Chile Forum

Hi,
My husband, three kids and I may be moving to Chile because of my husbands job. We now live in Wisconsin, United States. I have to admit, I am very nervous about all of this. However, my main concern is having to leave my two dogs behind. Can anyone tell me if you are allowed to bring your dogs to Chile from the United States and if so, what is the process? Any info that you have would be great!!!

If you have moved there, what is Chile like? We would be moving to Santiago which seems to be nice. I do not speak any Spanish which I am also concerned about... any suggestions.

I apprecitat any information you can provide me.

Sincerely,
Tammy

hi Tammy
Do a forum search on pets, yes you can bring and it is not to difficult. There is a ton of info on this forum. Welcome
Helen

Thank you for your reply, I will check out that information.

Tammy

thansen wrote:Thank you for your reply, I will check out that information.

Tammy

Tammy,

I am going through the same process myself... here is a link my wife sent to me from Chile,

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/v ... /ci_cn.pdf

It is straight forward and I don't believe it is a tough process from I have read.

In regards to Spanish, I purchased Rosetta Stone 1,2, & 3 and so far I find it intriguing... will it do the job? I have to wait and see. I would imagine it will help me get started but diving in and forcing myself to speak it once I am there will be the true teacher.

John and Ximena

Thanks for the information, it looks like it may not be that difficult to do which makes me feel a lot better about moving. Where are you and your wife from and when are you moving? Do you know what part of Chile you will be moving to? Do you have any children? There is a lot to think about and it is a little scary but I think it could be a great experience for all of us. Good luck to you and your wife.

Tammy

thansen wrote:Thanks for the information, it looks like it may not be that difficult to do which makes me feel a lot better about moving. Where are you and your wife from and when are you moving? Do you know what part of Chile you will be moving to? Do you have any children? There is a lot to think about and it is a little scary but I think it could be a great experience for all of us. Good luck to you and your wife.

Tammy

Long story short... my wife is Chilean, from Santiago, I am from Texas. We have waited over a year for her visa and still no end in sight. So I am moving to Chile. I hope to be in Santiago but there is a lot of opportunity for me in Antofagasta, way up north, so may end up there. My children are grown, Ximena does not have any children. I have to sell my home here... hoping to be there by end of March. Luckily the housing market in east Texas is not too bad. When will you be moving to Santiago? What does your husband do? Ximena (pronounced Heemena) would love to meet you... see our photos in the Chile Photo Gallery (see top of this page for the link). Ximena speaks excellent English. If you want someone to write to... let me know, I will PM her email address to you.

What kind of dogs do you have? I have two 3-year old Boxers... they are same litter sisters, and they are like my children... great dogs. I just bought 2 crates for them to fly in... I am fortunate, American flies non-stop from Dallas to Santiago, so it should be a smooth flight for them... no changing planes or airlines.

John

I brought my small poodle in march with me. All you have to do is get all the shots then the vet gives you a 10 days pass give or take a few days. IF you dont travel within those days, you gotta go back.

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are moving to Santiago in March and we wil be transporting our 2 Akita/lab mixes from Houston. I had no idea how difficult it would be to get them down there. The fact that they require the Giant 700 series kennel for air transport is slightly frustrating since not all routes allow that size of kennel in cargo. I checked out the American direct flight from DFW to Santiago, and the largest kennel they allow is a 400 series. We are having to utilize a pet transport service who is ground transporting them to DFW, flying them to Miami, and then from there..flying directly to Santiago. Obviously this will not be cheap. I just wanted to put the info out there to anyone who is curious what the process will be for larger dogs (ours are about 90 lbs each and are around 32/33" tall from floor to tops of their heads when in sitting position). I'm jealous of all of the people with smaller dogs who don't have to deal with the headache!

Does anyone happen to have any recommendation for a kennel in Santiago where we can board the dogs for a few days? We are boarding them at our vet in the States for 2 weeks while we are in Santiago looking for permanent housing. The temporary housing we will be at won't allow the dogs. We are keeping them in the States for 2 weeks to give us some time to hopefully locate permanent digs (we're using a relocation service) or find a reputable boarding facility where we can keep them in the meantime.

Thanks!
K

Wow I could write a small handbook on this subject. When we came in July we brought our cat. No problem, piece of cake. Sort of. We bought a nice carrier for in cabin transport, paid the $100 and had the correct papers. However when we went through customs they rejected our papers and threatened to either send the cat back or destroy it. Seems that we needed to have the vet papers stamped by the Chilean Embassy (which we tried to do in the US and were told it was not necessary...WRONG!). Any way the woman was really nice and sympathetic and cut us a break and let us pass through.
In Nov. our adult son came with 2 dogs. That was a nightmare. He had to buy the spendy crates, and pay huge cargo fees. He came in at night, and there is no vet at the cargo area to check the pets out at night. It took us 4 1/2 hrs.to finally jump through all the hoops and be allowed to have the dogs. By that point they had been sealed in their kennels for 24 hrs.!! My son was furious. Luckily my husband is Chileno and did all the talking and a vet just happened to be on the grounds. But it was touch and go for some time. So...if you come in at night...make sure they know you have animals and will need a vet to clear their paperwork. BTW my son paid a cargo service close to $700, plus the cost of vet check ups, shots, crates, and then more fees to be paid at customs in Santiago. The cost was $1500 total. More than his ticket to Chile! Incredible.

One more thing...it is a challenge owning a pet in Chile. The majority of the dogs in Chile are strays. Thousands of them running the streets, 25,000 in Santiago alone!! So you must be careful when walking your dogs. Most of the strays I see are male and they are NOT neutered! So again be careful. We don't let our dogs run free at all as they might easily be attacked by the strays which seem to run in packs. I am glad we live rural, so it is less of a problem for us. The city would be worse I think. If you have a cat, keep it indoors. I see very few cats in Chile, and most are on the run (dead run) or on roofs or up trees. With that many dogs running amok...it is dangerous for them. We keep ours indoors at all times.

We bought a nice carrier for in cabin transport, paid the $100 and had the correct papers.

Storklady,

Let me ask you exactly what were the "correct papers"? I read that I need to have the vet give me a health certificate and then have that stamped by the USDA... what exactly did you bring?

In regards to the emabssy approving it... it would be a logistical nightmare for that... in 10 days before I fly to get the health certificate, overnight it to the USDA in Austin for their stamp, wait for it to be returned and get it to Houston consulate for their approval and then catch a plane in Dallas!!

Please fill us in on more detail of your preparation docs...

Thanks,
John

STORKLADY53 wrote:...We don't let our dogs run free at all as they might easily be attacked by the strays which seem to run in packs...

You are exactly right... my sister-in-law, who lives just outside of Santiago, had her German Shepherd attacked by 2 pit bull dogs and he ended up with many stitches because of this attack.

John