South Africa is one of the most amazing countries in the world, where nature plays such an important role in a nation’s culture.
The importation of dogs and cats into South Africa requires compliance with a series of health and bureaucratic requirements.
What is there to know?
All dogs and cats imported into South Africa must be registered as Cargo and cannot be flown as carry-on baggage.
The easiest airports to reach are Johannesburg and Cape Town, which can be reached with the main pet-friendly airlines.
In order to be introduced into South Africa, dogs and cats must have obtained an Import Permit from the Department of Agriculture. The issuing of the Import Permit usually takes 5 to 10 working days.
Pets coming from Italy are not subject to quarantine on arrival, provided they comply with all entry requirements.
What are the first steps?
The veterinary preparation of your dog or cat is quite complex. Minimum veterinary requirements are always the starting point:
- microchip
- rabies vaccination done at least 30 days before departure, and no older than one year
- valid annual vaccinations
In addition, further antiparasitic treatments and blood tests are required. These must be organized and defined based on the departure date established and confirmed by the airline.
Although these latter procedures are mainly concentrated in the 4 weeks before departure, our advice is to contact us at least 2 months before your move.
In this way, your dedicated AM Pet Movers consultant will have plenty of time to collect your dog or cat’s documentation, study it and tell you in a clear and detailed manner what to do so that it complies perfectly with South Africa’s entry requirements.
