Travelling to Canada with pets

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

HRDWRK

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 27, 2015
Posts
155
Hello:
We are planning our next trip which includes going up to Canada in some sections. We have a dog and a cat.  What are the needed documents when crossing either borders? I assume health and Rabies certificate for pets? Anything else?
Thanks for the help.
 
I went across the border a couple of times in the past two years.  Both times with a dog.  No questions at all.  I did have shot records just in case.

I have also heard that dog food may be an issue.  I had an unopened bag of dog chow.  Maybe raw food might be a problem.
 
We always carry medical records for the dog, some campgrounds do ask to see them.

Crossing the border, we've never been asked. The one time my wife offered the records, we were told, "Dogs don't commit crimes", and they had no interest.
 
We crossed at Pt Huron/Sarnia six or seven times and I think once the Canadians asked for the animals (2 cats and one dog) papers.  The key is HAVE proof of Rabies vaccination with you for sure.

Bill
 
Out of our many crossings when we still had our dog with us, we were asked if we had her rabies certificate a few times, but never asked to actually show it to anyone.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Try it with the leading dot removed, Bill...

https://travel.gc.ca/returning/customs/bringing-your-pet-to-canada
Thanks Dutch, I didn't notice that.  Have modified my original....    :D
 
Bill N said:
We crossed at Pt Huron/Sarnia six or seven times and I think once the Canadians asked for the animals (2 cats and one dog) papers.  The key is HAVE proof of Rabies vaccination with you for sure.

Bill
I think it's a good idea anytime.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Try it with the leading dot removed, Bill...

https://travel.gc.ca/returning/customs/bringing-your-pet-to-canada
That gets me to the main site but clicking on the cats and dogs sublinks gets me 404s.  However, there is a lot of rubbish in advance of the initial HTTPS and if I eliminate that it brings up the correct link.  I also use Chrome.  Thanks for the assistance.
 
Bill N said:
That gets me to the main site but clicking on the cats and dogs sublinks gets me 404s.  However, there is a lot of rubbish in advance of the initial HTTPS and if I eliminate that it brings up the correct link.  I also use Chrome.  Thanks for the assistance.

The problem is on their end, Bill. The same 404 issues occurs with Firefox and IE as well.
 
Canada Customs officials are not known for their sense of humor.  When friends of ours were asked if their cat had papers, they innocently responded, "No he uses a litter pan."
 
We crossed into Canada with the dog sitting up front with us and the Border Guard insisted on feeding him biscuits - only as an afterthought did he want to see passports..  ;D
 
My wife and I traveled across the border a few times with our dog. We never got questioned but bring records of all vaccines and major medical records just in case! Being prepared always helps cross the border faster.
 
Back
Top Bottom