Importing Pets to the Philippines
Importing dogs and cats into the Philippines is a relatively simple and inexpensive process, especially in comparison to countries such as Australia. So animal lovers and loyal pet owners do not need to be concerned about leaving their four-legged family members behind in their home countries.
Photo by Scott Allford
Official Documentation
If you plan to bring your pet to the Philippines with you the first thing you need to do is contact the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Animal Health Division (AHD). If you know people in Manila they may be able to make the trip out to the head office which is located at Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, for you. Otherwise you can check the website www.bai.ph (However, at the time of writing this article the site was undergoing maintenance) or contact the Bureau by Telephone +632 928 2743; or Fax +632 928 2836. What you will need to do is send a letter to the BAI Director DAVINIO P. CATBAGAN, DVM containing the following information:
1. The species and breed of your pet.
2. The sex, colour, and how many pets you are bringing. (If you are bringing more than 5 pets they will have to be inspected at the quarantine site)
3. The date you will arrive.
You will then be sent an import permit which costs 50 pesos (about US$1). You can pay this fee when you arrive at the airport or your friends in Manila can pay this for you.
Once you have that out of the way you have to organise a valid health certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian which states that your pet has been examined and is free from communicable diseases at least 10 days before the move. This is not that difficult, just ask your pet’s vet and they should be able to do this. I organised this in Korea with a vet who spoke very little English for a fee of 20,000 Won (about US$20 at the time).
If the country you are importing the pet from is not free from rabies you have to get certification stating there have been no rabies cases within a 20 kilometer radius of the pet’s home in the last 6 months. My Korean vet couldn’t do this so I went to the Icheon City Hall and they gave me this for free.
The last form you need is your pet’s vaccination card showing they have been vaccinated against the following:
rabies, canine distemper, infectious hepatitis, leptsopirosis, canine parvovirus, or feline panleucopenia and proof that your animal was treated for internal and external parasites.
Flights
Once these things are organized you’re ready to take your pet to the airport. To my knowledge, the budget airlines do not allow pets to fly. However, most major airlines will carry pets but you must inform them in advance when you book your ticket. I brought Aslan over with Asiana Airlines. For pets under 5kg you can have them in the cabin with you. Sadly, Aslan is a bit fat (close to 7kg) so he had to ride under the plane as cargo. Asiana charged 7,000 Won (About US$7 at the time) per kilogram and I didn’t actually pay anything as they gave me the option of using my frequent flyer points to cover the cost.
If you want, you can organize for your pet to be sedated for the flight as it can be stressful for them, speak to your vet and contact the airport about this. As Aslan is very sensitive to drugs I didn’t have him sedated, he was a bit frightened and unusually quiet but only took a few hours to get back to his usual habits.
On Arrival
After getting off the plane and going through Immigration you can pick up your pet with your bags. Then the Quarantine personnel will do a quick inspection of your pet. This is also when you have to present your pet’s documents and pay for the Import Permit if you haven’t already. You will also have to pay 165 pesos (About US$4) for the first 2 pets and 220 pesos for each additional pet (3 or more). In addition to this you will have to pay 50% duty of your pet’s value + 10% tax. As Aslan was a street cat I just put down that he cost US$15.
If you don’t meet any of the documentation requirements then your pet will be placed in quarantine and possibly even “disposed of”, as the BAI site so graphically states. If you can meet all of these requirements then you and your pet can leave the gritty Ninoy Aquino International Airport and go to your new home.
Aslan has settled in very well and following in my footsteps, has started to explore the Philippines himself.
Photo by Scott Allford
Scott M. Allford has lived and worked in Australia and South Korea and has travelled extensively throughout Asia- Mongolia, China, Tibet, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan – fell in love with the Philippines and decided to allocate at least two years to comprehensively cover the country.
Learn more about me [+]
- Exporting Pets From the Philippines to Australia
- Pets stores and Vets in Manila – The Good and the Bad
- Immigration Custom Regulations on Extent of Duty and Tax Free Privilege of Returning Filipinos
- Philippine Tourist VISA
- Baggage and Taxi Tipping in Philippines
Good work! Aslan – such a fat cat….
Hi, this blog is very informative. Great stuff.
Thanks Suzanne. Glad to be of help.
Hi,
I liked your post.
We are returning to the Philippines in a few months.Worried about bringing our Husky/Malamutes in.Want to avoid the 30 day quarantine.I also wonder how they figure the value of our Pets?Any advice other then what the requirements are like you posted?
Great Post!
Sonny
Hi Sonny,
Where are you bringing your dogs from? You shouldn’t have to put them into quarantine at all. The value of your pets is 50% of what you paid for them + 10% tax.
Before coming to the Philippines make sure you contact the airline asap and make sure the airline can carry them.
If you have other questions please feel free to post them here.
thanks scott, very useful blog.
tony
Scott, once I arrive in Manila I will then fly to Cebu and then on to Siargao.
Do you know if there is any problem bringing a 70lb dog on these other flights?
Thanks for your insight.
Ron
Hi Ron,
As far as I know Zest Air, Cebu Pacific and SEA Air don’t carry animals on their planes. I’m not sure with Philippine Airlines, so you can call and ask.
Hi Scott,
I’m coming back to the philippines, I want to bring my toy puddle,
when do I need to process his vaccination, is it 1 month before the
flight? And I leave here in japan,and my dog vet can’t speak in English,
do I need to translate the health certificate in English?
Hi Rose,
As far as I know you won’t need any vaccinations coming from Japan. The health certificate should be in English. Make sure You book your dog on the flight now. Also contact the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Animal Health Division (AHD) and follow the rest of the information in my article. It’s really simple to bring pets into the Philippines.
Let me know if you need any more help.
Scott
Hi Scott!
Thanks for the great article. Thanks for the tip about the budget airlines. Glad I didn’t book the tickets yet. I didn’t even think of that.
I’m trying to bring in 3 cats from Singapore. I’m wondering if you know, do the health certificates required for the cats have to be certified by a government agency (ie the Agriculture and Veterinary Association) or do they just need to be from a veterinarian?
All the legalese used in the websites is giving me a headache and I’m quickly filling up a little notebook with notes to try to sort through it!
Hi Brad,
When I came from Korea I got certification from my vet about my cats general health and vaccinations, and then just to be sure I went into the City Hall and got their person in charge of animal matters to put together a certificate saying that there were no rabies cases within a certain distance around the city. You can never be too careful and it really wasn’t much hassle anyway.
Hope that helps.
great post scott. very useful. im taking our cats here to phils this may and we were looking for info on how to bring them home. your site has everything we were looking for!
Hi Marge,
Glad I could help.
hey scott,
omg im havin the same problem T.T i live here in Japan now but i have to go back to Philippines to for college. I’m plannin to take my pug with me since ill be stayin there for a long while. But my vet cant understand a word im sayin coz he dont understand english. Now he somehow made a certificate stating her previous anti rabies vaccination. is there any other documents like certifications i need to prepare aside from the one you mentioned that i should get from the city hall? im really worried…
Hi Nikki,
You need to show proof that your pug was vaccinated for :
rabies, canine distemper, infectious hepatitis, leptsopirosis, canine parvovirus, or feline panleucopenia and proof that your animal was treated for internal and external parasites.
I believe that Japan has rabies cases so you might want to make a trip to city hall and ask for a certificate or just a letter from their person in charge of animal health. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
If you don’t speak Japanese then ask one of your friends or coworkers who does to come with you to make things easier.
Hope that helps.
By the way, what sort of proof do they need for external treatment of parasites? Will a home movie of me giving them a bath with flea and tick shampoo work? 8P
Hehe. No I don’t think a home movie will do. Get your vet to administer the revolution or whatever brand and record it in the cat’s vaccination/health book. That’s the safest bet. I’ll have to check but I think that it was also in the paperwork that I got from my vet. I also know that in some revolution packs you get little stickers that you can put in the health book and write the date next to them.
Let me know how things go and feel free to post your experiences here so anyone coming from Singapore can learn from your experience.
Thanks again. I certainly will. I’m expecting this all to happen around the beginning of May, if I can get all of my affairs in order in time.
LMFAO guess what! i went to the city hall today Scott, and almost all of the staff there gathered around me in amazement. they said im the first person asking them to issue a certification / clearance for rabies cases. they adviced me to go to my vet and get a health certificate instead T.T. *sigh* these japanese are drivin me nuts *sobs*
Hi Scott.
I am bringing my shih tzu back to Manila. How did Customs determine the value of your pet ? What if my dog was given to me? how do they determine the value?
Do they have a book for this and would you know how much a shih tzu would be taxed? Thanks a lot!
Hi Milette,
I just told them my cat cost $15. They determine it on what you tell them your pet cost. I mean most people don’t keep records of how much their pets cost and you can get pedigree dogs and cats from animal shelters for next to nothing. I think it’s just a bit of a scam to get a bit of extra cash from you. Whatever you say the cost is you have to pay 50% of that + 10% tax.
High Scott, my wife and I plan on traveling to Cebu P.I. this summer with our small Yorkshire Terrier, her weight is 4.3 pounds. We have already confirmed her with the airline. And plan on carrying her in the cabin and in an approved pet travel bag and placing her under the seat in front of us as the airline requires. This is a 15 hour flight, non stop. We have made the flight many times but this is the first with a pet. Do you have any experience with this. Potty breaks, drinking, eating, happy pills. thank you, Aaron
Hi Aaron,
I have not had experience with pets on a flight that long. However, I’ll ask around and see what some of my friends can suggest. Personally I’m very cautious about giving drugs to my pets so I would recommend having a good talk with your vet about that first. As for drinks and food, your dog may be a bit stressed and not want to drink or eat. My cat Aslan didn’t touch a drop of water during his four hour flight from Korea to the Philippines. Maybe bring some treats and a container for water and just offer it from time to time. As for potty breaks, I know you can get absorbant pads from most vets and if that fails bring a newspaper and just take your dog to the toilet from time to time. Also it may help if you train your dog to associate newpaper with going to the toilet before you leave (That’s if she wants to go to the toilet at all). But as I said I will ask some of the other people I know who’ve brought pets from far away and I’ll let you know if they have any useful tips for you.
All the best
Scott
Hi again Aaron,
I asked around and here is someone else’s experience of a long flight with dogs. Hope it helps.
“I traveled from Manila to Athens, Greece, last year, with my two chihuahuas. The flight is 16 hours long, with one 1,5 hour stop in Dubai. They were both in their own travel carrier and were placed below the seat in front of us.
We had traveled with just the one dog previously but never with both of them. Their reaction was different.
One dog was fine, I had wee-wee pads with me (those flat sheets that look like Pampers) and every 2-3 hours I took the carrier to the lavatory, placed the pad on the floor, removed him from the carrier and let him on the floor for a few minutes to stretch and pee. Throughout the whole flight, he only peed twice (no poo). Also I had some dry food with me and water and gave him every 2-3 hours but he didn’t really feel like eating anything.
Also, let me mention that my dogs are not used to being in a crate so they REALLY didn’t like being in it. The flight was an all-nighter so after takeoff, and when the lights were dimmed, I covered my lap with the blanket, removed the dog from the carrier and placed him on my lap under the blanket. Some flight attendants saw this and didn’t say anything, others insisted we put him back in the carrier…. As I said, we did this a few times with the male dog but never with both.
Now with the second dog, its another story. She was fine in her carrier until the engines started! She completely freaked out, started hyperventilating, panting like crazy (tongue out, salivating and everything), and shaking. Since she is small (only 1.8 kilos) I removed her from the carrier and placed her on my lap under the blanket right from the beginning (before take off). She wouldn’t calm down, so after take off I asked the flight attendant for a Dramamine pill (anti-nausea pill that has the side effect of making you drowsy and sleepy) and gave the dog 1/4 of the pill (I had asked the vet about the dosage beforehand, but thought that since the male dog was fine, she’d be fine too, so I didn’t take any drugs with me). 20 minuted later she was sleeping like a baby for the rest of the flight. And for the whole 16 hours she didn’t pee at all!
After that we concluded that you can never know or anticipate how your dog will be. Just be prepared for everything.
The only sure thing is that i don’t think the dogs would appreciate being in the carrier for 16 hours. If you can sneak the dog under your blanket, I would suggest that.”
Hey Scott,
I’m thinking of taking my cat with me from South Korea to the Philippines in August (as opposed to sending him to the US with my brother). The info you have given is really helpful…thanks! I was wondering how common pet stores are there? Would it be relatively easy for me to find name-brand food as well as a litter box, litter, etc.?
Also, do you know anyone who has shipped their pets alone? I have a month between contracts and think it would be pure torture to make him do 18hrs and then turn around 4 weeks later and do 25. The 4 hr flight seems like the best choice, but it makes me nervous to think he’ll be doing it alone in case he freaks out like the chihuahua above.
Thanks!
Mer
Hi Meredith,
You can get Whiskas, Friskees and Fancy Feast here among others. There are heaps of pet stores where you can find everything you need. Check out my article on pet stores in Manila on this site. I’m not 100% sure but I think you need to be with your pets when you land unless you have organised someone to pick them up and have asked permission from customs to do so. Contact the customs people I mentioned in this article to find out about that. If you need someone to look after your cat for a month contact CARA (Compassion And Responsibility for Animals) and they should be able to connect you with someone.
PS. Remember that it can be tricky getting pets out of the Philippines. I’ll be taking mine to Australia and it’s gonna be quite a long process. So check the quarantine site of your home country to find out about the process first.
Good Luck.
Hi Scott,
thank you so much for all the infos you share. I really appreciate your help.
Planning to travel to the Philippines from Europe with my cat. I’ve heard some almost frightening stories before – but thanks to you now I am much more relaxed :)
Wish you all the best – thanks again :)
Hi Scott,
Great blog! I was wondering if you have any experience with bringing in turtles as pets? I really don’t want to leave my pet turtle behind.
Hi Mandy,
Sorry, I’ve got no experience with turtles. Send an email to the BAI and they should be able to tell you everything you need to know.
I would like to fly my Adult Great Dane and my domestic Cat from Philippines to Toronto, Canada. I am shocked with the prices I am being quoted.. over 3 times the cost of my own ticket.
Any suggestions for safe and affordable ways of flying my buddies with me to Canada?
Any help is appreciated!!
Hi Brian,
That sounds like a crazy amount to pay. I’m taking my cats to Vietnam this week and the price I was told by Philippine airlines is $9 per kilo. I guess a Great Dane is pretty heavy though. All airlines that carry pets will charge their excess baggage rate to carry your pets. There’s no cheaper way than that, but the excess baggage rates differ between airlines. So just check which airlines ply that route and go with the one with the cheapest rates.
Hey Scott,
I just used PAL on the 6th to get my cats into the Philippines. I was charged 20.50 SGD per kilo. We were quoted a much lower rate, but that’s what they hit us with when we got to the check in counter. I’m glad I had some extra cash on me or it might have caused a problem. Just thought I’d give you a heads up, so you’re not caught off-guard.
Hi Brad,
Just checked with PAL again. The cashier at the airport confirmed that it’s $9 per kilo. But I’ll take extra anyway. Thanks for the heads up.
It might have been something peculiar to flying out of Changi International Airport. Everything in Singapore is more expensive.
Hello,Scott
Your blog is very helpful
I am about to travel with my 1 yr.old shih tzu dog , i am wondering if there will be a problem since we are flying from tokyo to hongkong then philippines
its just a short stop over(about an hour) our main destination is the philippines
do you have an idea if i will also be asked for more documents during the stop over at hongkong???
my dog is about 6klg
thanks in advance
Hi Miel,
I’m not sure with transferring through different countries as I’ve never done that before. I know that Japan and Hong Kong are both countries approved by Australian quarantine so they have some tougher standards when it comes to importing pets.
I know that for Taiwan, they will not accept any pets that have been brought through mainland China so it is possible that in Hong Kong you will have to have your dog examined. But I think speaking to your vet is the best way to get the correct information. To be extra sure I also suggest having all the necessary documents prepared and with you anyway.
Also, just to let you know, if you are travelling with PAL from HK to Manila then your dog cannot go on the flight as they do not pressurize the cargo for that route.
Hope this helps.
Hi and thanks for your tips.. I spoke to PAL, thought Manila to Vancouver and then get a connecting flight. However I got bounced around to 8 people and got 8 different answers regarding bringing my Great Dane with me. So I am still in the dark regarding the cost.
I am working with Cargo forwarders, and a few travel agencies, in addition to contacting various airlines direct. In my mind… there must be an error.. how could Max be triple the cost to fly in Cargo when I am flying in Cabin. Just makes no sense, or at least I hope I’m given wrong quotes. $3500 usd each way is a huge chunk of change.
Hi Brian,
I’m in Vietnam right now and my 2 cats and their cases came to a total of 21kg, which cost around US$170. PAL were really helpful and did all they could to help during check-in. Finding out information was a little tricky though. If you’re going with PAL ask for their International bookings number cause I found the people there to be the most knowledgeable and helpful.
Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll do my best to help you out. Good luck!
Hi Scott,
Thanks for your blog, this was really a great info and can be used as a guidelines to everyone who wish to bring their pet along with them, I will be using this as my first step for I have the same situatiation like the others because I just bought my dog pet here in China for the cost of 10 RMB (about 1.50 USD) because it’s not a special breed but only a chinese native dog just to have a companion at my place since I’m working here as an OFW but when I showed my dog to my family in Philippines they would wish if I could bring him home and then I started to look for the internet about the procedure on how to import pets to Philippines.
thanks for the post it helps me alot! i am planing to bring my jack Russell terrier with me shes our baby coz we dont have a kid shes 17.80 lbs. do you know if they will let me take her to a cabin with me so i can watch her. shes always hyper do you think talking to her vet for her to be sedated for the flight is best and i have almost 24 hours flight from U.S to Phil. and 3 stops is their any possibility that i might lost her during the flight if she will be put in cargo? lastly, i went to the http://www.bai.ph and printed the Application Form for VQC to Import Live Animals. is it valid? the other month i called the BAI to request a form but they dont ans. i sent an email to request a form i didnt receive nothing from them!
hoping you can ans. some of my Q. thanks alot. take care!
Hi Donna,
Yes, the form is valid. As for taking your dog in the cabin, you will have to check with the airline as they all have different rules. It’s your call when it comes to sedating your dog, I personally do not do it with my cats and they have been fine. However, some animals do get very stressed. I suggest that you sit down and discuss it with a good vet. As for whether you will lose her in transit, it shouldn’t happen. I am always extra vigilant and ask a million people where my cats are and if they are on the flight when I travel, that’s the only assurance I can really give you.
Good luck!
Seeing as how you’ve been to Taiwan as well, would you possibly know how to exactly fly a dog/animal from Kaohsiung straight to Manila? Is the process pretty much the same as it is in your main article? I’m having a hard time finding someone who won’t give me a “just leave your dog behind”, “ask your vet” (who told me to ask someone else, although it’s possible my chinese is so bad I just didn’t understand him) or “the process is long and complicated” response. My dog is a street dog, about 12 kgs., I’m also planning on taking China Airlines. And also, around how much would it cost overall? (just a general estimate, in NT, or peso?)
Hi Michelle,
I’m not sure if China Airlines carry pets. I forget which airline carries pets between Taiwan and Manila but I know there is one because I checked earlier this year. As for bringing pets into Manila it should be the same as my article, and it should be easy coming from Taiwan as they have very strict animal quarantine laws….Going from Manila to Taiwan is the more difficult route. The prices when you arrive in Manila should be the same as in the article. In regards to cargo, costs vary between airlines. If someone tells you it is a long and difficult process don’t bother listening to them, because it shouldn’t be.