The vet staff at the Alpine Veterinary Medical Clinic are breathing a 'sigh of relief' following the decision from the CDC to rollback many of the proposed rules for dogs crossing the border. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) almost completely rolled back proposed rules for dog owners crossing the border this summer to the relief of the Alpine Veterinary Medical Centre in Whitehorse.
Initially, the CDC announced proposed rules requiring dogs to be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and accompanied by two forms, including a photo of the dog’s teeth. The proposed changes were met with widespread backlash from veterinary associations, the tourism industry and the Canadian Government.
Dr. Matt Allen, a veterinarian and part-owner of Alpine Veterinary Medical Centre, says business at the clinic is usually very busy and the proposed rules would have only made this worse.
“I was really worried we were going to have a lot of disappointed clients,” said Dr. Allen. “We are having a tough time just keeping up with the day-to-day emergencies that we’re having coming in the clinic let alone all of a sudden now trying to certify all this paperwork for people to travel.”
With many rules, including proof of rabies vaccinations, rolled back the vet staff can focus on other procedures.
“I think every vet in this clinic took a collective sigh of relief,” said Dr. Allen.
Dogs will still need to be microchipped and will only need a dog import form, completed the day of travel, instead of proof of rabies vaccination if the dog has been in a ‘low-risk’ or ‘rabies-free’ country for the past six months. According to the Canadian Government, these relaxed rules may only be temporary.
“I hope they stick with what they’ve done cause right now it does seem that it’s taken the onus off of the veterinary clinic and as well as taken the onus off of the government veterinarians and it’s put it on the owner to follow up on the paperwork,” said Dr. Allen. “I hope they don’t go back to what they were doing before. It seems like everyone is happy and ok with what they rolled out at this point.”
Dog owners traveling to the U.S. will need proof of rabies vaccination to get back to Canada.
