Does Mexico quarantine pets, such as dogs or cats?

Mexico may quarantine an animal entering the country if the owner doesn’t provide a veterinarian certification.
 
If you bring your pet on a flight they generally always check, and if your pets arrives without the certification, then they can quarantine the pet until a Mexican veterinarian checks it out. Relative to driving to Mexico, many of my clients say they were never asked for their animal’s papers, but it’s possible that they will ask, so it’s good...

Mexico may quarantine an animal entering the country if the owner doesn’t provide a veterinarian certification.
 
If you bring your pet on a flight they generally always check, and if your pets arrives without the certification, then they can quarantine the pet until a Mexican veterinarian checks it out. Relative to driving to Mexico, many of my clients say they were never asked for their animal’s papers, but it’s possible that they will ask, so it’s good to get the certification.
 
I believe you need to get the certification 7 or 10 days before you leave that states that your pets have all of their vaccinations and they don’t have certain diseases. For people who have multiple pets, you can bring in somewhere in the area of three pets per person. As a result, it’s important, for example, if you have five pets and you’re two people, you put up to three pets in one person’s name and the other in the other person’s name because if one person has more than three pets, they will pay a tax.  By mistake, some people will just say, “Oh well, the wife will go to the vet and put all the pets in the wife’s name,” but when they come on board the plane, they hear “You have five animals in your name. You need to pay a tax because you’re only allowed to bring in three.”

 

(Dog riding in a car, pictured.)

We have owned a home in Puerto Penasco for 2 years and have recently moved here full time a few months ago. We have 2 very large dogs.

 

Almost every time we cross into Mexico, we are asked to pull over (they can't miss our 2 furry boys) to show proof of current vaccinations, including rabies. Mexico does not recognize the 3 year rabies vaccine, so that has to be current.  There is a Health Certificate that is required and must be...

We have owned a home in Puerto Penasco for 2 years and have recently moved here full time a few months ago. We have 2 very large dogs.

 

Almost every time we cross into Mexico, we are asked to pull over (they can't miss our 2 furry boys) to show proof of current vaccinations, including rabies. Mexico does not recognize the 3 year rabies vaccine, so that has to be current.  There is a Health Certificate that is required and must be signed by a vet within 10 days of crossing.  We have one but do not get one every time because we cross often and we know what they want to see. The best thing is to obtain a record from your vet which has their current vaccinations and also your dog' s picture. They want to see your pet's picture on the health record! That will suffice if you travel back and forth frequently.

 

You cannot bring any dog food that is grain based. If they should find it, they will take it from you. They do not want any grains transported across and also want you to support the economy here and buy the dog food locally. 

 

(Mary Anne Greenawalt's dogs at Puerto Penasco a few days ago, pictured.)

Sometimes Mexico does quarantine pets such as dogs or cats. It depends on the customs officer. 

 

What happens is if they don’t have that paperwork or if the pet is coming from a place in the world where it would give the Mexican official cause to be concerned that they may be bringing in some type of disease and this is not in the United States typically, then the customs officer has the discretion to be able to quarantine the dog or, on the other hand,...

Sometimes Mexico does quarantine pets such as dogs or cats. It depends on the customs officer. 

 

What happens is if they don’t have that paperwork or if the pet is coming from a place in the world where it would give the Mexican official cause to be concerned that they may be bringing in some type of disease and this is not in the United States typically, then the customs officer has the discretion to be able to quarantine the dog or, on the other hand, the person trying to bring in the pets could say, “I don’t want my pet to be quarantined for 40 days. I’m leaving to go back to the US and get the right paperwork and then I’ll be back.” 

 

Quarantining a pet is very, very unusual. In order to guard against this, when you want to bring your pet make sure that they have all the vaccinations and all the records to show to Customs, “Look, my dog has all the vaccination. There is no illness.”

  

No one’s going to be confiscating your dog and putting it into quarantine without your permission.

 

(Dog enjoying the beach near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)