Bringing your Dog to Hawaii: What it Takes
So, you’re considering taking your pup to Hawaii with you? What a great choice! Have you talked this over with your veterinarian? Before you hop on a plane, there are several steps you’ll need to take:
Vaccinations
Vaccinations are important, not only for the health of your dog but other animals too. Your pup might be completely healthy, but how can you be sure the others you might see are? Not everyone might be as concerned with the health of their pet; the risk isn’t worth it! Just because not everything is legally mandated doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
Rabies is the one you can’t skip out on. In order to travel to Hawaii, your dog must have been vaccinated for Rabies at least twice in his lifetime, those vaccinations no more than 90 days apart. You’ll need two original copies of the vaccination certificates.
Puppies
Due to the minimum requirements, puppies need to be at least 10 weeks of age before they can travel to Hawaii. Don’t worry if your pup is too young! A 120 day quarantine is usually required for those that can’t meet the requirements.
Microchip
In order to enter Hawaii, a pet needs to be microchipped. Your veterinarian will provide a certificate stating both the microchip number, and the fact that it was able to be scanned (which you’ll need).
Blood Titer Test
As a laboratory test measuring the existence and level of antibodies to disease in blood, a Blood Titer Test is both an important and necessity method of preventing the spread of disease. The blood test needs to be done not more than 36 months and not less than 120 days prior to arrival in Hawaii. Your veterinarian will need to scan your pet’s microchip prior to the blood test.
A licensed veterinarian will need to complete a veterinary certificate for Hawaii, in English, in order to allow pet travel. The document must be an original, created not more than 14 days prior to your pet entering Hawaii.
Quarantine
Hawaiian law requires dogs and cats not able to meet requirements for a ‘5 day or less’ quarantine program to be quarantined for up to 120 days upon arrival in Hawaii. Pets arriving from the British Isles, Australia, Guam and New Zealand might not be required to enter quarantine.
Air Travel
Pets may enter through Honolulu International Airport between the hours of 8am and 9pm. From there, the pet will be taken to the airport quarantine center, which is also where you can pick up your pet. Pets can also enter through the neighbor airports of Kahului, Kona, or Lihue as long as arrangements are made in advance.
Airlines
Depending on your airline, pet policy might differ. It’s important to verify that policy in advance. Hawaiian Airlines does allow both dogs and cats, as well as some household birds with an additional fee.
According to US law, no domestic airline can refuse travel to licensed service animals, and requirements will differ for obvious reasons (no one can reasonably be asked to quarantine an animal vital for their daily well being). Even so, they’ll need to complete pre-shipment requirements, and you’ll need to provide licensure.
Of course, all of this is subject to change, but you can visit The Department Of Hawai’i FAQ Page for more up to date details!
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