International Dog Adoptions: Get the Facts

Dogs offer their owners many benefits, including more opportunities for exercise and socialization and even improved health, but it’s important to do your research before adopting a dog, especially if you are adopting from overseas. Some overseas adoption agencies may be scams or misrepresent the dog’s health and medical history. Get the facts before you adopt to ensure that you and your dog stay safe and healthy!

Risks of Adopting Dogs from Overseas

Scams

Some dog importers may be imposters. Organizations such as rescue groups, animal welfare agencies, or even private breeders may misrepresent themselves and the dogs they sell, rescue, or adopt. Some people who have adopted puppies from overseas did not receive the dogs they thought they were getting, and in some cases haven’t even received a dog, after sending full payment. If you’re thinking of adopting or purchasing a dog from overseas, it’s important to learn the ways that importers might try to fool you:

• Sending a different age, sex, color, or breed of dog than the one promised
• Telling fake stories about the dog’s background (for example, telling you the dog was rescued from a meat market when the dog was bred for sale)
• Sending photos of dogs that are different than the one they ship
• Misrepresenting the dog’s health and sending falsified health or vaccination records with the dog

It’s important to ask the importer detailed questions about the dog and its history. You have a right to ask and to understand where the dog came from and its health status. Learn how to spot common scams:

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• Internet Adoption Scams Involving Imported Pets
• Puppy Scams: How Fake Online Pet Sellers Steal from Unsuspecting Pet Buyers [PDF – 10 pages]
• International Pet and Animal Transportation Association: Pet Scams

Inhumane treatment

Before adopting a dog, be sure to research the organization, visit the organization in person if possible, or read reviews and ask if you can speak to previous clients to ensure the organization is transparent about animal health and welfare. Many unethical organizations raise dogs in inhumane conditions to make money on adoptions. Puppy mills operating overseas may falsely advertise as being US-based. These dogs are often taken away from their mothers too early and raised in poor, overcrowded conditions, which puts them at higher risk for many diseases. The puppies are subjected to very long, uncomfortable flights in the cargo hold when they are unfit to travel, and some puppies don’t survive the trip. Often, dogs imported to the United States become sick within days of arrival, leading to unexpected, expensive veterinary bills for families who just spent a lot of money to bring the dog into the country.

Disease

Dog rabies is still common in more than 100 countries. In many of these countries, dogs aren’t routinely vaccinated for rabies. Dogs often roam freely in their communities and come into contact with unvaccinated and unhealthy dogs. As a result, these dogs are more likely to be exposed to diseases, including rabies, that can be deadly to people, dogs, and other animals.

In addition to rabies, dogs can carry bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can make people very sick, especially young children. Diseases that can cause illness in dogs or be spread by dogs include:

• Salmonella infection, which can cause serious illness in children younger than 5 years old, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems.
• Campylobacteriosis, which can cause diarrhea in people and dogs and can cause serious illness in children younger than 5 years old, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems.
• 

  Parasites and parasitic diseases such as fleas, ticks, New World screwworms, hookworms, roundworms, and Giardia, which can infect dogs and cause disease in people.

  • Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection spread by sand flies on the hair of animals, in crates and on bedding. Signs of leishmaniasis in dogs include hair loss and weight loss. In people, leishmaniasis can leave disfiguring scars or cause organ failure.
• Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that affects people and dogs. Signs of disease in both people and animals can include fever and vomiting, and occasionally kidney or liver failure.
• Skin infections such as MRSA, a type of drug-resistant bacteria, known to be contagious between people and dogs.
• Brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can cause infertility, abortions, and infections of reproductive organs in dogs. It can also cause recurring fever and organ infections in people.

Dogs can also carry other infectious diseases that can make other animals sick.

• New strains of flu, resulting in outbreaks in animal populations.
• Foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever, which do not infect dogs or humans, but are a serious threat to US livestock. These viruses can spread through dogs’ fur as well as bedding, crates, and other surfaces that can be brought into the United States with an imported dog.

Risk of Rabies

Rabies is a deadly but preventable viral disease that kills one person every nine minutes globally, nearly half of whom are children. It can spread to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by an animal with rabies, even if the animal has no symptoms. The United States eliminated dog rabies in 2007 and now rabies in the US is mostly found in wild animals, but even one dog infected with rabies poses a risk of reintroduction in the US.

Rabies Facts

• Rabies is preventable. Vaccinating dogs against rabies protects dogs, other pets, and people. The rabies vaccine for dogs is safe, inexpensive, and effective.
• You can’t tell if a dog has rabies by just looking at it. Rabies signs can vary greatly; some dogs may appear aggressive while others may act sleepy. You can get rabies from a dog even if the dog has no signs of rabies.
• Dogs from outside the US can have rabies. Dog rabies remains common in many countries. When adopting a dog from overseas, be sure you know where the dog is from and its history because health records, including rabies vaccination certificates, can be fraudulent.
• Even puppies can get rabies. Puppies are susceptible to rabies because they can’t get vaccinated to protect them from rabies until they are three months old. People can get rabies if they are bitten, licked, or scratched by a dog (or puppy) with rabies.
• Rabies is deadly for dogs and other animals. Rabies is deadly for people too when they don’t receive immediate care, called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Because PEP can be costly and time consuming (it includes an antibody treatment and four doses of vaccine for healthy, unvaccinated individuals), vaccinating dogs for rabies is the best way to prevent rabies in people and dogs.

If you are bitten or scratched by an unfamiliar dog (including a dog recently brought into the US from another country), contact a healthcare provider to determine your risk for rabies or other illnesses.

Bringing dogs into the United States

There is a temporary suspension of dogs entering the United States from countries with a high risk of dog rabies. Follow the rules at www.cdc.gov/DogTravel to determine what you must do to bring a dog into the United States.

If you do not follow CDC’s rules, your dog will not be allowed to enter the United States. Your dog will be returned to the country of departure at your expense.

Questions to ask if adopting a dog internationally

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