Hi guys,
I have been following this thread since we found out about the “new” CDC regulation and it has given me some good info especially early on, so I thought I should share our experience with you, even though it’s not for a retriever
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We live in Erie, PA and have been in contact for about 8-12 months with a Canadian breeder about purchasing boxer puppy. We were in on a couple litters but for various reasons, some on our part and some on the breeder’s (really the sire and dam lol) we never ended up with a litter with “our” puppy in it. Shame is all that was before the new CDC debacle. But now we do have a puppy that is due to come home in October. We plan to drive and pick the puppy up ourselves and cross the border near Niagara Falls. Long story short we are currently “conditionally approved” for a confinement agreement. Here is how our process went:
I started by sending an email asking how one can apply for a confinement agreement and basically got a robotic response from the CDC copying and pasting what is on their website. I kept replying and got the same response a few times. It was very frustrating because I couldn’t have a conversation with them because they answer as if robots copying and pasting what is listed online. Finally they asked if I could describe how many dogs, when, and similar items. I did and their response was that we can wait until it is 4 months old. I asked them to justify this as I felt and the breeder felt we could not. After that we finally got an official denial letter from them. On the letter there were 4 check boxes for reasons to deny. For us, they checked that the prevalence of rabies from the country of origin poses a risk. WHAT A JOKE! Prevalence of rabies from Canada?!?! Also on the letter, it states that you can appeal in writing. And that is what we did.
I typed up a letter stating various things that I felt disprove their reasons for denying us. I stated that being neighboring countries, wild animals cross the border freely every day so there is no increase in rabies risk there. I also sent a map from the World Health Organization showing Canada and USA having equal rabies prevalence. I also quoted a segment of their docket they release where it stated that confinement agreements are intended to give owners an option to cross the border with their personal pets who aren’t vaccinated for rabies, which is exactly what we intended to do so I told them by denying us that was a direct contradiction of their own docket.
About a week later I got an email with another letter from the CDC which conditionally approved us for a confinement agreement but there was still work to be done. They needed us to send them proof that we were purchasing and would be the owners, i.e. our cleared deposit check and contract. They also want to know where and when we will be crossing the border. The letter says if we provide that they will send us another letter that we will need to bring with us and that will state our approval to sign a confinement agreement at the time we cross the border.
I will keep you guys updated and let you know how the rest of the process goes.
After receiving approval I am thinking of trying to just cross and see if they say anything about the puppy then if they do, go through all the confinement stuff.
