one more crazy question about my dog

[ked]

we were told by an airline that we would have to pay an import tax on our dog! i didnt understand this and the person was unable to answer my question as to why? has anyone heard of this?

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by ked

we were told by an airline that we would have to pay an import tax on our dog! i didnt understand this and the person was unable to answer my question as to why? has anyone heard of this?

Airline staff make stuff up all the time. A long shift and a vivid imagination combined with inattentiveness during the relevant training session I would think.

[raissazhou02]

I didn't hear of this so far,maybe it will be this rule and i think it is reasonable, i hit pet dogs.

[coolbadger]

Originally Posted by ked

we were told by an airline that we would have to pay an import tax on our dog! i didnt understand this and the person was unable to answer my question as to why? has anyone heard of this?

Sounds quite ridiculous to me Ked!

I have spoken with Virgin Atlantic, Delta and British Airways about our dog and none of them ever mentioned this. We were intending to travel on the Queen Mary II cruise liner and they did not mention it either.

Virgin Atlantic actually complete the customs clearance at Boston's Logan Aiirport for you and they would be unable to do this if there was import tax to pay.

I think Fatbrit was right. You spoke to an agent who had not been paying attention!

[twostep]

I never heard of that! If you plan to take your dog back to the UK please have him chipped.

[ked]

yeah i thought the same it was KLM that i spoke to. when i talked to delta they didnt say anything of such. i just couldnt believe it, import tax on our dog hahahaha!!! wonder who they would tax that by weight?

oh yeah i live in holland and is moving to america, but our dog is already chipped but i think we might have to re-chip him in america, will have to check with my vet there in the states.

thanks for all the help you guys are the greatest, and will probably will have some more questions.

[Bevdeforges]

The only possible thing I could think of with an import tax on a dog might be if you have some fancy breed of dog and you're importing him for breeding purposes. But that's just a guess.

As to the chipping in the US - there are two different standards of chips used in the US. One is identical to the European standard. The other isn't. The problem comes if your dog goes missing and the shelter or other place that picks him up has only the chip reader for the "other" format. They'll consider him unidentified, which can be a problem.

It used to be standard practice in the US to require dogs to wear collars with id tags, showing that the dog was registered. Rather than having him re-chipped, you may want to see if that is still the norm in the area where you'll be living.
Cheers,
Bev

[twostep]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

The only possible thing I could think of with an import tax on a dog might be if you have some fancy breed of dog and you're importing him for breeding purposes. But that's just a guess.

As to the chipping in the US - there are two different standards of chips used in the US. One is identical to the European standard. The other isn't. The problem comes if your dog goes missing and the shelter or other place that picks him up has only the chip reader for the "other" format. They'll consider him unidentified, which can be a problem.

It used to be standard practice in the US to require dogs to wear collars with id tags, showing that the dog was registered. Rather than having him re-chipped, you may want to see if that is still the norm in the area where you'll be living.
Cheers,
Bev

Bev - to get the dog back he has to be chipped in the first place.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by twostep

Bev - to get the dog back he has to be chipped in the first place.

To get the dog back into the US? I don't think they require chipping there (at least not yet).

I'm not sure what the recommendation is on having both kinds of chips in the same dog, but I'd investigate that before having the dog re-chipped in the US. If the OP is planning on taking the dog back to Europe, there's not much point in having the "wrong" kind of chip in any event.
Cheers,
Bev

[coolbadger]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

To get the dog back into the US? I don't think they require chipping there (at least not yet).

I'm not sure what the recommendation is on having both kinds of chips in the same dog, but I'd investigate that before having the dog re-chipped in the US. If the OP is planning on taking the dog back to Europe, there's not much point in having the "wrong" kind of chip in any event.
Cheers,
Bev

Hi Bev

Chipping IS a requirement to take a dog into the USA. This has to be listed on the Pet Passport.

Sorry I forgot to mention earlier that in the UK the microchip is a requirement before the Pet Passport is issued.