It's Not Over Yet!

Step 6: I picked up the final stamped document at the Brazilian Consulate today. I am just hoping that everything is good and no mistakes were made. The airlines are a different story.

Every airline has a different policy regarding pets. I am traveling American to Florida. Pets are allowed in the cabin on domestic flights, but not on international. I am flying Tam from Miami to Rio. Pets are allowed in the cabin for international flights, but not for flights within Brazil. I am flying Tam also to Maceió, so I hope they don't give me a problem. Good thing she is a registered service dog. I have that to fall back on.

It's Expensive!

Step 5: Today was the busiest day. Everything regarding the dog must be done within 10 days of entering Brazil, so time is of the essence.
8:30 AM: I took Cha Cha to Dr. Steve's office to get the APHIS Form 7001 filled out and signed. (I already had the rabies certificate signed from before.) Dr. Steve also wrote up a travel health certificate for Cha Cha. Sometimes airlines require this, and it will be required to re-enter the U.S. It should be good for 30 days, but since the exam was 10 days prior to my arrival in Brazil, and I will be there 30 days, I will have to check and see if it will still be valid when I return. While I was at the veterinary office, I also picked up a new supply of heartworm medicine (preventative). The recheck exam, the health certificate & the Heartguard came to $96.80.
9:30 AM: Next stop, the APHIS office.
I got there about 10:15 and there was one couple in front of me who were taking their dog to Grand Cayman. Their situation seemed to take a lot of time, and was even more complicated than mine! When it was my turn, I had to change the part of the form that says "consignee" to add the address of where I was going to be staying in Brazil. Lucky I had that with me! The APHIS gentleman put the APHIS stamp on the Form 7001 and on the rabies certificate. The USDA veterinarian in the APHIS office signed the form as well. They removed the white copy from the top and stapled it with the rabies certificate and instructed me to submit those two documents to the Brazilian consulate. This all cost $34, payable only with Visa credit card, money order, or check. (No cash or Amex.) Lucky again I had a Visa card with me.

11:00 AM now, and the Brazilian consulate closes the application windows at 12 noon. I still had an hour. The gentleman in the APHIS office, obviously very familiar with this process, instructed me that the best way to get to the consulate from there was to stay going north on La Cienega until you hit Wilshire (quite a ways!) and it is on the corner. I agreed, knowing that the freeway traffic on the 405 would be very slow. Off I went, only to hit a very major traffic jam which held me up at least 20 minutes! I was biting my nails by then!

11:45: I was there! Parked, put the dog in her carrier, and took everything up to the 7th floor. They give out numbers like at the deli. I was number 27 and they were on 22. I had a little wait ahead of me. It was after 12 when they finally called my number. I turned everything in to a very nice young lady, who told me she also travels with her Lahsa Apso, so I felt reassured. Turning in the paperwork for the dog admittance document cost $20, and they accepted cash. Then she said that I could come and pick it up on Monday at 9 AM! I thought I would get it today (Friday)! I don't know how people do this if they live far away or if they are working a job where they cannot take time off! Fortunately, since I am a teacher and I am on summer vacation, I will be able to pick it up, without a day to spare. Tuesday morning I am leaving for Miami, to visit with my sister a few days before my flight to Brazil leaves.

Total cost today: $15o.
Next I will write about getting a flight that will allow Cha Cha to be in the cabin with me.

Getting My Own Visa

Step 4: Yesterday I picked up my own visa at the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles, which is located in the Flynt Publications Building at the corner of Wilshire and La Cienega. (In the photo)
I had to pick it up only between the hours of 2:00-3:00 PM. When I originally submitted all the paperwork, I had to have my daughter drop it off to them, because for applying, you can only do it between 9 AM and noon. Only a close family member can drop off the application for you. You have to have a visa to enter the country of Brazil and it costs $130.
The only thing I did for the dog's paperwork yesterday was call my veterinarian's office to make sure they had faxed the APHIS office the receipt for the form 7001. They had.

The Flights

Step 3: This morning I confirmed the dog on two portions of my flight: LA to Miami, and my return Miami to LA on American Airlines. It was not hard to do and they gave me a confirmation number for each segment.
Back to the APHIS documents...
When I picked up the APHIS document, #7001, they also gave me a receipt that I had to deliver to my veterinarian along with the APHIS form 7001, to show that he had received the form. The veterinarian's office is then supposed to fax that receipt back to the APHIS office. I delivered it to the office that afternoon (Whew! So much driving!) and now I have to call them this morning and check to make sure that they did indeed fax it back.
Today I am also going to the Brazilian consulate office here in LA to pick up my own (human) visa to enter the country.

What is APHIS?

Step 2: The day I took my dog for the rabies vaccine, I scheduled her next appointment within 10 days of my trip. I actually set it up for nine days ahead of my entry into Brazil, so that I would have time to get all the paperwork done.
I showed Dr. Steven the copy of the information I printed out from the Brazilian Embassy web page, and asked him if he knew what the APHIS document was. Although he is a veterinarian accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (and this is a requirement to certify the documents), he did not know what the APHIS form was. It would take some investigation.
When I got home I Googled APHIS and found out that it is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. I clicked on Animal Health, and then on "Find a Local VS Area Office" in the right-hand column. I clicked on my state (California) and got the number of the area office in Sacramento. It's in a pop-up window, so your pop-ups must be enabled for this site. I called them, and they gave me the address of my local office in Los Angeles.
I called the local office and they were really helpful. All I needed to to was to tell them I would be traveling to Brazil and they knew just what form I would need. It's called APHIS Form 7001, and it is a non-faxable NCR form. The only thing was that my veterinarian would have to fax a request for the form on his business letterhead, and then I would have to go pick it up. They could have mailed it if I had requested it way ahead of time, but I was concerned about the time factor, so I just decided to pick it up myself. Their office is only open to take requests from 7:30 AM to 12 noon, M-F.
So, after checking that they had received my veterinarian's request, I went to pick it up this morning. The office is easy to get to. It's near LAX, off of Century, on La Cienega.

It's Complicated

Step 1: Taking your dog to Brazil is complicated. I just began the process last week, and I am leaving on July 18. Although I have traveled with my chihuahua Cha Cha many times in the past, the preparations for this trip are definitely challenging.
First, I printed out the instructions found on the Brazilian embassy website. Click on Customs Regulations and it will show you a page called: Admission of Pets and Plants into Brazil. Print out the instructions on this page.
The first thing I did was to go to my vet and get the rabies vaccine. I did this on June 20, which is within 30 days of my trip. The rabies vaccine (3 year) cost $15. My vet also gave the bordetella vaccine booster ($15), the DHPP-C Vaccine ($30), so the whole visit was $60. I know there are various prices for these vaccines, so you may want to shop around. I just wanted Cha Cha's regular veterinarian, Dr. Steven, to do it so all her records would be in one place.