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I have occasionally read on thhis forum about the process of bring a pet to CR. I know the basics, but I have recently gotten some conflicting information. I know that she has to have her rabies shot no more than a year and no less than a month before traveling. I know that she has to have her vet’s checkup signed by the US Depart of Agriculture, Veterinarian division. But I thought I then had to go to the CR Consulate for approval – Now I have been told that this step is no longer necessary. Help! Also I need to know what to do after arrival in CR, going through customs, etc. She will be in the cabin with me. She’s small.
Harperanne[quote=”Harperanne”]I have occasionally read on thhis forum about the process of bring a pet to CR. I know the basics, but I have recently gotten some conflicting information. I know that she has to have her rabies shot no more than a year and no less than a month before traveling. I know that she has to have her vet’s checkup signed by the US Depart of Agriculture, Veterinarian division. But I thought I then had to go to the CR Consulate for approval – Now I have been told that this step is no longer necessary. Help! Also I need to know what to do after arrival in CR, going through customs, etc. She will be in the cabin with me. She’s small.
Harperanne[/quote]I think you know everything there is to know. I will be flying with my dog in the cabin on Dec.2nd. So, the only other thing I know to say is that I will post when I get there and let you know how it actually went. 🙂
We brought our dog and cat down. The cat was a medium size cat and fit under the seat. The dog was a large one and was in the freight. Since the dog was in as freight we had to have a importer here in Costa Rica process some paper work. The cat no problems just take and go.
harperanne, you’re aware, I hope, that you must make prior arrangements with your airline to bring the cat in the passenger compartment. If I understand correctly, there’s a maximum number of alive animals the airlines will tolerate on each flight and, too, there is a charge. Best to check in advance.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]harperanne, you’re aware, I hope, that you must make prior arrangements with your airline to bring the cat in the passenger compartment. If I understand correctly, there’s a maximum number of alive animals the airlines will tolerate on each flight and, too, there is a charge. Best to check in advance.[/quote]
You are right David! Harperanne, make sure you make reservations well in advance to make sure your dog is first on the day of travel. US Airways will allow only one dog per flight in cabin.
I brought my large dog in a kennel 1 year ago , They brought the kennel into the baggage area and we showed the papers to security and went out the door. All the other info you have is the same as I did. Kennel has to be at the airport to cargo way ahead of flight. ( Maybe 4-5 hours.)Call your airline for the best info.
Since your dog is small and is traveling in the passenger compartment with you the process is very simple. Call your airline and they can advise you on the entire process. Continental and American have specialists who deal with this and they are very knowledgeable. I haven’t dealt with any of the other airlines.
There is no consulate paperwork required. We’ve always had an agent in Costa Rica handle the import process because our dogs are large and have been shipped as freight, but apparently that’s not necessary in your case. Again, the airline will tell you exactly how to handle everything (unless you have the misfortune to be travelling on one of the airlines with poor customer service such as Spirit).
All pet owners! You need to know this, for the sake of your pet, and your wallet. The Americans with Disablities Act allows you to take a sevice animal almost anywhere that humans are allowed, anywhere, including airplanes.
They can not limit you, your service animal, or the number of them allowed on the plane. This is a very strong and clear law. Service animals are not only defined as helping “obvious” things such as blindness. A service animal does not need to be a guide dog. they can be for medical or emotional needs. There are many medical needs that service animals provide such as seizure warnings, diabetic shock, etc. If you claim your service animal for ANYTHING medical, then by law it is a privacy issue, and you must be given access and no one is allowed to ask you to divulge your personal medical condition. Of course you can, but you do not have to. You only need to state that the animal is serving your medical need. If you claim emotional need, then the airline will usually require that you do produce an officail letter from a licensed health care provider.
This is very well documented in American law, and should be used by anyone who can apply it to their situation.
First, your animal will not have to suffer the stress, and possibly worse, situation of flying in the luggage hold, and the beauty of this law too, is that the airline is not allowed to charge you anything to bring them on board, nothing.
When we moved down, we brought our Labrador, he was welcomed with scrathches,and offers of water and treats, we got great seating to give him enough room to lay at our feet. When we arrived in Saj Jose, we breezed through customs by handing a gentleman our paperwork, that being the FDA paparwork that stated his clear bill of health, shots etc, as stated earlier, and that was that.
I personally know several people who have done this many times with their dogs, and have never had a problem.
If you have any questions, please ask.you cannot just claim your dog is a service animal and then take it on the plane with you. maybe you did it and got away with it, but that is not how it REALLY works,. the airlines are allowed to ask for PROOF that you need this dog and that proof comes from a doctor. it is not an American law, these things are governed by the International Air Carriers Association and there are strict guidelines. if you have no disability, and no written proof that this dog provides a service, they have the right to deny you and your pet from boarding that flight. they are not allowed to ask you personal questions as to the in-depth nature of your reasons for having this dog, but you had better have proof that you need it or it will become a big hassle. you were lucky. i know several people who were not and were not allowed to fly with the dog in the cabin. customs couldn’t care less HOW the dog got down here. they only care about the proper paperwork. and some of the laws fall under the ADA, but you need a bona fide disability for any of those laws to apply to you. if you read the 26 pages of the international laws governing service animals on a flight you will see that there is an entire script that the airline employee is allowed to recite, and if you miss any of the trick questions, you and your dog are not flying together. punkt!
[quote=”jafranz”]I brought my large dog in a kennel 1 year ago , They brought the kennel into the baggage area and we showed the papers to security and went out the door. All the other info you have is the same as I did. Kennel has to be at the airport to cargo way ahead of flight. ( Maybe 4-5 hours.)Call your airline for the best info.[/quote]
believe it or not but the law change the week before we came down. Now you have to have a Costa Rica importer to issue a number to give to the airlines now a days. When you get into San Jose the kennel will go thu the process and you can pick it up about two hours later…
we just brought 3 dogs down in September from NY. 2 of the dogs were under 100 lbs. so my wife checked them in as baggage on American Airlines and there was a $150 charge. They need to have all the vaccinations and the certificate needed to be stamped by a USDA vet who was located at the JFK airport. The funny thing was when she was entering Costa Rica, the customs officers did not even check the paperwork. In doing my research, I found American Airlines has the most liberal policies regarding dogs.
The 3rd dog we shipped was 145 pound German Shepard and American would not fly him in checked baggage and there cargo rates were crazy expensive. We used Continental out of Newark and I had to get him a jumbo container which Continental sells for $250-$300. The transport costs an extra $650 which included an overnight in Houston and he arrived in San Jose since cargo dogs cannot come into Liberia. We had to pay a customs broker to take him out and also pay taxes which costs an additional $450 or so. It was $1100 total. The customs broker in San Jose must be contacted 2 days in advance of dogs arrival and you must provide a copy of vaccination certificate. Good Luck[quote=”diesels12″] We had to pay a customs broker to take him out and also pay taxes which costs an additional $450 or so. It was $1100 total. The customs broker in San Jose must be contacted 2 days in advance of dogs arrival and you must provide a copy of vaccination certificate. Good Luck[/quote
We paid around the same but less on the customs broker.. ours came to around 800 dollars. Funny thing is that continental only has a list of one broker and he gets all the biz from them.
seems like just another way to make some flow.
it’s a shame they are milking any nickle teet they can attach to.
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