veterinarians

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently distributed a notice that some important changes are coming to the National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP).  There's a good chance that your local veterinarian might not have heard about this news, and if you're in the midst of planning a pet move, it's important that your veterinarian be informed of these changes.  We'll be checking with all of our customers' veterinarians to ensure that they are up to date on the information.

Why are these changes important to people who travel with pets?

The USDA oversees all of the export documents for pets and live animals departing from the United States.  The system is currently set up so that practicing veterinarians can become accredited through the NVAP, which allows them to obtain and complete official health certificates (for example, the USDA-APHIS Form 7001 which is required for exporting live animals from the US).  This accreditation also means that they are considered a 'government veterinarian' who is able to fulfill pet import requirements for other countries, like blood tests.  Proof of all of these health documents must then be sent to the USDA State veterinarian.  Each state has a designated "Veterinary Services Area Office" where the documents are inspected and endorsed by the State veterinarian. 

In summary: Your veterinarian must be accredited under the NVAP in order to inspect your pet prior to your departure and issue a health certificate.  For more details on how this process works, please see our Pet Travel Forms fact sheet.

If you've moved with your pet recently, you might be in need of a finding a new veterinarian.  While Yellow Pages and Google can help you narrow down some local options, it usually helps to get a vet's verdict straight from the horse's mouth.  Fortunately, there are plenty of word-of-mouth avenues to help you find a new veterinarian who is guaranteed to be woof-worthy.  Here are some places to hunt down the locals who are in the know:

Finding a good vet is not the easiest thing to do, especially when you just move to new city, state, or even country. You may not always find the best one right away, and you may even end up seeing 2 or 3 before you finally decide on the vet that is right for you.