Shipping Pets

Dogs and cats must be registered at the veterinary clinic within 10 working days of their arrival or acquisition. Dogs must be vaccinated yearly against rabies, distemper, adenovirus type 2, leptospirosis, parvovirus, parainfluenza and coronavirus. They should also be on heartworm year-round as a precaution as this disease is becoming increasingly prevalent in the country. Cats must be vaccinated yearly against rabies, panleukopenia, calicivirus and rhinotracheitis. It is recommended that they also be vaccinated for leukemia virus.

Documents Needed for Pet Travel:

• 10-Day Health Certificate provided from your local veterinary clinic
• Updated rabies shot (at least 30 days old)
• The Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization, or FAVN, test — This test measures the response of an animal’s immune system to the rabies vaccine. More specifically, it is a virus neutralization assay developed to screen animal sera by a standard method for an adequate level of rabies antibodies following vaccination.  Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is the most frequently used location to conduct this test and can take up to three weeks to complete. Visit with your local veterinary clinic for assistance. Cost from KSVDL is approximately $100 in additional to the local veterinary charge and the FedEx shipping charges to and from KSVDL. Visit the KSVDL website for FAVN instructions and FAQs.
• United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or USDA APHIS, must be submitted after all above documents are completed by the local veterinary clinic and signed by the USDA APHIS before pet(s) can travel to Korea. Cost for the USDA APHIS is approximately $120. Find out more about APHIS pet travel requirements. 

Quarantine

• Pets with a current rabies vaccination (at least 30 days old and current) will no longer undergo a 10-day quarantine at the Yongsan Pet Quarantine Facility. Pets will be released to owners on the same day. All pets must still process through Incheon. They cannot fly into Osan Air Base due to lack of Republic of Korea government personnel.
• Pets less than 3 months of age will not require a rabies vaccination and will be released to owners without any quarantine.
• Pets over 3 months of age with an invalid rabies vaccination certificate will be placed in quarantine until the 30-day time period is met.

If you are required to have your pet in the boarding and quarantine services, you will incur the following per-day costs:

• Dogs:
  • Small (12-inch shoulder height or less) – $10
  • Medium (more than 12-inch but less than 20-inch shoulder height) – $15
  • Large ( more than 20-inch but less than 25-inch shoulder height) – $20
  • Extra large (25-inch shoulder height and over) – $25
• Cats:
  • All sizes – $10

There is a cost for transporting your animal from Incheon International Airport to the National Quarantine Center near Gangwha. This charge varies. It can cost up as much as $50, depending on the size of the animal. That is a per animal charge. This fee is imposed by the Korean government, and we have no control over it. The Pet Care Center contractor, the United States Forces Korea quarantine facility, pays this charge for you. You will need to reimburse the contractor in won (local currency) when you are presented with your bill.

Visit the Air Mobility Command website for up-to-the-minute information on pet shipping.

The 129th Medical Detachment Team E provides full veterinary care for the Daegu military community. Except for emergencies, pets are seen by appointment. Occasionally, field training exercises and other mission priorities make it impossible for the veterinary clinic to see a pet in an emergency. A list of local civilian veterinarians may be obtained from the veterinary clinic in the event that an animal must be taken off post for treatment.

If you do bring your pet into the country, make sure that you follow all of the guidelines the veterinary clinic prescribes for Noncombatant Evacuation Operations in order to give your pet the best chance possible for evacuation.

The Veterinary Treatment Facility provides routine and urgent medical care for pets. The clinic maintains a stray animal facility offering healthy pets for adoption. The low adoption fee includes health exam, spay/neuter, first vaccinations, and parasite testing and prevention. Dogs must be immunized per manufactures’ guidelines against rabies and distemper multivalent immunizations with leptospirosis, and they must be tested for heartworm infection and maintained on heartworm preventative care with dewormer year-round. Cats must be immunized against rabies and feline panleukopenia virus multivalent immunization, and they must be tested for parasites and/or dewormed at least annually. All animal deaths must be reported immediately to the Veterinary Treatment Facility.

Vet services: DSN: 315-764-4708

There are no pet boarding facilities available in USAG Daegu except for in-processing/out-processing.

Sponsor responsibilities

Contact your sponsor in Korea. Your sponsor should contact the local veterinarian and get available information. You should compare what your sponsor gives you with what your local veterinarian tells you and settle any differences. Your pet must be on a leash when walking your pet no matter on or off the installation.

Ownership regulations

Owning a pet in Korea is a big responsibility. If you intend to ship a pet to Korea, the first thing you need to do is to contact your local military veterinarian. The veterinarian will give you the rules about shots and other pertinent medical advice. If you have a pet that could be classified as vicious, our advice is that you do not ship this pet to Korea. Additionally, some housing areas may have a restriction on bringing pets and/or the number of pets each family can bring. Check with your sponsor. Make sure that bringing your pet to Korea is what you want to do.