These Canadian dog owners hope for last-minute changes as strict border rules loom
'Why are you adding more obstacles?' says service dog owner
Jean-Daniel Ó Donncada's road trips to the United States are about to become more complicated.
His three-year-old border collie service dog, Rilla, who rests in the backseat during their frequent work trips, will now be among the pups who will have to meet a list of criteria to enter the U.S. thanks to a new regulation imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As of Aug. 1, dogs must be six months or older with up-to-date rabies vaccines, a completed CDC form — with photo ID — and a certificate signed off by a veterinarian confirming the dog has a microchip, is vaccinated and is healthy.
When Ó Donncada enters the U.S., he says border agents don't usually ask to see Rilla's proof of rabies vaccination.
The dual Canadian-U.S. citizen and resident of Dorval, Que., says he wasn't made aware of how the new regulations would affect him and his canine in just a few weeks.
"They saw my dog and no customs agent said, 'Hey, just so you know,'" said Ó Donncada, referring to a border crossing he made on Monday. "The lack of communication on the part of the U.S. government here is stunning."
Ó Donncada, who has autism and is hard of hearing, has relied on Rilla for the past three years. He says people like him already face obstacles in everyday life, including access to private and, sometimes, public spaces.
"I think these rules were made clearly oblivious to the disability community.… Why are you adding more obstacles?" he said. "How many pieces of paper am I supposed to carry in my back pocket at any time?"
Health minister hopes 'logic will prevail'
On Wednesday, Health Minister Mark Holland said the new regulations were "very poorly thought out" and came as a "complete surprise."
"It's going to have a huge impact," said Holland during a news conference in Ottawa.
"The Americans adopted this as a blanket policy for all countries. I don't think they thought about what they were creating at the Canadian-U.S. border."
Holland says he hopes "logic will prevail," but he has secured some concessions to the new rules in the interim.
The requirement that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) verify vaccine certificates for dogs has been removed. And the rule that dogs be microchipped with a specific type of chip has also been relaxed, so any type of microchip will now be accepted.
But even with those concessions, Holland said it's going to take a lot of time, and cost a lot of money, for all the new paperwork and microchipping to be done.
Cost is a factor for Moby's owner, Andrea Bergeron-Fréchette, in Sherbrooke, Que.
Her family has a second home in the United States, but her dog is not microchipped, as required by the new regulations.
"Going to the vet is already expensive enough. So having to add extra costs is starting to take its toll," she told Radio-Canada.
Possible grace period
Asked if he planned to impose similar rules for Americans, Holland said he is focusing all of his energy on securing a grace period and, if possible, an exemption for Canada.
Cynthia Picard is unsure if that grace period would apply to her situation.
In just a few weeks, her litters of sheltie puppies will be ready for their forever homes. But this year, four might be forced to stay back.
Due to the new regulation, she's on the hook caring for the pups possibly until January — when they will be old enough to finally cross the border with their families.
When she heard the news, it felt "like a slap."
"What do I do?" said Picard, who runs a small breeding business out of New Brunswick.
"We were all kind of blindsided.… If I'd known a year ago, I wouldn't have taken deposits from people in the States. But now I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to get these poor people their puppies."
Although she sells the majority of her puppies to Canadians, a third of her clients are American since she offers a unique breed.
With very little notice, she finds herself among the Canadian dog owners having to adapt to new rules that she says have caused "quite the uproar."
"If they change the age to three months instead of six months, it would make a world of difference for us," said Picard.
"Hopefully something changes."
Looming deadline 'creates a lot of pressure'
People working at veterinarian clinics have taken on a lot of extra work, says Isabelle Langlois, a veterinary technician in Montreal.
"It also creates a lot of pressure on us. Just doing international health certificates is extremely stressful," said Langlois.
"We have one person at the clinic that a good 30 per cent of their job is just dealing and organizing all the paperwork."
While there's a possibility of regulation changes in the coming weeks, Dr. Enid Stiles, owner and clinician at the Sherwood Park Animal Hospital in Beaconsfield, Que., says she has been receiving questions from dog owners since the rule was first announced at the beginning of May.
"Up until now it's been relatively easy for people to cross the border into the United States with their dogs," said Stiles, who is the former president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
Canada not a 'source country for rabies,' says minister
Holland says Canada is all for proof of vaccination, but it is "not a source country for rabies."
"I understand why the Americans have created this policy at large. They want to continue to protect the country from rabies as do we," said Holland.
"A dog coming from Chicago or coming from Portland is no more of a risk than a dog coming from Toronto or from Vancouver."
While Canada has cases of rabies from wild species, the country does not have endemic canine rabies, Stiles said.
But over the past five to seven years, she said an increasing number of dogs have been imported into Canada and the United States from areas that often are endemic with the disease.
"We're talking about dog rabies," said Stiles, which kills tens of thousands of people globally each year. "That rabies is the one we worry about."
She says Canada has been used as a hub for importing dogs destined for the U.S., and there have been some "slip ups" where those dogs come in with rabies — resulting in a domino effect south of the border.
In 2021, when two dogs imported to Canada from Iran developed rabies, public health officials scrambled to trace dozens of people who may have been in contact with the animals' saliva.
The quick action saved what could have become a fatal disease in at least 60 people.
On Tuesday, in an emailed statement, the CDC said dog rabies has been "eliminated" from the United States for 17 years.
"The primary objective in publishing this rule is to protect the U.S. population from diseases of public health concern that can spread from dogs to people," wrote CDC spokesperson Dave Daigle.
"CDC is aware of concerns associated with the recently published updates to the dog importation rule. We value the feedback."
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With files from Radio-Canada