New rules for bringing dogs into the United States set to take effect next month will have some unique impacts in Alaska.
The stricter canine border requirements are being implemented by the Centers for Disease Control, beginning Aug. 1. Alaska state veterinarian Sarah Coburn said they’re aimed at keeping a canine variant of the rabies virus out of the United States.
“For the last few years, there’s been some issues with higher risk countries with some fraudulent rabies vaccine certificates, improper vaccines being given,” she said. “So there’s been some issues internationally with the import of dogs.”
Coburn said the new standardized border rules include a ban on bringing any dog under six months old into the U.S.
“We’ve had some people from Southeast Alaska where people may — Skagway or Haines, they may drive to Whitehorse for veterinary care,” she said. “And if it’s a dog under six months of age, they’re not going to be able to do that.”
Dr. Coburn said there’s also a new microchip requirement.
“An owner with a U.S. origin dog, that’s vaccinated in the U.S., that dog needs to be microchipped with an ISO-certified, internationally recognized microchip prior to being vaccinated,” she said.
Coburn said a minimum of 28 days is required from when the microchip and rabies vaccination are administered and when the dog can enter the U.S. Rabies vaccination certificates have long been mandatory, but Coburn said the new rules require the vaccine to have been administered by a USDA accredited veterinarian, or at a facility managed by one.
“So if it’s a lay vaccinator, that will not be accepted is my understanding,” she said. “So for rural Alaska with no veterinary services, those vaccines given by a lay vaccinator are appropriate in our state, and they’re a very important public health intervention. But they will not be accepted for international travel.”
According to the CDC, another rule change requires completing an online dog import form. An agency website says additional required documentation varies depending on where the dog has been in the six months before entering or returning to the United States.
Coburn said she has reached out to the CDC for clarification on the new canine border crossing rules, particularly on how they will affect Alaskans traveling to Canada or the Lower 48 and back.
“I can tell you we’ve had many, many questions and people calling with questions or concerns or trying to get more information,” she said.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, Leopoldo Reyes, said his agency has also been pressing the CDC for more information about how the new rules are meant to be enforced.
“At the moment, we do not have any information from them on how to handle importations,” he said.
Reyes, who used to live in Skagway, said he pushed back when he first saw the new regulations.
“I said, ‘Hey, this is not going to work for Skagway and Haines folks.’ We used to go right across, clear Canadian customs and go hiking,” he said. “We didn’t go to any town anywhere and come right back that afternoon and accordingly, what I’m reading is that they want us to have all of these import documents and this form and a chip.”
Reyes said he’s not sure U.S. Customs staff will be responsible for accepting and reviewing all of the new forms.
“We’ve got enough to do,” he said. “We’ll find out soon enough, I hope.”
Longtime North Pole veterinarian Jeanne Olson said even veterinarians are trying to figure out the new rules, and many people are unaware of the upcoming changes. She cites concern about those planning to head south with dogs this fall.
“Seasonal travelers up here that came up with a rabies vaccine certificate and that’s it,” she said. “They’ll get a little bit of a surprise when they go to the border this year, so we’re trying to get the word out.”
Olson also highlights the issue of sled dogs transported between Alaska locations through Canada.
“There’s hundreds of dogs that migrate down to the glaciers in Southeast, outside of Juneau, mostly for the Princess tours,” she said. “And most of them don’t have microchips, and certainly there are some that probably had pups, so there’s that little uniqueness to Alaska that is also something they hadn’t thought of.”
Olson said she understands the goal of keeping canine variant rabies out of the U.S., but that the new rules don’t make sense for travel between canine rabies-free countries like the U.S. and Canada.
Rashah McChesney of the Chilkat Valley News contributed to this story
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