PCS Move To Japan with Our Dog (as of Aug2022 info still correct)

Sadie, Sadie, Our Pretty Lady.
Sadie, Sadie, Our Spotted Lady.
Sadie, Sadie, Our Only Greybaby.

How did we PCS (permanent change of station) with our greyhound to Japan? It wasn’t easy, but then again if it was easy it wouldn’t be considered a military privilege to do so then, and that would take all the fun in hunting down the closest to true answers you are going to get out of each office/personnel you ask regarding this exact situation. So here is the gouge on getting your pet—dog or cat only, that is all that is allowed via Uncle Sam’s rules.

1.) Once you find out that you are PCSing overseas find out if you can take your pet with you. So far, I have yet to hear of a place that will not allow dogs or cats.

2.) If it looks like it is a serious PCS then start with the procedures for making your pet viable for overseas travel to the country in question. Do this even if you haven’t the orders in hand. Perhaps you don’t get those orders, but let’s say you did—three weeks before you are to leave. It is easier to live without your stuff for a few weeks due to late shipping, than it is to get a pet importation ready. It may be a pain, but as long as you can do all the steps or most via the military vet then it won’t be much pain—it is much less painful if you are a responsible pet owner and get your pet checked at least once a year, AND updated vaccinations.

3.) Search, search, and search! You cannot do enough research on importation procedures of bringing cats and dogs overseas. Find out not just what the foreign country’s policies and rules are, but also what SOFA agreements have been hammered out for US personnel. SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement) policies often make it easier for the military family/person to set up living overseas, such as amending quarantine to just on military base kennel/housing, i.e. Japan.

4.) Next you must decide whether or not you really are willing to go through all the hoops it takes to not just get the pet official, but the reality of being a pet owner overseas. You may think finding homes for rent Stateside is hard, finding rentals or available base housing that accommodates pets can be twice the work OCONUS (Outside of the Continuous United States). Not care to or bother with understanding a family’s want of their beloved pet; however where there seems little support, you will find even more when you let others know of your need for finding that home or getting the paperwork filled out.

5.) If you decided yes, whatever your reasons, then you need to get hooked up with your personal veterinarian, and better yet your military veterinarian. You want to go through the military vet due to price and due to the probability that you will be able to avoid USDA certification thanks to the lovely SOFA—at least that is true with Japan. Perhaps others have more info regarding other OCONUS sites, and shall chime in... Any day now…

Now I am going to go over the papers that you need and guidelines to live by for PCSing to Japan.

1.)      You must have your dog/cat microchipped!!! Your pets ID, papers and every aspect of your pet’s livelihood via paper work, revolve around its microchip number.

2.)Your pet must be over 12 months old before you export/import… Thus don’t have the pet turning 1 year old on the day it is exported/imported… It is easier that way.

3.)     If your pet has not had it’s rabies shots and boosters with its microchip number, especially in the last year for its booster, it is simpler to just put your pet through the paces of the double round of rabies shots. We had two greyhounds, 6 and 4 years old who were rescued as retired racers and were not microchipped till we adopted them. Also they were still not up for any rabies booster till summer; when we were suppose to be in Japan. To make life easier, for us not the four legs, I put them through the first rabies round then, 30 days later for the second rabies round. Each time I ensured that our civilian vet printed out a rabies certificate with the dog’s microchip number, date of shot, type of shot (Japan ONLY accepts killed rabies virus vaccines), manufacturer, and lot number of shot, and the vet’s signature. You need to ensure that that is all on the certificate when coming from a civilian vet. It is life simplified down the road.

4.) Next the sacred FAVIN test. This must be done no earlier than 30 days after the rabies booster, or as in our case the second shot, and this is where SOFA sponsored personnel get to by pass the hell of extreme quarantine. As soon as the blood draw for the test is officially received by the lab, which will perform the test for the number of rabies antibodies, your pet’s quarantine begins and it has exactly 180 days from that moment—as long as your pet passes—on, of quarantine. Quarantine is held stateside, or on US military installation soil (base kennel, or base housing), or at Japanese kennel facilities (which are very expensive and if you have dogs the size of ours or larger, you will be very hard pressed to find kennels that can fit your dog).

For the FAVIN blood draw, you will really want to try to get that done through a military veterinarian. It is very cost effective for the procedure and they mail the blood work for you at an excellent price. For us it only cost us $40 for two dogs including the courtesy shipping of $10. Good luck getting that through a civilian vet. Another bonus for going through a military vet is due to the APHIS/USDA seal/endorsement per form and paperwork you are having made official. That means each and every piece of paper attached to your feline or canine regarding export/import. There is a fee and they can't really nail down the price until you arrive with all that you have. Be armed with all you need to know before calling them to get an appointment to have everything certified--including your pet's health certificate that is given no more than 10 days prior to exit from country. They are just there to do the job of certification, not to give you info on what to do if you are a clueless military sap who is looking for any form of help or guidance. I discovered this by trial and error of 9 phone calls. This is what pushed me to just make the drive out to the military vet office that was closest to me. If you are reading this and have recent experience of getting everything endorsed via APHIS/USDA vet office, please send in your guide.

Now the paper work you MUST have, and this is the work that I had since I went solely through a military vet, it was worth the 177 mile journey each way.

MDJ OP Form 2209
DD form 2209 (2 pgs)

Civilian vet Health certificate, only if you did not go through a military vet for it.

VET LAB FORM D-132a. This is your request for FAVN-OIE Rabies Antibody Test. This is the paper that is sent per dog or cat's blood work. Then it is sent back with the results filled in at the bottom by the lab along with the Date/Time Received, stamped at the top.

Department of the Army Acclimation Certificate (only if you went through a military vet), or the civilian vet equivalent.

Original signed copies of each of the Rabies Certificates that must include the dog/cat's microchip number.

Print out of your pet's heath record (this is for when you get to the new destination, you have history of your pet--only if you want, but it is a good idea to get a hold of this if you can)

6.) Now that you have all this, hook yourself up with a copy place and make two copies of everything. One copy for the carrier, and one copy for you. ALWAYS keep the originals in your possession--DO NOT LET THEM GO. The only ones the Japanese quarantine officials care about are the originals; these will be stamped and these are what the vet at your new duty station will require of you too.
I have found with the help of others, that if you have already had the FAVIN done on your pet, then it is good in Japan only for 2 years from the date it was administered, and yes you need the paper work to prove it! So, if you just came from Italy or the UK where it is good for three years, you need to go through the testing again if it will be beyond 2 years of the test once you arrive to Japan.

7.) Once you get your FAVIN test results back and they are good, you find out that you are flying commercial air, you need to obtain a Notification of Importation Approval Number or you SHALL BE HELD in export/import quarantine HELL!!!! Well, perhaps not that bad... okay, yes, it will make your life seem as if you are in pergatory without this very important number that is in fact very simple to receive. You get this via the Importation Form that you can fax or walk in--if you are in Japan, then you can go to Narita airport and walk the papers in yourself and wait a bit to get your approval number. For the rest of us, faxing that paper to Narita Branch (Narita Airport Terminal 2) is what you will be doing. I requested for the number to be emailed to me, but if you have access to a fax then you can very easily have it faxed to you. A warning to those waiting for the email: they send it NOT in pdf format. So you will have your number then a bunch of gobbolli-gook. If you are as lucky as I was in that, then you need to get on the phone and call the quarantine office in Narita (Japan business hours only) and 1-4 people later you will have your number confirmed. It was a good thing that our family placed the call cause what was emailed to us was missing the last 4 numbers. Keep it simple when calling. State you are confirming Approval number for dog/cat, your last name and airline you are coming on.

This Approval number is THE sacred number when flying Japan commercial air. You must put this number at the top of all of your Japanese import paper work that you and hopefully our vet helps you fill out.

Official Japanese site that gives the forms you need and the directions on what to do
http://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/import-free.html#notification

Here is a the PDF brochure from Japan's Animal Quarantine Services https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/pdf/aqs_info_eng.pdf

Scroll down the to bottom of this page and print out: Importation Form: Dog and Cat; and the Recommended Certification Form A and Form B (this form is two pages). File out all the Japanese paperwork in BLUE or RED ink only. NO BLACK!

Alright. That is all I have to give to you for the moment. This is everything that I had and we flew through customs in 25min. Be sure to be organized, keep your people papers in one packet/folder and your canine/feline papers in another. Makes for quick work through your actual travel and saves you a headache in the process. Stay cool and calm through it all, be patient, kill them with kindness, be flexible and resourceful. You can do this especially when armed with all you need and knowledge. And remember, there is always something you didn't know.