How to Relocate Your Dog to Panama from USA

Planning to Bring Your Dog to Panama; Complete Guide

how to bring your dog to Panama from USA

Panama is a pet-friendly country and welcomes dogs and other pet to Panama. However, bringing your dog to Panama from the United States, requires careful planning and documentations. Relocating your dog to Panama from the USA involves getting a USDA health certificate, and have it apostilled by the Panama consulate in USA. In addition, your dog proof of vaccination is required. The key steps are veterinary documentation, authentication, booking flights, and preparing for arrival in Panama. Here’s a complete guide for Americans who’d like to bring their dogs to Panama

1. Airline Dog Policy

Check with airlines about their pet policies. Each airline has different requirements, including the size of the crate and the number of pets allowed in the cabin. If your dog is large, it will likely need to travel in cargo, so make sure you choose an airline with pet friendly policy.
Arrive to Panama during the weekdays from 8 am -10 pm (one of Ministry of Health personnel is available to process your dog paperwork)

2. Health Certificate & Vaccination Required for Dogs Entering Panama

Get an International Health Certificate for your dog. This health certificate certifies that your dog is free from contagious diseases and can travel.
Get your dog health certificate apostilled. In order to apostille your dog’s health certificate, you may authenticate it with the USDA or via Panama consulate in the USA. official website.
Proof of vaccination is required. Make sure that your dog is vaccinated for rabies and any other diseases required by Panama’s regulations (e.g., distemper, parvovirus, leptospirosis, hepatitis, etc.). The rabies vaccine must be administered at least 21 days before travel.

3. Home Quarantine Requirements for Bringing Your Dog to Panama

Panama requires that a home quarantine for dogs upon arrival. This means your dog will stay in your home for 40 days after entering Panama. In order your dog can qualify for home quarantine, it is required that you submit a special form at least 5 days before arriving to Panama with your dog. The special form is available at the Ministry of Health’s website. There is a fee of $130. for home quarantine of your dog and needs to be paid in advance.

4. Fly to Panama with Your Dog

Here are a few additional tips to help make your pet’s journey to Panama as smooth as possible:

Prepare for arrival: Once you land in Panama, you’ll need to have your dog inspected by a Panamanian veterinarian at the airport. This inspection is part of the quarantine process, so make sure to arrive within the appropriate hours (8 am – 11 pm) to avoid delays. Upon landing, you’ll have to pay the application form $1, the license $5, and the veterinarian inspection $10, for a total of $16 in cash. When it’s required that the pet stays under quarantine custody, an extra cost of $3.50 will be charged for the service.

Takeaways; How to Bring Your Dog to Panama

We, at Panama Legal Center can assist Americans to bring their dogs and other pets to Panama. We have expert staff that can handle relocation of dogs to Panama and take care of all the paperwork for you. We can provide solutions when you bring your dog to Panama such as:

We coordinate with the Panama Vet Agents at the Airport upon your pet’s arrival
We can arrange transportation of your pet from the Tocumen Airport to your home in Panama

Provide the following information in order to start relocating your dog to Panama

· Pet Owner’s name:

· Owner’s Passport number:

· Type of Pet: (dog, cat, etc.)

· Pet’s name:

· Breed:

· Color:

· Sex:

· Age:

· Weight:

· Last address:

· New address:

· Arrival Information (Airline, Date, Flight Number and Time):