India has millions of beautiful street dogs. Many of them suffer and the majority die prematurely. It is easy to want to adopt them all and bring them home, but that isn’t possible. The best way you can help street dogs long-term is by donating to help expand Animal Birth Control. One street dog (and her puppies) produce 67,000 street dogs in six years! By donating to expand Animal Birth Control, you are preventing the suffering and death of countless future street dogs!
But, what if there is a certain dog in India you have fallen in love with and want to adopt right now? You’ve found a dog who has touched your heart and no one can offer the pup a good home but you! If this is your situation, you have come to the right place.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by the details involved in adopting a dog from India, but the process is easier than you think. I did it all by myself with the help of my dog’s veterinarian, and you can do it too! However, if you would rather delegate the task to someone else, there are companies in India that specialize in pet export internationally and will handle everything for you.
We created this guide to help make the experience as easy as possible for you. Below you will find regulatory information, links, and even free certificate templates.
Both India (the exporting country) and your home country (the importing country) have regulatory requirements concerning dog export and import. This guide covers all of the India (export) dog regulatory requirements and covers the US (import) dog regulatory requirements. If your home country is not the US, you will need to check with your home country on import requirements. If you have experience exporting a dog from India to countries other than the US, please email us and let us know. We would love to have you as a contributor to this guide.
We have tried our best to provide complete and accurate information in this guide, but information is always changing, so if you discover any inaccuracies, please let us know.
If you find this guide helpful, please make a small donation to Varanasi for Animals here. Your donation will go a long way towards helping the team provide life-saving care and Animal Birth Control to Varanasi’s street dogs.
Puppies: Puppies cannot travel until they are 4 months old. This is because they have to be vaccinated for rabies before they can enter the US, and they can’t be given the rabies vaccination before they are 3 months old (12 weeks or 84 days). If given the rabies vaccine earlier than this recommendation, the vaccine is not effective. After your puppy gets the rabies vaccination, you have wait 4 weeks (28 days) before the dog can enter the US. This all results in puppies not being able to enter into the US until they are 4 months old. If you don’t know the puppy’s age, don’t worry. A veterinarian can examine the puppy and provide an estimated age.
Adult dogs: Adult dogs (15 months or older) who have a rabies vaccination record have no time restriction on flying - they are ready to go! But, your street dog does not likely have a vaccination record. If your dog doesn’t have a vaccination record (and most street dogs don’t), the dog will have to be vaccinated against rabies as though it is the first time (and it might be) and then wait 4 weeks (28 days) before traveling to the US.
Here is a simple checklist of India’s export requirements for your dog or cat to another country. And, here are the FAQs.
The following is a list of all the paperwork you will need to export your dog from India to the US. Once you have your paperwork completed, make two copies and have the original and copies organized well so you can produce paperwork throughout your dog’s travel to airport security, airline, and import/export authorities.
This was truly my best government agency experience in any country! The staff were friendly and competent, and the appointment started on time and was completed within an hour.
You (or your delegate, if you using an export company) and your dog will need to be present for this appointment. At the AQCS appointment, you will meet with a friendly representative, who will review all of your documentation and make sure it is complete.
Next, your dog will be examined by the AQCS veterinarian. This is a simple, mostly visual exam where they take the dog’s temperature and weight and visually inspect the dog, including their teeth, to make sure you aren’t exporting a dog who is too young.
Once the exam is complete, the AQCS representative will provide you with the signed export certificate, which will be required by airline and security officials at the airport during the flight check-in process.
Inside India: Air vs. Car
Most domestic airlines in India do not transport pets. Those that do have restrictions for weight may not transport on all routes. Because this information changes regularly, it is best to check directly with the airline.
If air travel is not possible domestically, you have two choices. You can either hire a driver to drive you and your pup to your international flight destination (e.g. Delhi or Mumbai), or you can pay a dog transport service to do this for you.
In our case, I hired a driver (who brought another driver along as backup). We drove from Varanasi to Delhi (over 16 hours) with short breaks for gas, bathroom, and food. It was incredible to see the Indian countryside this way, but also exhausting, especially for the two drivers. But there were no flights that would transport a dog, so driving was the only solution.
To book your dog on an international flight, identify the possible airlines you could choose from. For example, Delta and KLM both allow dogs on international flights with certain restrictions. Also, be sure if you booking a “codeshare flight” (where your dog departs India on one airline and then for the next leg of the flight takes a different airline) that you confirm the dog transport requirements for both airlines and confirm with both airlines that the dog will be flying.
When you have found an airline whose requirements will work for your dog, you are ready to call and make your reservation. Note that most airlines require you to call to make reservations for dogs. This is not something you want to do online.
There are two options for dog seating in a plane:
If your dog is a puppy or an adult dog who needs rabies vaccination, you won’t be able to export the dog immediately. (See above, When Can My Dog Fly Out of India?) In this case, you will need to either stay with the dog in India or hire a Foster Dog Parent to care for the pup until she is ready for export.
Foster Dog Parents are best found by contacting a local animal welfare organization, like Varanasi for Animals, if the dog is in Varanasi, and asking if they can coordinate a Foster Dog Parent for you. The cost should be around $60 USD per month for this service in India.
If you haven’t been to India or haven’t met your next best friend there, but you really want to adopt a street dog from India, there are many NGOs that specialize in exporting Indian street dogs to places like the US and Canada. These organizations handle all the logistics of export for you. Here are a few to get you started: https://www.delhithestreetdogfoundation.org/
In 2019, Charissa Raynor found her Desi pup while traveling in Varanasi, India. Assi was only 20 days old and had been abandoned behind Assi Ghat from another part of town only two days earlier. Assi had no mother and no siblings, and even though locals were giving her milk, no one wanted to take her in. With guidance from Help Animals India (a US-based NGO), Charissa was able to get Assi medical care and a foster parent through Varanasi for Animals. In February 2020, Charissa traveled back to India to pick up her new best friend. Today, Assi has successfully adjusted to life in Seattle with her sister Pumpkin (a forgiving chihuahua mix from Los Angeles).
Is there a sick or injured animal or signs of animal cruelty in Varanasi? Contact us now!
For all other inquiries: +91 82997 64647 or send us an email.
