New border rules for dogs were triggered by spike in fraud, forgery cases: U.S. document

A controversial American government decision to impose new requirements on dogs entering the U.S. was prompted by a "dramatic increase" in falsified documents and fraud — including cases of people using Canada to bring dogs from countries with high rates of rabies into the U.S.

A lengthy notice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — obtained by CBC News — sheds new light on a decision that took the Canadian government, Canadian veterinarians, dog owners and federal Health Minister Mark Holland by surprise in May.

The notice also raises questions about whether Canadian officials are doing enough to prevent dogs from countries where rabies is rampant from entering Canada.

Dr. Tim Arthur, president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, said the problems the U.S. is trying to address with new rules could also affect Canada.

"I think it would be very helpful for Canada to tighten up our border about dogs coming in from countries that have canine variant rabies," he said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it introduced new measures in 2022 to prohibit the commercial importation of dogs from countries with high levels of rabies into Canada. It says it "continues to explore options to further strengthen Canada's import requirements for dogs."

The controversy centres on new requirements that went into effect on Aug. 1 for anyone bringing their dogs with them to the U.S., and for Americans returning to the U.S. with their dogs.

Following negotiations between Canada and the U.S. and a trip by Holland to Washington, the U.S. agreed to a nine-month grace period for countries like Canada with low rates of rabies. Dogs covered by the grace period will have to be at least six months old and microchipped, and will have to have spent the previous six months in a low-rabies country; their owners also will have to fill out a form. The CDC has simplified other requirements during the grace period.

The notice published on a U.S. government website on May 13 reveals that the new rules have been in the works for at least a year, with a consultation period that resulted in 2,106 comments — including one comment from animal rescue groups with 118,312 signatures.

In its notice, the CDC says the risk of rabies being re-introduced into the U.S. has been rising, fuelled in large part by dogs being imported from other countries for profit and by international animal rescue organizations.

The agency says it has also seen a "dramatic increase" in people falsifying the paperwork that has accompanied some of those dogs.

"In 2020, CDC observed a 52-per cent increase in the number of dogs that were ineligible for admission due to falsified or fraudulent documentation as compared to 2018 and 2019," the CDC notice says.

The CDC says some people also claim dogs are theirs when they aren't.

"CDC has documented numerous importations every year in which flight parents transport dogs for the purpose of resale, adoption, or transfer of ownership that do not meet CDC's entry requirement," the agency wrote.