St. Martin import permit to bring a dog to st. barths

[andynap]

This site is very illustrative and up to date.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/pettravel-stmaarten

 

[krand1]

Yup, that's my reality.

Thank you andynap

 

[JFK]

It looks like it is for transiting through European countries as a transit document, but does not limit country of origin to Europe. I am forwarding this to a few people to look at, but if they read it the way I do, I think I will use this in the future. This looks very promising! Thank you!

 

[nyc]

The "Declaration Form" that you are describing, from what I have researched, is a "pet passport" that EU countries use. It does NOT apply to travelers with pets from the USA. Where were your friends traveling from? And if you have access to a form that applies to USA travelers, by all means, send the link!
I do know what "the situation is in reality" because I have been traveling from the USA to St Barths thru SXM and Puerto Rico for the last 10 years (about 12- 14 times) with my pet so I have passed on my experience and exhaustive research on the subject on this forum. Trust me...I have looked for an easier way (besides flying thru SJU) since 2014 when St. Maarten changed their regulations. I have been in touch with officials both from the USDA and SXM. I don't think I am being pretentious, merely trying to be helpful to those who wish to travel from the USA to St Barths with their pets by passing on my experience.

Apparently it DOES apply to US travelers. BOTH friends that you inquired about depart from NY which is part of the USA. The one who owns a villa on the island visits often. Anyway, thank you for trying to be helpful.

 

[lbt]

Not worth the time and stress at all! I think you should just cross St. Martin off your list and go to any place else if you want to bring a dog. The whole process is awful. I spent $600 getting all the vet stuff to submit to the government for the animal permit and they never looked at it or approved it and there was just radio silence. I tried calling every number a million times and wrote millions of emails to them and they gave me number after number and I talked to person after person and no one was able to look up if anything happened with it.

Finally, the travel date came and went with absolutely no contact back from the government after I submitted my application. It may have even been approved but I COULD NOT GET ONE PERSON to tell me what happened to my application. I swear this has caused me so much stress that it WAS NOT WORTH TRYING!!! Do not try to take your dog to St. Martin bc it will not work and they said they would conficate my dog if I bring him without the approved permit yet there is no way at all to find out if I received the approval or not. DO NOT start down this road. It was a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake and I don't want anyone else to have to suffer through it as I did! I probably spent 3 weeks on this full-time basically and nothing happened. It 100 percent ruined a vacation that was supposed to be fun. Just go somewhere else and have a good time. Enough said!

 

[Hawke]

We came back from Ireland about a month ago. Our daughter who is in theater and visits our dogs once or twice a week stayed at the house during our stay. Our sons took turns walking the dogs. They had everything they needed. We will be visiting St. Barts in 2024 and our sister in law will be staying at our house. Dogs get used to their routine. I don't get bringing a dog to St. Barts.

 

[Beachcomber]

I'm a veterinarian and I completely agree with Hawke. Even if you do all your research quite often wires get crossed with the paperwork. One time a client of mine called me in a panic because her son who is a special forces instructor had just flown from Seattle to Phoenix with his family and highly trained Doberman on his way to Germany. Apparently, the dogs "papers were not in order" and the family had to leave their dog at the Phoenix airport. I live in New England and offered to foster the dog if she could get it on a plane to the east coast. Long story short, my 7 Irish Jack Russell terriers were not impressed with their new housemate and the poor doberman didn't really blend in. My dogs are 16 plus years old so their traveling days are over so we have a lovely woman who works for us part time spend some time at our house with the dogs. She sends us text messages with photos so we can see how content they are in their own home and beds. As much fun as getting away is for us it can be just one big stressor for the dogs if something goes wrong.