Shipping dogs to Costa RicaW

[sbruce]

We have 2 American Staffordshire Terriers that we are bringing to Costa Rica from Texas. The problem that we are facing is that only American and Delta will ship this breed in cargo. American arrives in Costa Rica at 7:30pm. Customs closes at 5:00pm. And Delta won’t ship if temperature is above 70 degrees. Does anyone know if arrangements can be made to have a Custom agent check dogs in after hours?? Any other info about shipping dogs would be appreciated.

[maravilla]

i heard on another board that these dogs are not even allowed into costa rica. i hope you have checked with the appropriate agency to see whether or not this is true. someone suggested on the other board that the vet give a different name to the breed, but it was decided that the custom’s agent was smarter than that.

[DavidCMurray]

I’m not familiar with Staffordshire Terriers, maravailla, so please say a little more. Why would Costa Rica object to the importation of this particular breed? Is this another way to spell “pit bull”?

[Andrew]

After we have established that your dogs are “legal” or not ….

Please also note that if you use the Discussion Forum ‘Search’ facility, you will find a significant amount of information about bringing your dogs into Costa Rica in this forum.

Scott

[maravilla]

yes, pit bulls was what they were called on the other board, disguised as AST. that is all i know, and i did not personally research whether they are allowed to be brought in to costa rica or not. someone who seemed to know what they were talking about said they were not. and if only two airlines will take these dogs, well, what’s up with THAT?

[maravilla]

i found this on another board:

Pit Bulls and American Staffordshire Terriers are genetically the same breed of dog and there are several instances in which a particular dog has dual registration. In fact, the UKC was founded for the express purpose of allowing registration of the breed. If you don’t believe me, look at the bylaws of the UKC which set forth the 12 rules of pit bull fighting. Over time, the UKC also became the registry for hunting dogs which is its main focus today. The AKC eventually began allowing the breed to be registered under the name of American Staffordshire Terrier. What we currently have is a situation in which one group (the UKC) has been breeding the dog for “performance” and the other (the AKC) has been breeding the dog to maintain specific physical standards. Selective breeding over many generations have produced two strains of the same dog with pit bulls having the tendency to be more aggressive. Since only an idiot would want to fight a dog, I prefer the temperament of the American Staffordshire Terrier.

but the bottomline is that they MAY NOT be allowed in Costa Rica. they are not even allowed in Denver! there were other posts on that board — one from an insurance agent — who said her company wouldn’t insure a homeowner in ANY state who owned an Amstaff. so if i were the owners of these dogs, and i am not making a judgment about these dogs at all, i would make sure to check with the ministerio de salud or whatever agency down here governs the importation of animals. i don’t know if the USDA would know, although they might as they are usually up to date on what is required to export any animal to any country in the world. if they are not allowed here, and you try to bring them in, they could be destroyed, and nobody wants that to happen.

[maravilla]

and i found this:

“Costa Rica’s ban on pit bulls is fueled by the
same inaccuracies, myth and ignorance as Mike and others have been trained by the media to believe.”

having said that, i believe that this argument later mutated into trying to label the mixed pit bull dogs that someone wanted to bring in as a “mixed breed” and that was where someone else said no customs agent is that stupid. so please check and make sure that this ban is still in place before you try to bring your dogs and have the worst case scenario happen when you get here.

[costaricafinca]

Here is a [url=http://www.relocationcr.com/]pet relocation service [/url]that may help, also check out this one, [url=http://pettravel.com/immigration/CostaRica.cfm]Pet travel[/url]

[Andrew]

Juts as a heads up, I know people who were quoted $20,000 to ship their birds to Costa Rica by this company….

[maravilla]

my big question is why will only two airlines fly these dogs in the first place? and if this breed is banned in cr, why would a private carrier bring them in?

[DavidCMurray]

You might check http://www.animalsaway.com/. This is the company who brought our Lab in back in ’05. I think they would know what is and isn’t feasible.

[sbruce]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]You might check http://www.animalsaway.com/. This is the company who brought our Lab in back in ’05. I think they would know what is and isn’t feasible.[/quoteThanks, I am waiting for their reply.

[Larrythehat]

[quote=”maravilla”]i heard on another board that these dogs are not even allowed into costa rica. i hope you have checked with the appropriate agency to see whether or not this is true. someone suggested on the other board that the vet give a different name to the breed, but it was decided that the custom’s agent was smarter than that.[/quote]

What is the appropriate agency in Costa Rica?

[maravilla]

i think it is the ministeria de salud — they have a subsidiary org that deals with animals and the importation of them. i wonder if the USDA would know because they also deal with the importation of animals to CR and are usually up on what’s required.

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