Dogs in Central America

My husband and I are planning a road trip in our station wagon through Central America next summer, and we would like to bring our dog because we are hoping to stay for 2 years. Does anyone have advice about dogs in terms of the weather and all the border crossings? In, "Central & South America by Road," (1996) they say that bringing dogs is cruel because of all the inspections they must go through, but I am now reading a more recent book, "99 days to Panama," where they brought their dog and it seemed fine.

Also, does anyone know about quarantines in Central American countries? I heard that Panama quarantines the dogs for 3 months!

Thanks!

This is a tough one. What is harder on a dog? Being separated from his pack for 2 years or risking the hazards of travel? I dunno for sure . . .

We brought our 2 dogs here from the cold, high mountains of Western Canada. They did not have much trouble adjusting to the temperatures. Even though they had never experienced anything like that at home. We did end up shaving our collie-sheperd cross but that was due to skin infections, not weather. There are a LOT of bugs that like the taste of dog down here. Make sure you have appropriate meds with you.

We flew our two down here so I cannot speak to the crossings and quarantines of other countries. I can tell you that people do not view pet animals the same as folks do in North America. I know that many towns regularly put out poison to control the strays. Not trying to scare you out of it, I just want to try to give you enough info to make a decision.

Being a life-long dog-lover though I hope you will forgive me if I advise to consider this carefully. There are already too many stray dogs in CA. If you think there is even the remote chance that you will have to part company with your buddy then leave him at home. Guess I answered my own question.

ps- There was no quarantine in CR.

International animal quarantine laws can be confusing and not very predictable. Definitely check the regulations before you go -- the consequences for not doing so can be terrible. When I flew into South Africa with my cat, I met a dog at Johannesburg Airport who was being sent straight back to Portugal at his owners' expense because they'd neglected to get a form stamped by the state vet there.

Here's one link with some information.

I work at a veterinary clinic and I highly recommend contacting the USDA vet closest to you before you go, as soon as possible actually. The requirements to get into countries change without warning and the internet is not always updated right away. If you want you can contact me directly and I get you the phone number for the USDA vet in Washington who could probably get you the phone number for who you should be working with.

Good luck!