Bringing your dog to the US from Italy

In short

• Italy is low risk for the CDC. A dog that has only been in Italy or other low-risk countries in the last 6 months needs the free CDC Dog Import Form receipt, and nothing else from the CDC.
• The form asks for no photo, no vet document and no rabies certificate. You can complete it a few days before the flight.
• The trap is a recent holiday: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey are all on the CDC high-risk list. Check every place your dog has been, not only where it lives.
• On the way back, Italy follows the EU rules for dogs entering from outside the Union.

Before you leave Italy

Your dog must be at least 6 months old when it lands in the US, look healthy and carry a microchip that a universal scanner can read. Italian dogs are normally microchipped and registered with their regional dog registry, so most owners are already covered. Ask your vet to scan the chip anyway, and update your phone number in the registry before you go: a chip that cannot be read or traced is the most common problem at the border.

The CDC does not ask for a rabies vaccination for a dog from Italy. You still need a valid one to bring your dog back into the EU. Look at the date in the EU pet passport now, and if the vaccination would lapse while you are in the US, book the booster in Italy before you leave. A booster given late may count as a new primary vaccination and start the waiting period again.

Ask your local ASL or private vet whether anything in your dog’s file needs updating, and ask the airline early. Carriers set their own limits on crate size, temperature, breeds and cabin or hold travel, and some ask for a health certificate even when the CDC does not.

The trips that change the rules

The CDC asks where your dog has been during the last 6 months, not only where it flies from. Several destinations popular with Italian dog owners are on the CDC high-risk list: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey and Georgia, among others.

A dog that stayed in one of them within the window is a high-risk dog. If it was vaccinated outside the US, it needs a titer test (a blood test that measures rabies antibodies), a certification endorsed by an official government vet and a booking at a CDC-registered animal care facility. Italy has three laboratories on the CDC list of approved laboratories, listed as IZS, IZSLT and IZSV, which are Italian public veterinary institutes. Ask your vet which one accepts private samples and how long it takes, because the blood must be drawn at least 28 days before arrival.

Flights to the US

A low-risk dog can enter at any US airport, so a direct flight from Rome or Milan and a connection through another low-risk country are both fine for the CDC. Many Italian travelers connect through a European hub, which is simple as long as your dog stays with the airline and you do not spend time in a high-risk country on the way.

The low-risk receipt stays valid for 6 months for multiple entries, as long as your dog always departs from the same country. If you later fly to the US from Italy and then from Switzerland or France, those are two departure countries and two forms.

Coming back to Italy

Italy applies the EU rules for non-commercial movement of pets. The Ministero della Salute explains that the rules for pets arriving from outside the EU follow the EU pet travel regulations. According to its pages and the EU Commission:

• the dog must carry a microchip (a tattoo only counts if it was applied before 3 July 2011 and is still legible);
• it must have a valid rabies vaccination, given when the dog was at least 12 weeks old and after the microchip, with the validity starting at least 21 days after the primary vaccination;
• it needs an EU animal health certificate, completed by an official or authorised vet in the US, endorsed by the US authorities and used within 10 days of issue;
• the owner signs a written declaration that the movement is not commercial, and a maximum of five pets may travel together;
• the dog travels with you, or with an authorised person if you travel within five days before or after.

The United States is on the EU list of countries whose dogs do not need a titer test to enter the EU, as the EU Commission lists it. Checks for pets that travel with a passenger are done at the entry point, normally by customs, so go through the designated travelers’ point of entry and have the papers ready.

See returning to Europe with your dog for the full EU checklist, and airlines and pets for the carrier side.