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Border

Photo by Charles Csavossy

Vehicles approach checkpoints at the Detroit-Windsor tunnel on the U.S.-Canadian border.

United States authorities have dramatically eased proposed dog travel rules designed to prevent the spread of rabies after they were criticized by veterinarians, pet owners, local lawmakers and foreign governments.

Beginning Aug. 1, dogs entering the U.S. from countries that are free of canine rabies or considered to present a low risk of cross-border transmission can now enter the country if their owners fill out an import form.

In addition, dogs must be at least 6 months old at the time of entry or return to the U.S., appear healthy on arrival, and have been microchipped.

The form, which requests straightforward details — such as the owner's name, address and identification type and number, and the dog's name, age and breed — "should take a few minutes to complete," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An online receipt showing that someone has submitted the form will be acceptable documentation.

"This form can be filled out the day of travel and the receipt can be shown to airlines and border officials as a printed copy or by phone," the CDC said.

The update marks a reversal from a strict and complicated proposal that would have forced pet owners to produce paperwork that proved, with various caveats, that dogs were vaccinated against rabies.

Owners of dogs vaccinated in the U.S., for instance, would have had to prove the shot had been given by a veterinarian accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or a doctor in the same practice as an accredited veterinarian. The rabies certificate would have to be separately endorsed by the USDA.

Widespread speculation that a rollback was coming intensified last week after the Canadian government won some concessions, including that paperwork for Canadian dogs would no longer have to be validated by a veterinarian from the Canada Food Inspection Agency.

In a scathing assessment, Canada's health minister, Mark Holland, told a press conference last Wednesday that the proposed rule change was a "very poorly thought-out bit of business" that was sprung on people too quickly and could leave many pets stranded at the border.

The veterinary community also harbored deep misgivings that the new rules were too strict and too confusing, judging by hundreds of critical posts to the Veterinary Information Network, an online community for the profession and parent of the VIN News Service.

The CDC said it had listened to critics.

"These updates incorporate the feedback received from the public, industry partners, and various countries …," it said in a press release today.

Dr. Scott Weese, an infectious disease veterinarian at the University of Guelph who has been at the forefront of efforts to help practitioners navigate the rules, was relieved.

"This is really good news — albeit a bit frustrating that we spent so much time working on the issue over the last couple of months, only to have the U.S. CDC largely walk back most of what they announced …" he said in his Worms and Germs Blog.

Weese said dogs still needing to be 6 months old will be a potential issue for breeders and for cross-border veterinary care, "but these changes remove most of the major challenges and hassles with which we've been grappling since the CDC's original announcement in May."