This page focuses only on how to export a dog from Spain to non-EU countries. Exporting a dog to EU countries is easy with either a pet passport or health certificate as you don’t need to do anything. However, if you need your health certificate endorsed by an Official/Government Vet, there is a slightly different process. It’s always important to check the requirements of your destination country well in advance. Some will accept a stamped EU pet passport, whilst others need an endorsed health certificate.
Government Vet
As I had various questions, I e-mailed the Official Vet in Madrid since this is where we were flying from. Their e-mail address is sanimal.madrid@correo.gob.es. They were very helpful and quick at responding. They informed me that in order to get the endorsement, I would need to go to a normal vet who is registered on the CEXGAN platform. Then they would take our documents, do a health check and then request the certificate from the Official Vet.
Malaga Vet
As we only planned to be in Madrid for 1 day prior to our flight, we visited a vet in Fuengirola, Malaga. The vet we chose was (Veterenario Clinic Torreblanca) as they had great reviews. We e-mailed them in advance (clinicaveterinariatorreblanca@gmail.com) to make an appointment and sent them our documentation. The documentation we needed to provide them with was;
- Pet passport with latest rabies vaccines
- Original titer test certificate
- Vaccine book with previous vaccines (which were noted on titer test certificate)
- Owner’s passport copy
- Flight number
- Address in Spain & Japan
- Contact number in Spain
We made an appointment 3 weeks before our flight. She could then check the documents in person and explain the process to us. She did a brief check over me and checked my microchip number. We then made an appointment for 1 week prior to our flight. For Japan, the certificate needs to be within 10 days of the flight.
The vet herself was English which made communication super easy. She explained that she would need to send all of my papers to the Official Vet. Then request an export certificate from them on the day of our appointment. She would do a health check on me to make sure I was fit to fly and she would confirm that to the Official Vet. The Official Vet would then e-mail us a copy of the endorsed health certificate and we wouldn’t need to visit any other office before our flight.
As the vet was located in Malaga, she requested the endorsed certificate from the Official Vet in Malaga, rather than Madrid.
Pre Flight Health Check
A week before our flight we visited Torreblanca vet. They again checked my microchip, my weight and did a standard health check to confirm I was fit to fly. They also gave me a de-worming tablet as well as flea & tick medication to be on the safe side. She had already filled in the forms and done the health certificate ready to send before we arrived. She said she would send to the Official Vet in Malaga after we left and it should take a couple of days to get the endorsed certificate back.
We were pleasantly surprised when it came through a couple of hours later. The certificate comes through by e-mail and you can just print it out yourself. As it has a special barcode on it which can be checked to confirm it’s legitimate.
It wasn’t cheap. Probably the most expensive travel certificate we’ve had. The total cost was €255 including de-worming and flea & tick medicine. However, it was a pretty painless process.
Conclusion
Exporting a dog from Spain to a country that needs an endorsed health certificate is a bit more longwinded than some other countries. As you need to visit a standard vet and then wait for the endorsement certificate to come through. However, it’s not so difficult if your Spanish vet is competent and has done exports before (which ours was).
We were a bit concerned that they wouldn’t fill in the specific form that Japan requires and we had done many times previously. However, we checked with Japan immigration in advance and they confirmed they accepted the Spanish format. Once we had the certificate e-mailed to us, we again checked with Japan immigration it was correct and we were thankful when they said it was.
We did read on some forums when researching that you always need an export certificate for leaving Spain. However, I did check with the Official Government Vet, and they told me the export certificate is only required if your importing country requires an endorsed health certificate. So you don’t always need anything other than an EU pet passport.
Let us know if you have any experience of taking your dog out of Spain in the comments below. For other countries import/details don’t forget to check out my import/export page.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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