Thinking about flying to Vietnam with a pet?

Yuni was adopted May 2011. Her mom sent us some info about Vietnam from her first-hand experience to share with other ARK readers because Yuni's parents discovered her here on ARK. (thanks ark!) She is now living in Vietnam, where both her mom and dad are teaching ESL. Her mom sent us an update on Yuni which you can read here: http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/dog/762#comment-4394

Importing Yuni into Vietnam:
Getting Yuni here was no issue. I got the paper work from the vet (rabies shot proof valid within 3 months of flight date and a health certificate saying she is healthy within a week of the flight date).
I flew directly from Busan to HCMC with Vietnam airlines. At the airport, you have to take the papers to quarantine to have them processed. Make sure you either get or make copies of your certificates, as they may want to keep a copy for their records. It just helps things move faster. She was checked as cargo, and we paid a bit less than $400 for her ticket.

One thing I would recommend for someone going there [Vietnam] is to get the visa BEFOREHAND, don't get it on arrival. Most times, the visa on arrivals is delayed, as mine was for an hour. The dog will come out with the rest of the luggage, so Yuni was sitting on the spinny-luggage thing waiting for me, and there was no air conditioner. Luckily, she is hearty and had water so she was fine (just a little hot and nervous), but other dogs who are more sensitive may have issues with the heat or being scared. So it would be worth it to send your passport to the embassy in your country to get your visa beforehand to prevent these issues.

When I went to take Yuni out of the airport, I was stopped by customs and showed him my papers. He said she was fine. Then he told me to come back the next day when the quarantine office to have her checked. (?) He didnt take down my name, ticket, or passport number and I never went back. I have heard sometimes they will try to scam you, even at the airport for extra money, so I decided not to go back and I have not had a problem. There was no reason for me to go back because she already had a clean bill of health, so they probably just wanted extra money from me.

How her mom describes Vietnam in terms of dog-friendliness:
Vietnam is a lot more dog friendly than Korea. Most Vietnamese are not scared of dogs that are Yuni's size because most people have Jindo size dogs, and they freely roam the streets so people are comfortable with them. I'd say about 95% of apartments will allow dogs, and most taxis will let you bring your dogs in them as long as the dog appears clean and friendly.

VETS: One thing to be mindful of is the vet you go to. Most vets here are trained in large animal medicine, and there have been reports of vets killing dogs and cats due to overdose. Make sure your vet is trained in small animal medicine before you take your dog or cat.

DOG FOOD:Another thing to be mindful of is the expensive price of dog food. For a normal brand like pedigree, it is about $5USD for a can and 10$ for a small bag (1.5K?) of dry food. I have started making big batches of Yuni’s food and freezing it to save money. She is also a lot healthier now too!

DOGNAPPING: Something else to watch out for, esp. if you have a small dog is dognapping via motorbike. Make sure you have a good dog leash on your little dog if you’re walking it on the side of the street, because I have heard of cases where people have snatched small dogs and drove off on motorbikes and sell the dogs to get money (not necessarily to the meat market, but for pets because they are luxury items). I don’t think big dogs are as big of a problem, because they are harder to hang on to on a bike.
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For additional information check here:
1). http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/link/1000
2). http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/link/999
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Image used from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=vietnam+map&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=930&bih=5...