The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2022

42 JULY-AUGUST 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Making the arrangements to take a pet to post can take months from start to finish. Importing and exporting pets is largely regulated by the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, but other government agencies including Customs and Border Patrol, Fish and Wildlife Service and the CDC can play a role. When exporting pets from the United States, APHIS says the most critical document is Form 7001, the export health certificate. It must be completed by an APHIS-certified U.S. veterinarian, and often then shipped off to an APHIS regional office to be endorsed by a staff vet. Many countries have their own forms and regula- tions, as well; and the APHIS website includes a searchable tool for all known import requirements from other countries. When in doubt, APHIS says, travelers should check with the embassy of their destination country. Bringing pets back to the United States used to be as relatively simple as a proof of rabies vaccination, but that all changed with the CDC rules implemented in summer 2021. Now, dogs coming from countries designated as high risk for rabies must obtain a permit from the CDC—a process that takes months from start to finish and includes an annual titer test, along with evidence that the traveler is on government orders. Earlier this year, when the threat of invasion by Russia led to the evacuation of embassy families fromUkraine, families serving in Kyiv endured layers upon layers of stress: wrapping up affairs, arranging schooling and housing in the United States, saying goodbye to friends and worrying about loved ones staying behind as essential embassy staff. Because Ukraine is considered by the CDC as high risk for rabies, securing an import permit and mak- ing travel arrangements for the family dog added to the intense pressures. “The knock-on effects of the ban resulted in members of the U.S. military and government paying thousands of dollars for tests, additional uncertainty and, for many, deep pain as they contem- plated being separated from their dogs,” says one embassy family member. Kyiv was fortunate to have a CDC representative posted to the embassy who helped to liaise with the agency to expedite permits. Ultimately, nearly 70 embassy pets were successfully evacuated fromUkraine on a charter flight and reunited with their families. The Embassy Kyiv family member says of the CDC permit process, “In an evacuation situation like ours, where families Johnson’s father, a Foreign Service officer, traveling with Indie on Pan Am circa 1974. COURTESYOFSUSANJOHNSON Retired FSO Susan Johnson, at right as an FS kid in the early 1960s, with school friend Suzanne Potter and Tigger, the dog the family brought from Ethiopia to France and Belgium. Johnson says pet travel was less bureaucratic in those days. COURTESYOFSUSANJOHNSON