The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that it will rewrite its rules for bringing dogs into the United States after pushback from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and other lawmakers along the northern border.
Current federal regulations require dogs crossing the border into the U.S. be at least six months old and have a micro-chip, rabies vaccine and other documentation.
Sarah Brooks, vice president of the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race, says the current regulations are both logistically challenging for Canadian mushers and expensive.
"For them to comply with these regulations and to come and race the Can-Am they would be bringing over roughly 26-28 dogs. Their cost to bring teams over to race in Fort Kent, Maine, was approximately $4,200," says Brooks.
Brooks said she is glad the CDC is intending to write new rules and especially surrounding the age and microchip requirements.
The CDC director says the agency did not balance the concerns of dog owners and those in border communities with its goal of limiting the spread of canine rabies its final ruling earlier this year, according to a press release from Susan Collins' office released on Tuesday.
Betsy Hallett, manager at the Central Aroostook Humane Society, says current policies have prevented people from retrieving their dogs who have run across the border.
"A lot of people live close to the border, so we have had in quite a few dogs in the past that have come across the border. And of course, people don't have proof of rabies or anything like that, so then they can't get their dog back," says Hallett.
Hallett says that easing these rules would also allow her to facilitate adoptions with Canadian families, something she hasn't been able to do for years.
The current rules will remain in place until the new ones are officially published.
