bring in a pet from the us-what is required by the authorities?

Hello--I may be moving to Nairobi from the US-can anyone tell me definitivly what is required to bring a pet in? She is a small dog, with a pet travel passport, and chipped as well as properly vaccinated and a rabies titer test as well. Help please!? Colleen

Hi there

I'm afraid I have no idea on this one and to be honest those sort of things can be a bit of a nightmare here. I would try and get something in writing describing what's required from an official Kenyan source. Have you tried the Kenya embassy in the US? I would have thought they would be a good starting point...

Failing that I found this on the web from IATA http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/KE-Kenya-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm#Pets but I would try and get the official Kenya government steer if I were you..

Hope that helps

We brought our dog. It is very expensive but doable. The bulk of the cost is the airplane ticket.

I would recommend that you come first and then you arrange for your dog to come. Either way, the dog will have to come through cargo. One exception is Brussels Airlines, however we have not tried them. If you chose to travel with Brussels Airlines, and bring your dog at the same time as you travel, I would suggest you contact their Nairobi office for the info regarding the ticket.
Cargo on the other hand is very expensive - you pay per kg and size of the cage.
If you need more info on travel let me know.

To have the dog enter into Kenyan territory, I would recommend you hire an agent. We used Inpacitic Express (inpacitic@yahoo.com). I don't know how they compare in fees with other clearing agents, but they were very efficient. However, I prepared the import permit on my own. You need an import permit from the Kenyan authorities, which you can obtain in 5 minutes, for a small official fee. This permit can be liberated upon proof of rabies vaccine from the US. In the US we had the export certificate, stamped and signed by the USDA (an USDA accredited vet knows what to do). The only requirement for the export certificate is a microchip and rabies vaccination.
Apart from the import permit, the vaccination certificate, the export certificate from the US, the agent also requested the tax PIN in Kenya. This is the reason why it would be easier to be in Kenya already because we didn't have to find out the procedures without a tax PIN. This tax PIN was requested by the customs office even though we declared the value of our dog at 0 dollars.
Once the dog arrives, he is in "quarantine territory". The agent clears customs, and then you pass with your dog to the official vet who checks the documents, the rabies vaccination, and I believe the anti-flea and deworming treatment which should have been administered right before travel.
And that's it....
It is best you contact Inpacitic if you have specific info. They were very very knowledgeable and we had not hiccups in the process.

My husband did this recently for an expat friend who was importing dogs from elsewhere in Africa. He went to the Kenya Government vet himself (somewhere just off Waiyaki Way, Nairobi). He then bought a permit which stated the conditions that need to be complied with in order to import a pet (vaccination certificates etc). Nothing too onorous. If you are bringing a pet from the US, I would ask your packing company their advice - I'm sure they could help.