Dog owners get reprieve, but some still anxious over U.S. border rules

Some dog owners say the temporary exemption Canada has received from the most onerous new U.S. rules for bringing dogs across the border doesn’t go far enough and the reprieve needs to be made permanent.

Earlier this month the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that as of Aug. 1, dogs coming into the U.S. from Canada — a rabies-free country — would face the same updated restrictions being imposed on dog owners from high-risk countries. 

Canada pushed back, and on Tuesday the CDC updated its policy by creating three categories of rules dog owners must follow when bringing a dog into the United States. 

Two of those categories deal with dogs that are entering the U.S. from high-risk countries, while the third outlines the rules for dogs entering from a low-risk or rabies-free country, like Canada. 

While the rules for dogs entering from Canada let owners avoid the most burdensome regulations, they still require new steps that some dog owners say are expensive and may in some cases rule out travel to the U.S. 

One requires all dogs entering the U.S. from Canada to “have a microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner to identify them.” 

Daniel Dickmeyer lives on Salt Spring Island in B.C. and travels across the border every few months to visit his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Seattle. 

His 11-year-old black lab, April, makes the journey with him every time. She has been vaccinated for rabies but has not been chipped. 

“I know it’s supposedly a safe operation, but it’s $200 here,” Dickmeyer said. “Particularly on our island, there aren’t enough vets to go around … it’s going to be a kind of a big hassle just to get the chip process arranged.”

A lack of clarity

Health Minister Mark Holland warned Tuesday that the relaxed rules may only be temporary and described the CDC decision as a nine-month “grace period.”

“We’re going to continue our hard work to make sure when that nine-month period is over that folks can still take their dogs back and forth across the border,” Holland said.

The CDC rules published online this week do not mention the grace period. CBC News reached out to the CDC, but the response Wednesday did not clarify how long the exemption would be in place.

If the grace period is not made permanent, only dogs that had been vaccinated for rabies after they have been fitted with a microchip would be let into the U.S. 

That means Dickmeyer would have to not only pay for a microchip for April, but also to get her double vaccinated for rabies if he wants her to visit his son’s family.

The new rules also require dog owners to fill out an online form and present a digital or paper receipt to border control officers when crossing. 

The form can be filled out on the day of travel and will be good for multiple trips for a six-month period from the date it was issued.

The owner must affirm that the dog has been in a rabies-free or low-risk country for at least six months. As long as a Canadian dog owner meets this six-month timeline, they don’t have to prove a dog has been vaccinated for rabies. 

More controversial, say some dog owners, is the requirement to provide a physical address for where the dog will be once it’s in the U.S. 

Carylyn Barone lives two blocks away from the U.S. border in South Surrey, B.C., and takes her miniature dachshund, Eddie, over the border for walks every week.

She also often brings him with her when she dips south of the border for groceries or gas. 

Barone says she always keeps Eddie’s vaccination records in the car with her when she crosses the border and has never had to provide any other documentation before.

The new physical address requirement, she says, may rule those trips out.

“I’m not going to an address,” she told CBC News Wednesday. “I might be taking them across the border to go for a walk.”

Other dog owners have told CBC News the requirement will impact their ability to enter the U.S. to drive from one part of Canada to another, such as the trip from Sarnia, Ont., and Windsor, Ont., via Interstate 94 in Michigan.

Working dogs and the 6-month rule

Another rule under the new regime requires that all dogs entering the U.S. from Canada must now be at least six months old.

Ariane Stewart, a sheepherder from Maine, says she buys sheepdogs from breeders in Quebec and relies on those dogs to operate her business. 

“Getting a dog at six months can be too late when you need that dog to be bonded to you and you want to start exposing them to sheep at four months,” she said.

“This law has made it impossible to get the puppy I have bought and paid for in Canada,” Stewart added. “Dogs can be integral parts of the business of shepherding.”

Canadian Veterinary Medical Association president Tim Arthur told CBC that guide dogs and other service dogs bred in Canada are often shipped to the U.S. before they turn six months old for training. 

“Guide dog groups that are trying to get them across for training, they’re the ones that are going to suffer,” he said. 

Even with these new requirements, exempting Canada from the same rules faced by countries at high risks of rabies has made “life a heck of a lot easier” for veterinarians and dog owners, Arthur said.

“If the original rules were left in place, we would be in not a great situation,” Arthur said. “I think there’s been some really, really good negotiating done.”

While Canadian dog owners are in a better position than they were last week, Arthur said he wishes he knew what the reality will be months down the road.