EStar
4/15/2011 19:01 EST
It’s my first time to post to the forum, but I have been a long time follower. Thanks for all of the helpful info. on a variety of subjects. My wife and I are moving to Ecuador for 6 months and will likely be bringing our dog. I appreciate all of the great prior posts regarding getting pets from the U.S. to Ecuador. How is the process going from Ecuador back to the U.S? Does anyone have experience with this? I would like to know what to expect before we commit to bringing our dog. Thanks!
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vandtor
4/15/2011 20:43 EST
It has been 17 years but I did take my retriever back to the US. I needed a health certificate from my vet. At the time there were only 2 vets in Ambato so by default I got to know one pretty well so he wrote me out a certificate having never done it before. I then had to take that to the Ministry of Agriculture in Quito to be stamped by a certain person. That took a couple of favors but I was able to get it done in an afternoon. Our actual biggest problem was getting a kennel. We had arranged with the booking agent to buy one from the airline when he bought our tickets but of course it wasn't there when we got to the airport. They then had to find someone to go and get it. We were saved by the fact that there was another dog on the flight as well. We got to Miami and nobody even looked at the papers.
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Silverwater
4/16/2011 11:27 EST
In 2006 I took two cats from Ecuador to the US. No health certificate was required although we got one just in case. No one ever checked it. There may be different requirements by the airlines, so may sure you check and check again with them before you fly. Sometimes their rules change seasonally.
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DragonflyTraveller
4/19/2011 13:00 EST
My husband I just did this on the 13th of April - make absolutely certain that your rabies shots are up to date and you have copies of the certificate and we asked for a general certificate of health at the same time - the vet has this in her computer and simply fills in the blanks - we had a couple of these certified to avaoid issues at the boarder as we weren't sure just how sticky people would be at either boarder - coming back tothe US it's critical to have the paperwork very handy - we found that the more we looked prepared the faster we were served - the wjole process took including customs, luggage retrieval and lugage and dog pass - less than 45 minutes - we were thrilled. wriite me direct if you need more - [email protected]
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vandtor
4/19/2011 18:18 EST
It just made me a little mad that after all the paper gathering, no one asked to see the paperwork. I even tried to give it to a couple of the inspectors. A customs agent even walked up tp me with my flatbed loaded with the dog kennel and several pieces of luggage, asked if it was all mine and waived me straight past the customs line.
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DragonflyTraveller
4/21/2011 18:40 EST
We felt the same way as we were passing through and then had heard so many horror stoies from those who weren't prep'd and I was very grateful to see my four footed friend safe and happy to see me - I wasn't such a bad person after all!
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EStar
4/26/2011 18:51 EST
Thanks for sharing your experience transporting your pets from Ecuador to the US. It sounds like with due diligence on our part (proper shots and lots of documentation, stamps, signatures, etc.) we should be OK.
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