hey Folks, we are moving to San Pedro in October and are new to the forum. Yea! We were wondering about the best way to get our dog into Belize. We understand that a vet must sign off on the dog's health within 2 days of our departure.
Any information is helpful.

When I first moved to Belize I had the same trouble. You need to get a permit from the BAHA. Here is the link. http://www.baha.bz/animal_health.html

The permit is free.

You need to fill out the permit application. It is usually granted very easily.

I flew down from LA via Houston. Thankfully I had a very short layover in Houston because they dont let the dogs out of the kennel. So when I got off the plane in Belize City, I was waiting in the immigration line and could hear my dogs barking like crazy. They obviously weren't very happy. SO after going through immigration you will see your dog waiting for you over by the customs area. My boyfriend (who is Belizean) was waiting there with the BAHA permit. He gave it to the inspector guy but it was only a xerxox, not the original. So the guy was telling us we would have to go get the original and bring it back before they would release my dogs to us. This would have taken a day or 2, so he slipped the guy $50BZE and he said we could go ahead and take the dogs. Sad and a little scary that bribing can work so easily, but in this instance I'm very happy.

You will need a certificate of vaccinations. The health certificate must be dated within 7 days of traveling. You will need a permit through BAHA in hand prior to arriving with your dog. This means filling out an actual application, if you arrive in the country without this oh my..$$$$$$$$$$ and the permit is not free. You would have to contact them for current prices, I do know friends of mine were charged $400 U.S by BAHA at the airport for not having a permit in hand although they had done the paperwork. I believe if done properly the fee is $25. Its not a hard process..you can email us at humanesocietycayecaulker.com and perhaps we can assist. Or P.M.me.

I bring my dog with me and if I was you I would listen to Cooper and not someone telling you to do something that they may or may not have got away with. More importantly will you? If you need more advice on this subject after contacting BAHA I’m sure you can get it here.

My pet has a Belize passport because we travel a few times a year. You need an import permit or a pet passport. You also need a Health Certificate and a Rabies Certificate. The Health certificate must be within 10 days of arrival if I remember correctly. If they tell you that your permit will be waiting for you at the airport you had better ask for a copy of the paperwork plus keep the email and bring all documents with you. It could get expensive for you if you don't. The cargo expense plus other fees about equals my airfare (my pet weighs 55#). No, on a round trip it is more than my airfare but I don't tell my wife that.

The loose advice that was given to you will not serve you well. To enter a foreign country for the first time and try to circumvent their laws is not something I would advise you to do. The last time I entered my pet’s passport was suppose to be waiting our arrival. Guess what, it wasn’t, but I had all the documentation and just waited them out after listening to extra fees because I didn't have the correct paperwork. They finally allowed me to pay the normal fee and my pet’s passport was mailed to my destination.

Be advised that if your pet travels as cargo which most pets do, you will have to pay customs on the air cargo fare plus whatever fees are involved for inspection and permit. I insure you that it will be more than $50bz slipped to? The plus side is that Belize is a great place to bring your companion and you and your pet will love it because it can accompany you most anyplace you go. I’m assuming that your pet is well behaved. Good luck. (My dog likes to be with me but prefers to be with me in Belize than our home in the USA.) He didn’t actually say this but I just know.

I recently brought my dog to Belize (in March) and posted about my experience. A search of posts I made should turn it up. We followed the steps on the BAHA website and everything went very smoothly. The only thing I would do differently is that you can get the BAHA permit by fax or by email. Get it by fax. The BAHA office sends a copy to the airport BAHA officer and he prefers to get the fax as he does not check his email often. Also, be sure to request a copy of the permit for yourself. Some airlines want to see it before you board.

There is no real mystery. Go to the GOB / BAHA site and just do what they tell you to. The rules change and people like me might have outdated experiences.

I'll also add that we had some questions in the process and when we called the BAHA office they were extremely helpful.

And bring copies of EVERYTHING. Including correspondence.

Good sound advice Noelle....This works with all the agencies that I have had contact with so far. I find that as long as I follow the instructions all goes smoothly. My dog travels with me on the BAHA passport in-cabin and we follow all the guidelines to insure an easy safe passage through customs and immigration....

There seems to be some conflict in the date for obtaining the vet certificate prior to bringing pets into Belize. Two posters above say different things (within 7 days, within 10 days), and the BAHA site itself says within 14 days of arrival.

I received the form from BAHA with the regulations, and no specific date is mentioned, just that a vet certificate is required.

Does anyone have the real scoop on this? I have sent BAHA an email but have not received a definitive response.

Thanks!

BelizeBoundGirl, If it was me I would get the exam as close to the trip as possible but go with what BAHA says and if there's any doubt, print out that page off their website and bring it with you.

Also, remember that the rabies exam has to be AT LEAST 1 month prior, but not more than 1 year older than your exam!

BAHA may say 14 days but there is another consideration. The Airline you use. I use Continental and this is what they say. I believe it is the same for all because it is controlled by the USDA.

I would suggest that you call your airline for other hints on traveling. Don't get too stressed. Once you have done it once it is not too bad. Dealing with BAHA was a little stressful because of communication but once you get them they are fine. I wanted the most time to get matters settled with BAHA but also wanted to build in a little leeway. I think I settled on 9 days because I was traveling in January and was afraid of weather delays at the airport. Pick up the phone and call BAHA if they do not answer your email. I used to have a contact and email but I'm not sure if it is still valid from what I've heard from others.

ps I'm assuming you are flying down.

Ragman is completely correct. Different airlines have different requirements. Also, we initially emailed BAHA and when we didn't hear back we called. It turns out that the woman who helped us (Melody, I think was her name - very helpful) does not use the .bz official address that's on the website but rather a gmail address. If you're still waiting to hear back, I would call.

I agree with Ragman as usual

We used Delta to bring my kitties (my dog was too large for their requirements) and American for my doggie and the difference in requirements was incredible.

On arrival in Belize, they questioned the penmanship, which was a pain (and subsequently cost me extra $$$s), so I suggest that you encourage neatness with your vet stateside.

True, as our clinic prepares travel certificates for dogs. We use the 10 day rule for Vet check up,but usually try to see the animal 3 to 5 days prior to leaving, better safe than sorry. Also now they have 2 and 3 year rabies shots but Belize has not updated its requirements and still specifies rabies within 1 yr. It will not hurt your dog if it had a 3 yr rabies vaccine 2 yrs ago and you get another one to comply with our outdated requirements.

Check the new list of dogs the airlines won't let travel. American just created a new extensive list

Also, American flies pets to some places and not to others. When we last checked they DO fly pets to Central America but they DON'T fly them to the Caribbean. When we contacted them they told us that they consider Belize to be in the Caribbean and not Central America so we could not take our dog to Belize on American.

Those guys at American Airlines need a map !!

hereis copy from their website today. Perhaps they got a geography lesson.....

http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation...;from=Nav#breed


Allowed Travel Destinations
Flights within the 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Croix
To or from the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central American and some destinations in South America provided the country of arrival permits entry

American flew my friends pet out in May. Having said that I did hear of this problem about a year ago with American. The person argued with them and then ask for a supervisor, if I remember the story correctly. The supervisor informed them that they do fly pets to Belize. Call back again and push the issue if you want to fly American. I'm sure they do but they have someone or some group there who is misinformed.

Let us know if you don't get it resolved and I'll try to contact my friend. The more I think about it maybe it was someone on this board that had that problem. My friend definitely used American in May.

Yes, this is what we are having to do. Our dog had her rabies shot approx. two years ago (and our state requires them every 3 years) but will have another later in July to comply with Belize's requirements.

This is a great thread with much helpful information. Thanks to everyone who has posted!