[Travelandtourism] Australia, Hawaii, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom

[Peter Donahue]

Hello Cheryl and everyone,

    Just for clarrification Jamaica and some of the other Caribian Islands 
are odd-ball cases when it comes to importing guide dogs as they must enter 
via a round-about way through the United Kingdom.

    I want to make it clear that Australia, Hawaii, Ireland, Japan, New 
Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom all have schemes and policies 
that allow you to import a guide dog in to these countries without their 
need to enter quarantine. To enter these countries without quarantine the 
dog must be prepared in advance so it meets the conditions of the entry 
program for entry without quarantine. I worked closely with the late Mike 
Osborn and others whenhe he was negotiating with the British Government to 
allow guide and service dogs to enter the UK without having to go through 
quarantine and to travel with their owners in the airplane cabin on the 
inbound flight. Ireland has also adopted the UK Pet Travel Scheme making 
entry of a guide dog without quarantine possible. Some of the Irish 
provisions have since been adopted by the UK.

    Australia has had special entry requirements for guide and other service 
dogs since the early 1990s. People from Australia have traveled to the U.S. 
with their dog and brought it back in to Australia under their service dog 
entry regulations. In 2001 we had a lady from Melbourn Australia visit us 
with her dog and travel with us to that year's national convention. Mike 
Osborn, and a number of other guide dog users from the states have also 
traveled to Australia accompanied by their dogs. We have also had guide dog 
users and their dogs at past national conventions from Singapore, New 
Zealand, and Japan.

    I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. I meerely want folks to be aware 
of the special requirements of the above-named countries that permit guide 
and service dogs to enter without quarantine provided the dog meets the 
entry criteria of these countries. All the best for a great Thanksgiving.

Peter Donahue