SHIPPING YOUR DOG BY PUBLIC CARRIER

You may want to ship your dog by public carrier to another city, state or country. Trucking concerns, railroads, airlines and steamship lines will accept your dog for transportation, subject to certain rules. These carriers are considered to be semipublic agencies and are obliged to take your dog, providing he is in good health and free from infectious disease. You are required to produce a certificate stating the dog is in good health, free from infectious disease, and inoculated against rabies.

The carriers also have certain obligations. They must see to it that the dogs shipped on their conveyances are fed and watered. They must also take ordinary precautions against injury, suffocation, drowning, etc. But it is up to you to provide a strong crate or carrying box for the dog. The public carrier has the right to refuse to take a dog if he is not in an unbreakable and escape-proof crate or case. You cannot hold the carrier responsible if your dog gnaws his way out of the crate.

Rates for shipping animals interstate are customarily fixed by federal law. Transporting animals by public carriers within a state is regulated by a state agency. Since certain diseases are communicable from dogs to human beings and other animals, the various states and foreign countries control the movement of dogs into and out of their jurisdiction. If you plan to take your dog into another state or country, inquire in advance as to crating, inoculations, health certificates, etc. By doing this, you will save yourself disappointment. England, for example, has very strict rabies laws, especially against dogs coming from the United States. There is a six-month quarantine period in the British Isles. If you plan to visit the British Isles for two or three months, there would be no point in taking your dog, since he would be quarantined all the time you were there.

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