Recently a friend of mine brought her pet to Ecuador… here´s what went down…
First, before coming she made sure she had the necessary documents: A vaccination certificate for international travel and a certification from an FDA approved veternarian that the pet was healthy. All of which needs to be done right before traveling and for extra security I´d get all the documents certified by an Ecuador consulate before coming.
The airline in the USA initially caused concern saying she MUST have a “pet broker”, but she got around this explaining she had a friend lined up that was going to help her. Before flying check with your airline on if a broker is NEEDED or not to board the plane, usually not, but some are more strict.
If possible, bring the pet as a carry-on as if they are in the cabin they often can just walk right out with you upon arrival, if they come in cargo, and you arrive late at night the pet will stay detained until the next business day.
Her dog was too big to ride carry-on. So it spent the night detained in customs.
The following morning she went to the Quito airport, where she was told she had to go to the UNITED CARGO pick up offices in the nearby town of Tababela.
There, she was told she had to go to another building near the airport to pay an environmental inspection tax of about $28, from there on to Customs where she had to pay another small fee and wait for another inspection.
After that she had to go pay the storage of the dog for the night which was $15 in order to release the dog. The payments were made in a nearby bank, no bribes, no brokers needed.
In all the spots she was asked for the documents she brought from the states plus the bill of lading and her BOARDING PASS!
The whole process took about 8 hours so don´t expect it to be quick!
T.I.E. my friend, This is Ecuador.
For more specific information on this I´d call an Ecuador consulate in the US. They´ll tell you what you need to gather.
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