Bring your pet to Turkey.

Turkey is a wonderful country for both tourist visits and permanent residence. But what if you have a pet and you want to take him/her with you?

There are several regulations that you have to follow:

Electronic identification. Currently, every pet entering the country must have a readable microchip.

International veterinary passport. This is a must-have document. The veterinary passport should be in English and must contain all notes about vaccinations against plague, parvovirus, and rabies. Vaccination should be done not less than 30 days and not more than one year before the pet is brought into Turkey.

This is the main document for importing pets into Turkey.

Rabies vaccination.

Turkey pays special attention to this vaccination. Your pet should be vaccinated at the age of 3 months and all doses must be completed no more than a year and not less than 30 days before crossing the border. The jab must comply with the WHO standard.

Parasite treatment.

24-48 hours before the trip, treating the pet with certified veterinary preparations is necessary. In addition, the veterinary passport must contain marks on periodic processing every 3 to 4 months.

Comprehensive vaccination.

When traveling to Turkey with your dog or cat, comprehensive vaccination is NOT required, but airport veterinary services may pay attention to this, so it is advisable to carry it out.

Breeding value.

You will need a certificate stating that your animal does not represent breeding value. When you travel with a pet to Turkey, you must have such a certificate to get him/her out of your country.

Special container for transporting animals.

Transport boxes should meet the requirements of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The dimensions of the required box are determined as follows: the height of the box must be equal to the height -of the animal in a standing position, and the width must be at least twice the width of the animal. The length of the box is calculated based on the size of the pet's body + half the length of the front paws.

Note 1: Every foreign citizen has the right to bring a strictly limited number of animals into Turkey: no more than one cat, one dog, one bird, and 10 aquarium fish. Currently, animals older than 4 months are allowed to be imported into Turkey.

Note 2: The validity of the veterinary certificate is 5 days, and the international certificate is 90 days. If you stay in Turkey for over 3 months, you must re-issue a certificate at a local veterinary clinic to take your pet out.

The above rules for transporting animals to Turkey may change from time to time. As with everything in Turkey, in general, in the process of preparing for the trip, ALWAYS check the latest information on the website of the airline you plan to travel with.