Starting August 1^st there are new regulations to enter the US with dogs. This is VERY important as it changes EVERYTHING for Isla Animals adopting dogs to the US and it will most definitely affect you traveling internationally with your own dog. These rules apply to all dogs entering the US from any country, however we will talk about the specifics for Mexico. 

So, the new CDC regulations starting on August 1^st establish that dogs entering the US MUST BE 6 months old… this is HUGE… a HUUUUUGE issue for us as 99% of the dogs we send to the US are 4 months old. Ok.. you may think no difference keeping the dogs a bit longer here… and if we ignore the fact that dogs here longer means we cannot take puppies that need it as often as those waiting to leave would be occupying their space… ok… let’s ignore that massive drawback, not like our souls are already drained from every time we are forced to say no… let’s ignore it…

The true problem that comes then, the dog is 6 months old, ready to go, is that airlines are not flying checked dogs to the US. While a 4 month-old dog may still fit in cabin (MAY…) there is no way that a medium size pup will be under 20 lbs and small enough to fit in the carriers (adding check in agents have become very anal in what dogs are or are not able to go in cabin, expressing borderline stupid rules, like the dog has to standa and turn without touching the carrier… excuse me, my 5 pound rat, I mean, chi, cannot do that… but regardless… At 6 months, pups will be too big to fly and airlines don’t seem to be going back to checked dogs (even if it was a “covid thing”).

Ok. So that is HUGE. That’s a disaster because then what? 85% of our dogs go to the US. That’s over 150 dogs…. 

Additionally, the new CDC regulations starting on August 1^st, require a specific format for the rabies certificate (ok… we can do that no problem), microchipping (ok… we can do that too… just an added cost to the pile but ok…), and a CDC form that is not yet available.

The CDC form also presents a massive issue for us. First, we don’t know how long they will take to accept it or decline it or whatever. Second, it requires a ton of information on the dog’s vetting (ok… fair enough…. I guess the health cert and rabies cert are not enough), but also it requires the flight information, the travelers, etc… something that we often get very last minute.

The reasoning behind the changes is… we don’t know. 

What does it mean for Isla Animals this new CDC regulation?

Well… it’s a disaster. Almost equivalent to getting evicted. 

We have without realizing specialized in sending young puppies to the US. Always around 4 months old and always fulfilling all the veterinary requirements for entrance in the US. And we will always continue to do so, but it’s going to be a lot harder. 

Something we have learned is that often things happen last minute. A family comes and falls in love with a doggie, and they leave in 2 days. Well… we have always made it happen, but we are afraid that may not be the case anymore.

We will also need long notice from flight angels, and not everybody plans their trips months in advance, and not always is easy to anticipate a placement for a dog with such timing or make sure the doggie will be all good to go at that exact time in the future. 

Basically, when before we rescued 3-week-old puppies and sent them off at about 4 months old, all vaccinated, sterilized, tested and all… now we will have to keep them until 6 months old, with the fear (and certainty) that they will be too big to fly by then. That’s a lot more food, meds, preventatives, deworming, and work! And it also means that families will have to wait longer for their pup… And we always joke about being great at saving these pups but not so good at training them! So that’s an added worry as by 4 months old they should start learning things!

So… we are trying to stay calm and look into how the future for Isla Animals will be different. There is so much to do… spay and neuter will become our focus again after some time of not having our space, and we may have to keep a population we can safely sustain until adopted…

Overall… just SO SAD.