Caribbean Cruising with PetsEntry rules for cats & dogs arriving by boat

Mainland United States

Georgia

Import permit: sources disagreeRabies vaccine neededNo vet certificateNo quarantine

Before you sail

  • Import permit — sources disagree whether it is required
  • Rabies vaccine at least 4 weeks before arrival; at least 12 weeks old when vaccinated
  • Parasite treatment — internal and external
  • Microchip
  • Dogs vaccinated against: Rabies — required for a dog twelve weeks of age or older entering Georgia (Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)). No other vaccination is named in the rule or on GDA's pages.
  • Cats vaccinated against: Rabies — required for a cat twelve weeks of age or older entering Georgia (Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)). No other vaccination is named in the rule or on GDA's pages.
  • Dogs and cats at least 12 weeks old
Not requiredVeterinary health certificate · Quarantine

Not documented Rabies titer test

Fees

Permit

No Georgia charge, and nothing issued by the state to pay for. For a dog or cat travelling with its owner Georgia asks only for a rabies vaccine record from a veterinarian, and GDA's FAQ says it needs no permit. No fee appears in Rule 40-13-2-.19 or on GDA's pages. A finding about the state, not about what the arrival costs: the federal requirements and your veterinarian are separate.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]

Inspection

Not published. No Georgia source describes a state inspection of an arriving pet, and none prices one. That is an absence of information, not evidence that an inspection would be free.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.

COUNTY RABIES FEES ATTACH TO A VACCINATION GIVEN IN GEORGIA, NOT TO ENTRY. O.C.G.A. § 31-19-7(b) lets a county "levy a fee not to exceed 50 cents for each dog, such fee to be collected by the veterinarian administering the antirabies vaccine required by this chapter". That is paid if the animal is vaccinated in Georgia; nothing charges a visiting animal for its foreign certificate. County licensing under § 31-19-3 may carry its own fee; none was read.[13]

Timeline

  1. 4 weeks before arrivalRabies vaccine given by now at the latest
  2. ArrivalPresent the permit; clear the animal before going ashore.

On arrival & aboard

Advance notice
None published by Georgia for a dog or cat. Rule 40-13-2-.19 and GDA's pages require no notice, appointment or permit for an ordinary pet; the only Georgia advance step is the screwworm entry permit, requested "at least 48 hours before entering Georgia", which GDA applies to listed US zones. Separately, CBP "highly recommends contacting the anticipated port of arrival before importing a pet or other animal for expeditious processing and to reduce the possibility of unnecessary delays" — federal advice, not a Georgia rule.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[591115]
Customs inspection
On arrivalconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[16]
At the dock
The federal layer applies at the first US port of entry. Arriving from a foreign port makes the trip an international import even when the destination is a US territory, so clear in with customs and have the CDC paperwork for any dog aboard.
Carrier or crate
Not required, and no standard is set. Nothing in Rule 40-13-2-.19 or on GDA's pet pages asks for a crate or carrier. GDA's only carrier remark is about flying: "we advise that you reach out to your airline as they may have additional requirements." The "Duties of Carriers" in Rule 40-13-1-.02 are about conveyances moving livestock or poultry.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5106]
Confinement
Nothing requires an arriving dog or cat to be confined, aboard or ashore. Rule 40-13-2-.19 asks for rabies proof and nothing else, and GDA's pet pages add no confinement. The confinement Georgia does publish follows a bite or a rabies exposure: § 31-19-4 requires the owner of an animal that has bitten someone to confine it "in accordance with rules and regulations of the county board of health", and DPH recommends a "strict quarantine for 4 months for dogs and cats" for an unvaccinated animal exposed to a rabid animal whose owner will not have it euthanized.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[51013]
Leash
No state leash rule. Georgia hands animal control to local government: O.C.G.A. § 31-19-3 provides that "The governing authorities of each county and municipality are authorized and required, in the control of rabies, to require regulation or licensing of animals", and the Department of Public Health lists "a local animal control agency responsible for stray control, leash laws, and issuance of citations for failure to vaccinate animals" among county measures. So the rule on a dock at Savannah, Thunderbolt or St. Simons is a city or county ordinance, and none was read for this file.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[135]
Muzzle
Not required in anything read for this file: Rule 40-13-2-.19, GDA's pet pages and O.C.G.A. Chapter 31-19 contain no muzzle provision. Georgia's dangerous-dog law in O.C.G.A. Title 4 could not be read (see verification.source_notes), so this is an absence in the entry and rabies material, not a statement that no Georgia muzzle law exists.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.

WHO CLEARS YOU, AND WHERE. A foreign arrival reports to CBP: under 19 CFR 4.2, operators of small pleasure vessels arriving from a foreign port "are required to report their arrival to CBP immediately", by telephone or through the CBP ROAM app. Georgia's two CBP ports of entry are Savannah (port code 1703, vessel entrance and clearance (912) 721-4840, passenger and crew inspections (912) 232-7507, agriculture inspections (912) 964-0832) and Brunswick (port code 1701, 700 Gloucester Street, (912) 262-6692). Both list weekday office hours of 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Neither port page says anything about pets.[161718]

NO GEORGIA OFFICER IS DESCRIBED AT THE DOCK. Nothing found places a GDA or county inspector at a marina or port of entry, and GDA sends foreign arrivals to the federal agencies: "The importation of pets from foreign countries is regulated by the CDC and USDA APHIS." Where Georgia's rabies rule is likely to come up is later, ashore — a vet, a boarding kennel, a county animal-control officer or a bite. Carry the rabies certificate anyway: the requirement is written in origin-neutral words. State Veterinarian's office: AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov, (404) 656-3667, weekdays 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.[1095]

INTERSTATE VERSUS INTERNATIONAL, AND THE ONE GEORGIA ANSWER THAT FITS A BOAT ON THE WATERWAY. Arriving from the Bahamas or the Caribbean is an international arrival: CBP clears it and the inherited CDC dog rules apply in full. Coming down the Intracoastal Waterway from South Carolina, or up from Florida, is interstate movement, and Georgia's rule asks the same thing either way — a current rabies record. GDA's FAQ answers the passage-through case directly: "If the pet will not be staying overnight in the state of Georgia, they need to meet the requirements of your final destination. If the pet will be spending the night in the state Georgia, it will need to meet Georgia entry requirements as well as those of the final destination." A boat taking more than a day to transit the Georgia coast probably counts as spending the night, though nothing addresses a night at anchor or in a marina.[10]

BREED RULES ARE LOCAL, AND WERE NOT SURVEYED. Rule 40-13-2-.19 has no breed rule and GDA's pages name none for dogs. Counties and municipalities are "authorized and required, in the control of rabies, to require regulation or licensing of animals" (§ 31-19-3), and any breed rule would be in a city or county ordinance or in the dangerous-dog law, none of which was read. Check the ordinance for the city where you berth.[51013]

Quarantine

Quarantine
None requiredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]
What it costs, and who pays

No cost rule is published for a pet. The owner-pays rule in Rule 40-13-1-.03(9) — "at the risk and expense of the owner" — is written for livestock and poultry. Nothing in Rule 40-13-2-.19 or on GDA's pages says who pays if a pet is held.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[65]

If your papers are not in order

No entry quarantine for a dog or cat. Rule 40-13-2-.19 states no consequence of its own for arriving without the rabies proof, but Chapter 40-13 does provide a route: Rule 40-13-1-.05(4), "A special written permit obtained from the State Veterinarian is required in order to import animals into Georgia that do not meet state health requirements." That rule says animals, not livestock, so a pet without compliant rabies proof needs the State Veterinarian's written permit to enter (see import_permit.notes). The quarantine provision in the same subject is written for livestock: Rule 40-13-1-.03(9), "Livestock or poultry entering Georgia without an approved Certificate of Veterinary Inspection or N.P.I.P. Form 9-3 shall be held in quarantine at the risk and expense of the owner until released by the State Veterinarian". The definition of livestock at Rule 40-13-1-.01 is open-ended but does not name dogs or cats, which Subject 40-13-2 defines separately as a "Pet". What does reach a pet is the general penalty, Rule 40-13-2-.21: "Any person violating the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." Separately, a bite brings in county rabies control: O.C.G.A. § 31-19-4 obliges the owner of an animal that has bitten a person to notify the county board of health and "to confine such animal in accordance with rules and regulations of the county board of health". Whether a boat counts as confinement is a county question.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5613]

Open questions

High priority

  1. HIGH PRIORITY — is a rabies vaccination given abroad with a product not licensed in the United States "approved" for Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)? The incorporated Compendium says imported dogs and cats "should be currently vaccinated against rabies with USDA-licensed products", which points to no; and if not, is the Rule 40-13-1-.05(4) special written permit the route, or must the animal be revaccinated in Georgia? GDA's FAQ points to a list of vaccines approved "in the United States", and the link it gives (nasphv.org/Documents/NASPHVRabiesCompendium.pdf) returned HTTP 404 on 2026-10-09. Ask the State Veterinarian's office, and ask the Department of Public Health epidemiology line (+1 404 657 2588) how a county rabies control officer treats a foreign certificate.
  2. HIGH PRIORITY for a boat coming up from the Greater Antilles or Central America — does Rule 40-13-2-.03 ("Any animal originating from a state or area where screwworms have become established") require a State Veterinarian's prior permit for a dog or cat arriving from a foreign country on APHIS's screwworm list? GDA's published measures name only Texas and New Mexico. Ask galivestockpermits@agr.georgia.gov or AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov before departure, since the permit is a prior one.

Also open

  1. HIGHEST PRIORITY — does Rule 40-13-2-.19 reach a dog or cat arriving directly from a foreign port by private vessel? The rule's words ("entering Georgia") and GDA's military-relocation answer say yes; the subject heading ("INTERSTATE MOVEMENT HEALTH REQUIREMENTS") and GDA's international tab, which only points to CDC, say less. Ask the Office of the State Veterinarian (AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov, +1 404 656 3667) in writing: is a cat or dog landed at Savannah or Brunswick from the Bahamas expected to carry proof of rabies vaccination under Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)? The subject is headed "INTERSTATE MOVEMENT HEALTH REQUIREMENTS", yet regulates cattle from Mexico, and DPH assigns GDA to travel "within the US" and CDC to importation.
  2. The 30-day CVI window is counted from different days by the rule ("issued within the previous 30 days", read from entry) and by GDA's FAQ ("within 30 days of your departure"). It matters only for an animal entering for sale or trade, but ask GDA which governs.
  3. Establish whether any animal inspection happens at a Georgia seaport arrival. CBP's Savannah page lists an agriculture inspections line ((912) 964-0832); ask whether CBP agriculture specialists look at pets on a pleasure-boat arrival at Savannah or Brunswick, and whether the state is notified.
  4. Confirm county rules where you berth. Chatham (Savannah, Thunderbolt), Glynn (Brunswick, St. Simons) and Camden (St. Marys) counties set their own rabies booster intervals and licensing under O.C.G.A. §§ 31-19-3 and 31-19-5. Ask whether a three-year vaccine is accepted and whether a visiting animal must be licensed or tagged: Chatham County Animal Services 912-652-6575, Glynn County Animal Control 912-554-7500, Camden County Animal Control 912-576-7395.
  5. No GDA page fetched for this file names the current State Veterinarian. Ask the Office of the State Veterinarian (AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov, +1 404 656 3667) for a named contact before writing about a permit, and confirm the address for written permit requests: Rule 40-13-1-.05(4) prints "Agriculture Building, Capital Square", while GDA's import page gives 19 Martin Luther King Drive.
  6. Georgia's dangerous-dog law and any breed provisions (O.C.G.A. Title 4) could not be read. Confirm that no statewide breed restriction applies and check municipal ordinances.
  7. Nothing addresses an animal that stays aboard and never lands, so no transit section is authored here. GDA's FAQ treats a pet passing through without an overnight stay as subject only to the destination's rules; whether a boat at anchor counts as "staying overnight in the state of Georgia" is not addressed.

About this page’s sources

  • The Department of Agriculture's rules (Chapters 40-13-1 and 40-13-2) are published at rules.sos.ga.gov, whose robots.txt refuses this project's reader, so they are read from Internet Archive copies of 5 January 2026. The Archive's own crawler is refused for Chapter 40-13-1 too (HTTP 403), so a newer copy of that chapter needs saving by hand. The page's "last checked" date is held at 5 January 2026 until both are re-read.
  • The Official Code of Georgia Annotated could not be read directly. Justia (law.justia.com) and FindLaw (codes.findlaw.com) both served a Cloudflare challenge, which was not bypassed, and the Internet Archive was rate-limiting (HTTP 429) and then reported itself temporarily offline when a copy was sought. The O.C.G.A. Chapter 31-19 text quoted on this page is the Department of Public Health's reproduction in its Rabies Control Manual, not the official Code. O.C.G.A. Title 4 (the Department of Agriculture's enabling statute and the dangerous-dog law) was not read at all. Read the statutes on the official LexisNexis-hosted Code before promoting any field that cites § 31-19.
  • rules.sos.ga.gov disallows individual rule pages (paths like /gac/40-13-2-.19) in its robots.txt, so the rule text was read from the subject page /gac/40-13-2, which carries every rule's text but no authority or history lines. Those were read from the Cornell LII reproduction (ga-lii-40-13-2-19).
  • archived_url values are PRE-EXISTING Wayback snapshots, not captures made for this file (no archive run was made). The two Secretary of State rule snapshots date from 5 January 2026 and the GDA FAQ snapshot from 13 April 2026; each was re-fetched and checked to contain the key quoted sentence. The Brunswick port snapshot could not be re-fetched (timeouts) and is unchecked. The only snapshots of GDA's Bringing Animals and New World Screwworm pages are recorded under a malformed URL with an e-mail-like prefix (yellow.legged.hornet@agr.georgia.gov), so they are not cited; the GDA screwworm notice PDF, the DPH manual, the Coastal Health District page and the LII rule page have no snapshot. Archive those on review.
  • Verify the inherited CDC federal requirements against cdc.gov, which blocks automated access.

Page status

Mainland United States · State of the United StatesDataset status Inferredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.Last checked 2026-01-05 Check is ageingfreshness: Check is ageing. Sources were last re-read 280 days ago — over 180 days. Requirements move quietly, so expect some of this to have changed since.

Evidence

Import permit

Permit
Not requiredconfidence: Conflicting. Sources disagree — verify before you rely on it.[51110]
What it costs

No fee is published, because no permit is required for an ordinary dog or cat. GDA's FAQ lists the species that need one — "All domestic Swine, Ratites, and Pet Birds require a prior permit to enter the State of Georgia" — and dogs and cats are not among them. The conditional screwworm permit described in the note below has no published fee either.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[105]

Phone
+1 404 656 3667

ONE CONDITIONAL PERMIT, AND NOBODY HAS SAID WHETHER IT REACHES A BOAT. Rule 40-13-2-.03: "Any animal originating from a state or area where screwworms have become established shall not be transported into Georgia unless the State Veterinarian has issued a prior permit." The words are "Any animal" and "state or area", so on their face they reach a dog or a cat coming from a foreign country where screwworm is established. In practice GDA applies its screwworm measures to zones in Texas and New Mexico: its page tells owners to "Obtain a Georgia entry permit" and "Request permit at least 48 hours before entering Georgia" by emailing galivestockpermits@agr.georgia.gov, and lists only US states and counties. Nothing published says whether the State Veterinarian expects a permit request for an animal landed from, for example, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic. If your last ports are on APHIS's screwworm list, email before you sail rather than after you land.[511]

THE ROUTE FOR AN ANIMAL THAT DOES NOT COMPLY. Rule 40-13-1-.05(4): "A special written permit obtained from the State Veterinarian is required in order to import animals into Georgia that do not meet state health requirements." It says animals, not livestock, and "This type of permit should be requested in writing to the State Veterinarian". That is the published path for a pet that cannot show compliant rabies proof — a foreign vaccine that is not USDA-licensed, or a first vaccination less than 28 days old on arrival. Ask for it before you sail; the address the rule prints is an old one, so use AnimalHealth@agr.georgia.gov.[6]

Rabies

Vaccination
Requiredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5910]
Min. age at vaccination
84 days (Twelve weeks, for ENTRY: Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) applies to "All dogs and cats twelve (12) weeks of age or older entering Georgia". This is a trigger, not a vaccination schedule. The Department of Public Health's manual notes that "For many licensed vaccines, the age at primary vaccination is 3 months, but be aware that for some rabies vaccines, these ages are 6 weeks or 4 months", and the Coastal Health District, which covers Chatham, Glynn and Camden counties, tells owners that "Dogs and cats should get rabies vaccines by four months of age". Those are vaccination advice for Georgia animals, not entry rules.)confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[51314]
Min. before travel
28 days (NOT A SEPARATE GEORGIA WAITING PERIOD, BUT WHAT CURRENT MEANS. GDA: "Georgia does not have a specific requirement for when the Rabies vaccine needs to be administered prior to travel as long as it is in compliance with the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control". The rule wants proof of a "current" vaccination, and the Department of Public Health's manual defines the term: "for an animal receiving its first dose, or primary vaccination, an appropriate rabies vaccine was administered by a licensed veterinarian at least 28 days previously", while a booster is "considered current immediately". The incorporated Compendium says the same: "Within 28 days after initial vaccination, a peak rabies virus antibody titer is expected, and the animal can be considered immunized." So a FIRST vaccination needs 28 days before the animal counts as current; a booster on a previously vaccinated animal needs none.)confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[101358]
Max. before travel
No fixed figure is published. The rule defers to the NASPHV Compendium and so to the vaccine: DPH says animals "must be vaccinated against rabies and revaccinated in accordance with vaccine manufacturer recommendations", that "a second vaccination should be administered 1 year later" whatever the age at the first, and that the second "may be an annual or triennial product, even if the dose is overdue, unless a triennial vaccine is not permitted by local county rules and regulations". A three-year vaccine in date therefore satisfies the entry rule on its face, but the county where the boat lies may have its own booster rule: DPH tells readers to "Check with local rabies authorities for specific county regulations on annual or triennial booster vaccinations." At state level DPH sets no product rule: "There are no state level requirements for vaccine type or manufacturer." That, with the Compendium the entry rule incorporates, is why three-year vaccines are recorded as accepted; the county caveat above is the exception to watch.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.[513]
Three-year vaccine
Accepted
Boosters, and what the certificate must show

THREE THINGS A FOREIGN-VACCINATED ANIMAL SHOULD KNOW. (1) "APPROVED" — AND A NON-USDA PRODUCT IS LIKELY NOT. The rule requires a vaccination that is "current and approved" in accordance with the NASPHV Compendium, and the Compendium addresses imported animals directly: "All imported dogs and cats are also subject to state and local laws governing rabies and should be currently vaccinated against rabies with USDA-licensed products in accordance with this compendium." GDA's answer to "What rabies vaccine brands are acceptable?" is likewise a "current list of approved Rabies vaccines in the United States". A vaccine given in the Bahamas or the islands that is not USDA-licensed is therefore probably not compliant, even where CDC accepts the certificate. Two DPH statements sit uneasily beside that — "There are no state level requirements for vaccine type or manufacturer" and "Vaccines should be FDA-approved and must be given by a licensed veterinarian" (animal rabies vaccines are in fact licensed by USDA, not FDA) — but neither addresses an unlicensed foreign product. Georgia's statute defines inoculation as "the administering by a licensed veterinarian of antirabies vaccine approved by the department" (O.C.G.A. § 31-19-5), and DPH's definition of currently vaccinated also wants the shot given "by a licensed veterinarian"; nothing says whether a foreign licence counts. (2) WHO SETS THE INTERVAL. The county boards of health are "empowered and required to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations requiring canines and felines to be inoculated against rabies and to prescribe the intervals and means of inoculation" (§ 31-19-5), so the booster interval on the ground is county law, not state law. (3) NO EXEMPTION. GDA: "There is no exemption for rabies vaccines."confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5810137]

Rabies titer test

A blood test that measures rabies antibodies, to show the vaccination actually took. The sample has to be drawn a set time after the jab, and some places then make you wait months more before the animal may land — so this is the requirement most worth checking before you plan a route, not after.

Blood titer
Not yet documentedconfidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.
Required level
Not documented. No Georgia rule or GDA page mentions a rabies antibody titre for a dog or cat entering the state — no threshold, no laboratory, no waiting period. Recorded as undocumented rather than as not required. A titre can still arise for a dog through the inherited federal layer, where CDC requires serology of a dog that has been in a high-risk rabies country in the previous six months.confidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet.

Veterinary health certificate

Certificate
Not requiredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5109]
Completed within
30 days (THIS IS THE WINDOW FOR A CERTIFICATE A CRUISING PET DOES NOT NEED, AND TWO OFFICIAL SOURCES COUNT IT FROM DIFFERENT DAYS. A CVI is required only of pets "entering Georgia for sale, trade, or exchange for a fee or other type of compensation", and Rule 40-13-2-.19(4) wants it "issued within the previous 30 days" — read naturally, 30 days back from entry. GDA's FAQ says instead: "If your pet requires a health certificate (CVI) for travel, it must be issued within 30 days of your departure." On a road trip the two are the same day; after a two-week passage they are not. The RULES agree with each other: Rule 40-13-1-.04(4) makes a CVI "void thirty (30) days after the date of inspection", a validity running from inspection, so it is the FAQ's wording that differs. Recorded for the animal that does need one.)confidence: Conflicting. Sources disagree — verify before you rely on it.[5610]
Form
A rabies vaccine record. GDA describes what one contains: "the type of vaccine, date the vaccine was given, the expiration date, as well as the veterinarian’s information, and a rabies certificate number." A foreign certificate missing the expiration date or a certificate number is the one likely to cause trouble., A pet passport is not accepted as a health certificate. GDA: "the pet passport is not universally accepted in lieu of a CVI by all countries including the United States and the state of Georgia." As a record of rabies vaccination it is not addressed either way., Records not originally in English: GDA says they "will need to be accompanied by a certified English translation for USDA APHIS to endorse them". That answer is about APHIS endorsement for travel out, but carry a translation of a French, Dutch or Spanish rabies certificate anyway.
Arriving by sea

FIRST, WHETHER THE DOG CAN LAND HERE AT ALL: a dog vaccinated outside the United States that has been in a high-risk country in the last six months cannot be landed at any US seaport, since CDC admits it only "at a U.S. airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility" — see the warning at the top of this page. FOR GEORGIA'S OWN RULE, NOTHING EXPIRES AT SEA. What Georgia asks of a pet travelling with its owner is a rabies vaccination record, and a record does not run out on a passage the way a 30-day certificate can; it only has to show a vaccination still current on the day you land. No Georgia source addresses an arrival by sea, a private vessel, or time spent at sea. The two short windows Georgia does publish are not written for a boat from abroad: the 30-day CVI is for animals entering for sale or trade, and the 7-day screwworm CVI GDA demands of warm-blooded animals is limited to listed areas of Texas and New Mexico. The federal 9 CFR 93.600 screwworm certificate carried in the inherited layer is the window that does bite a dog: five days before departure, from a government veterinary official.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510114]

What the certificate must say

Rule 40-13-2-.19(2): "All dogs and cats twelve (12) weeks of age or older entering Georgia must have proof of a current and approved rabies vaccination in accordance with the most recent Compendium of Animal Rabies Control published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc." Rule 40-13-2-.19(4): "All pets, except fish and rodents, entering Georgia for sale, trade, or exchange for a fee or other type of compensation must be accompanied by a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection issued within the previous 30 days and which records proof of the health requirements for each species." And GDA's gloss for an owner travelling with the animal: "A vaccine record is sufficient for pets traveling with their owners into the state of Georgia."confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]

Parasite treatment

Internal

None required. Rule 40-13-2-.19 and GDA's pet pages ask for rabies proof only; no deworming or internal-parasite treatment is required of a dog or cat entering Georgia.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[5910]

External

No routine external-parasite treatment is required. NEW WORLD SCREWWORM IS THE EXCEPTION TO WATCH, on two levels. GDA's current measures — an entry permit requested "at least 48 hours prior to movement" from an infested zone, and from a surveillance zone or high-risk county a CVI with the statement "All animals listed on the CVI have been inspected and are free from screwworm larvae infestation", valid "for no more than 7 days from the date of inspection" — are headed "Interstate Movement Requirements for New World Screwworm Detection" and name only Texas and New Mexico. The underlying rule, 40-13-2-.03, is broader: a prior permit for "Any animal originating from a state or area where screwworms have become established". See import_permit.notes. No treatment, as opposed to an inspection, is named anywhere.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[12115]

THE FEDERAL SCREWWORM CERTIFICATE IS THE ONE THAT CERTAINLY APPLIES. 9 CFR 93.600(a), carried in the inherited us-federal layer, requires a dog from any region where screwworm is considered to exist to arrive with a certificate signed by a full-time salaried government veterinary official, inspected within five days before shipment. That rule covers dogs only. Georgia's Rule 40-13-2-.03 says "Any animal", which is the only screwworm text on this page that reaches a cat.[15]

Identification

Microchip
Requiredconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[24]
Standard
Any brand, but it must be detectable with a universal scanner. CDC names no ISO standard and no digit count.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[4]

CDC requires dogs entering the United States to be microchipped, and the chip number must appear on any accompanying rabies documentation. A territory may accept a collar tag for its own local rule, but that does not replace the federal microchip requirement for a dog arriving from abroad.[24]

"If your dog's microchip number starts with a number other than 9, be sure to check with your veterinarian that it is readable. If the microchip cannot be scanned on arrival for a dog that has been in a high-risk country, the dog may be denied entry and returned to the country of departure at the importer's expense."[4]

Georgia imposes no identification requirement of its own on a dog or cat entering the state. Rule 40-13-2-.19 asks only for rabies proof; the microchip and tattoo provisions in the same chapter are written for llamas, alpacas, elephants and monkeys under Rule 40-13-2-.17. Identification of a pet is a county matter: the Department of Public Health lists "identification systems (e.g., metal/plastic tags, microchips; please refer to individual county requirements)" among local rabies measures. The inherited CDC microchip requirement still binds any dog arriving from abroad.[513]

Animals & vaccinations

Dogs

Min. age
84 days (NOT A BAR ON ENTRY. Twelve weeks is the age from which Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) requires proof of rabies vaccination for a dog entering Georgia. For a boat arriving from a foreign port the inherited CDC minimum of six months is the figure that bites first.)confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[59]

  • Rabies — required for a dog twelve weeks of age or older entering Georgia (Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)). No other vaccination is named in the rule or on GDA's pages.

Cats

Min. age
84 days (NOT A BAR ON ENTRY. Twelve weeks is the age from which Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) requires proof of rabies vaccination for a cat entering Georgia. No Georgia source sets a minimum age for a cat to enter at all. For a cat this is the operative age figure: the inherited CDC rules are written for dogs.)confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]

Vaccinesconfidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[59]

  • Rabies — required for a cat twelve weeks of age or older entering Georgia (Rule 40-13-2-.19(2)). No other vaccination is named in the rule or on GDA's pages.

Other health requirements

Note
CDC governs dogs specifically; it does not impose an equivalent federal import form on cats. Cats are governed by the inheriting jurisdiction's own requirements plus a general healthy-on-arrival expectation — and note that for a US STATE those requirements may be drafted for interstate movement and may not reach a foreign arrival at all. See the state files for how each one resolves that.
Dogs
  • CDC Dog Import Form — required for every dog entering the United States, including a US-vaccinated dog returning home. Submitted online before travel; carry the receipt.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[4]
  • Dogs must be at least 6 months old.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[42]
  • Dogs must appear healthy on arrival.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[4]
  • Dogs that have been in a high-risk rabies country in the previous 6 months face additional requirements: a rabies serology/titer and, in some cases, a CDC import permit. Which countries those are is not a judgement call — see the note below for CDC's list and the eight destinations on this site that are on it.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[43]
  • SCREWWORM CERTIFICATE — USDA/APHIS, and separate from anything CDC asks for. 9 CFR 93.600(a): "Dogs from any region of the world where screwworm is considered to exist may only be imported into the United States if they meet the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1) and (2)". Those are: "(1) Dogs must be accompanied by a certificate signed by a full-time salaried veterinary official of the region of origin stating that the dog has been inspected for screwworm within 5 days preceding its shipment to the United States" and "(2) The certificate must state that the dog is either free from screwworm or was found to be infested with screwworm and was held in quarantine and treated until free from screwworm prior to leaving the region of origin." READ THAT AS A CRUISER: it is not your own vet's certificate, it is a GOVERNMENT veterinary official's, it must be within FIVE DAYS of departure, and on many islands finding a full-time salaried government vet at short notice is the hard part. APHIS maintains the list of affected regions at aphis.usda.gov (Animal Health Status of Regions) and changes it by administrative action, so check it against your actual last port rather than assuming — this dataset does not reproduce the list. Cats are not covered: subpart F is headed "Dogs". The quoted paragraphs have been checked against the regulation: subpart F is now held in this repository, fetched from the eCFR XML API, and both quotes above appear in it verbatim.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[1]
  • RABIES, GEORGIA'S LAYER — AND FOR A DOG FROM THE BAHAMAS IT IS THE ONLY ONE. The federal items above ask a dog from a rabies-free or low-risk country for no rabies paperwork: CDC says such dogs "do not require any other documents, but must still meet other requirements such appearing healthy, having a microchip, and being at least 6 months of age." Georgia's Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) still requires "proof of a current and approved rabies vaccination" of every dog twelve weeks or older entering the state, so carry the rabies certificate even when CDC does not ask to see one.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[54]
  • SCREWWORM, GEORGIA'S LAYER: Rule 40-13-2-.03 requires a State Veterinarian's prior permit for "Any animal originating from a state or area where screwworms have become established", on top of the federal certificate above. GDA's published measures apply it only to zones in Texas and New Mexico; whether it reaches a dog from a foreign country on APHIS's screwworm list is not published.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[511]
Cats
  • Georgia's rabies rule is the main entry condition for a cat arriving from abroad, because the inherited CDC rules are written for dogs. Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) reaches "All dogs and cats twelve (12) weeks of age or older entering Georgia", so a cat landed at Savannah or Brunswick should carry a current rabies certificate even though nothing federal cited here asks for one.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[510]
  • SCREWWORM: a cat is caught by Georgia's Rule 40-13-2-.03 — "Any animal originating from a state or area where screwworms have become established shall not be transported into Georgia unless the State Veterinarian has issued a prior permit" — although the federal screwworm certificate does not apply to cats. Whether GDA reads the rule as reaching a cat from a foreign country is not published.confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer.[511]

THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS HIGH RISK, AND THIS FILE SAID OTHERWISE UNTIL 2026-10-03. CDC's list is headed "These countries and political units are considered high risk for importing dog rabies into the United States" and it names the Dominican Republic. Eight destinations on this site are on that list: Belize, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Suriname and Venezuela. The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos and the BVI are not on it, and neither is Nicaragua. US territories are not foreign countries for this purpose. The claim this replaces grouped the Dominican Republic with the not-high-risk islands and told a cruiser returning from there that the titer "does not normally apply" — it does, and a US-vaccinated dog also needs the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form endorsed before it leaves the United States, which cannot be arranged afterwards.[3]

Sources

  1. 1

    9 CFR 93.600, Importation of dogs — subpart F. Paragraph (a) carries the screwworm certificate requirement; paragraph (b) the tapeworm inspection for livestock-handling dogs. Text read from the 2026 annual edition. — United States — Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9 (Animals and Animal Products), APHIS/USDA

    legalAccessed 2026-08-13no archive yet

  2. 2

    Bringing a Dog into the United States — US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    healthAccessed 2026-08-10archived copy

  3. 3

    High-Risk Countries for Dog Rabies — US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    healthAccessed 2026-10-03no archive yet

  4. 4

    Frequently Asked Questions on Dog Importations — US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    healthAccessed 2026-08-22archived copy

  5. 5

    Rules of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Subject 40-13-2, Interstate Movement Health Requirements. Cited for Rule 40-13-2-.01 (Definitions, including "Pet"), .03 (Screwworms), .17 (Exotic Animals and Non-Traditional Livestock), .19 (Pets) and .21 (Penalty for Violation). — Georgia Secretary of State — Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia (official compilation)

    legalAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  6. 6

    Rules of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Subject 40-13-1, Transportation. Cited for Rule 40-13-1-.01 (definition of livestock), .02 (Duties of Carriers) and .03(9) (quarantine of livestock and poultry entering without a certificate). — Georgia Secretary of State — Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia (official compilation)

    legalAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  7. 7

    Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 40-13-2-.19, Pets — with its authority line (O.C.G.A. §§ 4-4-1, 4-4-64, 4-4-65, 31-19-5 and others) and history (current rule adopted effective 22 September 2011) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School — reproduction of the Georgia Compilation of Rules and Regulations

    legalAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  8. 8

    Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2016 — the edition DPH's manual adapts its vaccine table from — National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians — incorporated by Georgia Rule 40-13-2-.19(2) ("in accordance with the most recent Compendium of Animal Rabies Control")

    legalAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  9. 9

    Bringing Animals into the State of Georgia — Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian (Animal Health)

    agricultureAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  10. 10

    Pet Travel FAQs — Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian (Animal Health)

    agricultureAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  11. 11

    New World Screwworm — moving animals from an affected area to Georgia — Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian (Animal Health)

    agricultureAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  12. 12

    Interstate Movement Requirements for New World Screwworm Detection (notice) — Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of the State Veterinarian (Animal Health)

    agricultureAccessed 2026-10-09Published 2026-06-05no archive yet

  13. 13

    Rabies Control Manual, Georgia Eighth Edition (December 2024). Cited for its vaccination protocols, its definition of "currently vaccinated", and its reproduction of O.C.G.A. Chapter 31-19, Control of Rabies (§§ 31-19-1 to 31-19-10). — Georgia Department of Public Health, Epidemiology

    healthAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  14. 14

    Rabies Control — Georgia Department of Public Health, Coastal Health District (Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long and McIntosh counties)

    healthAccessed 2026-10-09no archive yet

  15. 15

    Bringing Pets and Wildlife into the United States — US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

    customsAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  16. 16

    Pleasure Boat Reporting Requirements — US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

    customsAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  17. 17

    Savannah, Georgia — 1703 (port of entry contacts) — US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

    customsAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

  18. 18

    Brunswick, Georgia — 1701 (port of entry contacts) — US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

    customsAccessed 2026-10-09archived copy

Last checked January 2026 · 2 high-priority open questions · Sources & questions

What the dots mean

confidence: Inferred. Backed by an official source but not yet certified by a human reviewer. official-backed, awaiting human reviewconfidence: Conflicting. Sources disagree — verify before you rely on it. sources disagreeconfidence: Unknown. Not located in any source yet. not yet documented· How we grade