2483; after hours or weekends call 212-POISONS (784-7667)

Call 311 for Medical follow-up, or your medical provider.

Under the UK & DEFRA’s Pet Travel Scheme, the former onerous quarantine of pets for six (6) months in the UK no longer exists; as long as the following five steps are followed.  They are:

1. See to it that your pet dog, cat, or ferret is microchipped.
2. Administer a Rabies immunization after microchipping.
3. After a period of time, i.e. as little as two weeks and generally four weeks after the Rabies jab; have a blood sample collected by your veterinarian — this is the “blood draw date”. The required blood test is known as the FAVN-OIE Rabies antibody determination.  Please note: the ferret does not require the rabies antibody test, yet requires the six month waiting period.
4. Patiently wait the six months post “draw date”.
5. Your pet is ready to go the UK quarantine-free, provided the Rabies antibody test results are greater than 0.5 I.U.’s (international units). Lastly, have your veterinarian issue the EU#998 form attesting to the health of the pet dog, cat, and ferret; along with both internal & external parasite treatment as defined by the protocol.

All pets & animals enter the UK as booked & manifest air cargo.  Sorry, UK & DEFRA law does NOT allow pets traveling in the aircraft’s passenger cabin; nor as checked nor accompanied baggage.

And “voila”!  Your pet lands in the UK.  After a brief period of time with Her Majesty’s customs and veterinary services, your pet is on its way to its UK home.

At this time of the year, we are receiving requests for the rules, regulations, and conditions relating to travel to continental Europe in the Winter, Spring & Summer of 2010.

You’ll find many comments, reviews, some positive, some negative, some neutral, and mostly helpful on the internet in a wide variety of web sites as you gather the information to make your ultimate decision to take Rover with you on your European holiday if you considering traveling to continental Europe with your family pet dog.

There are many situations to evaluate as you consider having Rover accompany you on your European holiday/vacation.

Let’s discuss continental Europe and the destinations of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Warsaw, Athens, and Lisbon.

The Rabies immunization in your pet must be no more than one year old, and at minimum 30 days old. The “other” routinely administered vaccines should have been given in the same time frame as the Rabies immunization.

The American three (3) year Rabies immunization protects the pet whilst in the USA .. and is generally not recognized as valid throughout the remainder of Europe. As France is regarded as “Rabies free”, the French require annual rabies immunization. Germany will accept the three year vaccine, yet as you travel to the other European countries, you must respect their requirements as regards the time frame of Rabies immunizations.

The member states of the European Union (the EU) have created a model three page health certificate for the movement of pets within the EU. The document has no reference number; yet we at Air Animal refer to it as the EU#998 form .. as it follows EU Directive 998.

The EU#998 records the origin of the pet, its microchip identification, its Rabies immunization, the signature of the examining US veterinarian, and the endorsement of the USDA’s veterinarian, authenticating the accreditation of the examining veterinarian. For those countries requiring treatment for internal parasites (tapeworms) and external parasites (ticks) .. there are areas designated.

The EU#998 is good for four (4) months after issuance, or until the expiry date of the recorded Rabies immunization.

And, you’ve been told the pet’s health certificate must be no more than ten (10) days old at the time of flight.

Simple solution; your accredited veterinarian should also issue the USDA’s APHIS Form #7001 for acceptance by the airline carrier originating from the USA.

Document Summary: to travel to continental Europe, have your veterinarian  issue two documents; the USDA’s 7001 to board the aircraft, and the EU 998 to enter the destination country.

Should your European holiday and vacation include staying with friends, relatives, etc .. you will know well in advance of their receptivity of  bringing your family pet dog with you as you travel.

Pet friendly accommodations are easily identified through your web site research should your holiday & vacation travels  take you from hotel to hotel in continental Europe.

Summary: European vacations & holidays with the family pet are possible. Consider how your pet adjusts to change, and how the pet relates to new and ever changing environs.

In a future blog, watch for it, we will discuss pet travel to the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Malta whose requirements for pet entry are different than those of continental Europe.