Travelling with a dog to South America is always a combination of thorough preparation, patience and a certain amount of improvisation. Bolivia is one of the countries that are rarely mentioned in connection with travelling with a dog, but it is possible to get there with a dog too – if you know what to expect.
In this article we look at the official requirements for travelling with a dog from the EU to Bolivia and add our personal experience, when we entered Bolivia with our dog Ibo from Paraguay, where we had previously spent about a month.
Bolivia from the perspective of travelling with a dog
Bolivia is not a member of the European Union and in terms of veterinary regulations it is a third country outside the EU. It is also a state with less centralized administration and significant regional differences, which can also show up during border checks.
This does not mean that entry with a dog is impossible. Rather, it means you need to be really well prepared and able to handle a certain degree of improvisation. In countries with similarly unclear and changing rules it is better to have as many trump cards as possible – in this case as many test results and official confirmations as you can.
Theory: official entry requirements for bringing a dog into Bolivia
When entering Bolivia with a dog (regardless of whether you come directly from the EU or another country), the following are officially required:
- identification of the dog by microchip,
- valid rabies vaccination,
- international veterinary certificate of the dog’s health,
- certificate of antiparasitic treatment.
Documents should be issued in Spanish or supplemented with an official translation.
Our personal experience
Our route: from Paraguay to Bolivia with a dog
We did not enter Bolivia directly from Europe. First we flew to Paraguay, where we spent approximately one month with the dog. Only afterwards did we continue by plane from Paraguay to Bolivia.
This mode of transfer has its specifics – the dog enters Bolivia as an animal coming from another South American country, not directly from the EU. From the authorities’ perspective, however, the decisive factors remain mainly its health status and the completeness of the documents.
Before entering Bolivia
When entering Bolivia we had the complete documentation with us, which we arranged before departing Europe and then updated during our stay in Paraguay.
This update of the documentation was also something we relied on a lot. Before departing from Slovakia it was very difficult to track down precise official information regarding entry to Bolivia with a dog. We even tried to contact their embassy, but we never received a reply. Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America, not everything there works as it should, so this situation did not surprise us much. We told ourselves that since we had enough time in Paraguay for additional preparations, local veterinarians would surely advise us on how to prepare for entry to Bolivia with a dog. After all, this is a procedure they deal with far more often than vets back home in Slovakia.
Our expectations were met and the veterinary clinic in Asunción kindly guided us through the whole process. The fact that we had all the test results from Slovakia officially translated into Spanish saved us a lot of time and many complications. The veterinarian accepted the test results and essentially performed only a few additional procedures to complete the documentation. It was key to deworm the dog officially again, namely 14 days before the flight to Bolivia. At the same time it was necessary to re-vaccinate Iba against rabies, since most South American countries recognise rabies vaccination only for one year, not three years as in the EU. Unfortunately, Ibo’s vaccination had already expired from this point of view.
Once all the necessary procedures had been completed, the local veterinarian entered all the information about Ibo into the state veterinary system operated in Paraguay by the Servicio Nacional de Calidad y Salud Animal (SENACSA). The result was a multi-page official document in Spanish, which we collected at the clinic just before departure and which allowed us to enter Bolivia without problems. Before the flight we also had to send the papers scanned directly to the airline BoA, with which we had flown to Bolivia.
Upon arrival in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia the check was relatively simple. It was enough to present the documents from SENACSA, which had a QR code on the back. The airport staff scanned the code and, without further paperwork, allowed us and the dog to enter the country. We were not even asked to present any documentation that we had prepared in Slovakia. Ibo remained in the carrier the whole time during the check.
Before leaving Bolivia for the EU
For the departure we basically proceeded similarly to the departure from Paraguay. About two weeks before leaving Bolivia we visited the local veterinary clinic in the city of Tarija, explained our situation and requested the preparation of the necessary documentation. The veterinarian dewormed Iba again and, based on the documents from Slovakia and Paraguay, sent an application to the Bolivian state veterinary organization Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria e Inocuidad Alimentaria (SENASAG). Unlike in Paraguay, this procedure was surprisingly time-consuming and the necessary papers only ended up in our hands a few days before departure. We had to show this documentation to airport staff before departure, but in reality no one examined it in detail.
Arrival in the EU
We entered the EU from Bolivia in Madrid. The check of Iba and his documents at the airport was quick and trouble-free. We did not have to present any of the previous documents. The only thing that needed to be done was to take Iba out of the carrier and read the data from his microchip. Literally within a few seconds we were then allowed to enter the EU with Ibo.
Return to the EU: what not to underestimate
Bolivia is among the non-EU countries from which returning with a dog is administratively more demanding.
For returning to the European Union the most crucial is the blood test for rabies antibodies (titer). This test must be:
- performed in an approved laboratory,
- done after a valid rabies vaccination,
- and return to the EU is possible no earlier than three months after the blood sampling.
Failure to meet this condition may result in the dog being denied entry into the EU or in a quarantine order.
We did not meet this last condition 100% on our trip. Although Ibo underwent the blood test for rabies antibodies before departing Slovakia, it was, though only just, less than three months before our return. Fortunately, on our return to the EU nobody checked this fact.
Practical tips in brief
- Keep in mind that in Bolivia rules can vary depending on the region, the season and the specific border crossing.
- Have all documents printed and also in digital form.
- An official translation of the documents into Spanish can significantly ease communication.
- Do not underestimate antiparasitic treatments – they are extremely important in tropical areas.
- If you plan to return to the EU, have the titer test sorted before the trip.