The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2023 67 AFSA NEWS CDC Extends Dog Travel Ban The CDC has extended its ban on importing dogs from countries with rabies—including many overseas posts where AFSA members are serving—until July 31, 2023. There is an exception for dogs that were vaccinated in the U.S. if their vaccination is still valid, they are micro- chipped, and they are more than six months old. Employees can find more details in 23 State 15990. AFSA will continue to engage with department man- agement on this expensive and stressful process. Mem- bers will find the latest updates on our website. n another significant cost, with 17 percent of respondents paying more than $1,000. For those who used third-party travel companies, only 10 per- cent spent less than $1,000, and 5 percent of those who responded spent more than $10,000. Some, but certainly not all, of the most expensive moves were paid for by those with multiple pets. Time and effort expended from a high-risk country. For arranging pet transport from a high-risk rabies country, 57 percent of respondents spent from 10 to 40 hours; and 20 percent spent more than 70 hours— the equivalent of almost two full workweeks. When asked to gauge the degree of dif- ficulty, 80 percent of respon- dents reported that it was “difficult” or “very difficult” to transport their pet(s) from a high-risk rabies country to their next posting, whether the posting was overseas or stateside. Costs, time, and effort for general pet transport. Reported costs were high, even when shipping a pet from a non-high-risk rabies country, with a range from $200 to more than $10,000. The percentage of those who spent from 10 to 40 hours was higher for general pet transport (69 percent of respondents), but only 6 percent spent more than 70 hours (vice 20 percent of those who transported pets from high-rabies countries). The general pet transport process was still challenging: 78 percent of these respondents (vice 80 percent of respondents from high-risk rabies countries) rated the process “difficult” or “very difficult.” Effect on Bid- ding Decisions. According to sur- vey respondents, pet transport costs and complexity fig- ure prominently in Foreign Service pet owners’ bidding decisions. Of those who had not been in high-risk rabies countries, 65 percent said the cost of general pet travel would lead them to consider pet trans- port in their bidding. However, of the respon- dents who had transported a pet from a high-risk rabies country, 76 percent said the prohibitive cost in time and money of pet transport would affect their bidding going forward. From that, we can infer that the experi- ence of transporting a pet from a high-risk country has caused these bidders to seriously consider whether they should face that hurdle again. For More Information. The PowerPoint document with “all agency” responses for high-risk rabies countries and for general pet travel can be viewed at www.bit.ly/Pet- Transport-Survey-Results. Please direct any ques- tions on the survey to AFSA’s Director of Professional Policy Issues Julie Nutter at nutter@afsa.org or Policy Analyst Sean O’Gorman at ogorman@afsa.org . n Diplocat Kiwi on a layover in Amsterdam. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No Have the costs related to general pet travel caused you to prioritize bidding on certain overseas assignments over others? Unapplicable