People are framed by wildflowers while walking a dog on a pathway at Garry Point Park, in Richmond, B.C., on May 18, 2023. New regulations for dogs crossing the U.S. border have prompted criticism from veterinarians and disability advocates.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Health Minister says he is “very optimistic” that an agreement with the U.S. will be reached to exempt Canadians from new American rules imposing restrictions on travellers entering the U.S. with dogs – regulations that have prompted criticism from veterinarians and disability advocates.
The coming rules, effective Aug. 1, are set to prohibit dogs under six months old from crossing the border and require older ones to be vaccinated for the rabies virus and have a universally readable microchip. The regulations apply to all travellers crossing into the U.S. border with their dogs, whether Americans returning home or Canadians visiting the U.S.; service dogs are not exempt.
When the rules were announced, they required owners to obtain authorization from a veterinarian with the Canada Food Inspection Agency. But Health Minister Mark Holland announced earlier this week that the U.S.’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had agreed to drop the requirement that the veterinarian be with the CFIA.
Mr. Holland said in an interview Thursday that he believes Canada should be exempt from the rules around vaccination documentation and that he continues to talk to American officials.
“The conversations are going well. I feel very optimistic,” he said. “Everybody is coming together on this, which I really appreciate.”
Mr. Holland said Canada isn’t a source country for rabies and should be exempt completely: “We are a country that’s done an extraordinary job vaccinating our dogs.”
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, which has criticized the new American requirements, said the changes this week were positive but agreed with Mr. Holland that they didn’t go far enough.
Dr. Ian Sandler, chair of the association’s national issues committee, said he understands why the U.S. is putting in new rules to control rabies, but he said they aren’t needed for dogs from Canada and that they will overburden vet clinics in this country.
“Unfortunately, Canada being a low-risk country is caught in the middle,” Dr. Sandler said.
A spokesperson for the CDC, David Daigle, said in an e-mail that the agency is aware of concerns about the new rules and is “working with federal and international partners to discuss the feedback received,” but he declined to comment on any potential changes.
Diane Bergeron, president of Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Guide Dogs, said people who rely on service animals should be exempt from the regulation.
“Putting all of these extra barriers and requirements in place for people with disabilities is a discriminatory practice because you are restricting the person’s ability to function as an individual,” she said in an interview.
Ms. Bergeron said service animals should be treated like someone’s wheelchair, which the border does not question as to whether it meets international safety requirements.
People with disabilities have a much lower employment rate, and requiring additional documentation and vet visits will add additional barriers, she added.
Dogs were once common carriers of the rabies virus in the U.S., but the type that normally circulates in dogs was eliminated through vaccinations in the 1970s. The virus invades the central nervous system and is usually a fatal disease in animals and humans. It’s most commonly spread through a bite from an infected animal. There is no cure for it once symptoms begin.
Four rabid dogs have been identified entering the U.S. since 2015, and officials worried more might get through. CDC officials had also seen an increase of incomplete or fraudulent rabies vaccination certificates and more puppies being denied entry because they weren’t old enough to be fully vaccinated.
With a report from The Canadian Press.