Beck is a basenji and his dad is a medic in the Army. Beck’s dad has been transferred to a unit in Germany. Since Beck was checked out in Hawaii before he left, everything should be good to fly out, right? Not so easy anymore.

Rules have changed on both sides of the ocean. The consolidation of the European Union is supposed to make international travel easier. If you are already in Europe, this is probably true. The new rules make it difficult to say the least.

Several weeks ago, Beck’s grandmom called to see if we could do health certificates for a dog to fly. I am an accredited veterinarian in the state of Kentucky, so the staff said that I could. Unfortunately, it did not register to anyone to mention to senior staff that this was an international flight.

An international flight requires an international health certificate and every country’s import requirements are different. Beck arrived at my office in the late afternoon on a Thursday before travel on an early Tuesday morning flight.

An international health certificate often starts with a call to the State Department for that country to ask what the current requirements for animal importation are. (They don’t work after 4:30pm.)

Next problem encountered was that last summer all of the rules for USDA veterinarians changed. Under the old rules you took a class, passed a test and were accredited for life. Well, someone figured out that not all of us remembered everything from that class 20 or more years ago. So the system was thrown out, but they did not expect the number of veterinarians to apply under the new system and registration is taking about a year longer than expected.

So first thing Friday morning, we called the office to check on my accreditation status. Great news!

They have my registration done and soon I have an enrollment form with my new number on it. I am to put this on the International Health Certificate form 7001 (or is it form 7006?). Anyway, our forms don’t have that number.

We were supposed to order forms that are preprinted with accountability numbers. Nobody told us and not enough time for that, so we download a form and complete it no less than three times before Frankfort says that it is okay. (We faxed it to them to proof twice.)

Back to the requirements to enter Germany, Beck had to be free of contagious disease and have had a microchip prior to receiving a rabies vaccine and the vaccine must be done 30 days before travel. Rabies was given in December in Hawaii by the Army post vet. Good.

So, Beck has a microchip, but the microchip is not the European standard microchip.

We contact the manufacturer of the microchip to check to see if Beck’s chip can be read in Germany. The chip is not ISO compatible. Beck cannot now get another microchip because of the 30 day requirement for the rabies.

But the manufacturer has a solution: they will rent Beck’s dad a chip scanner and return his hefty deposit when the scanner is returned. (Thank you, FEDEX, but wow, what a fee.)

Whew! Problem solved. Uh, wait. The person at the USDA/APHIS office didn’t tell us that the international original (blue ink only) health certificate had to be signed in Frankfort. The fax was not acceptable. (Don’t forget the certificate has to be within 10 days of travel to be valid.)

I am certain that Beck’s dad wanted to make one last trip to Frankfort, Ky. before going to Frankfurt, Germany. But it is better to make the trip than to start over.

So, with hours to spare, Beck is cleared to travel on an international flight. And a pet traveling with their owner is much safer than alone as cargo.

We tried to call to see how Beck was doing with German, but remembered he was a basenji. They don’t bark.

When we finally did get a hold of the grandmom, Beck was denied boarding because the airline was not prepared to do an international transfer.

Beck stayed. Since Beck’s dad had called the airline before arriving, he was a tad annoyed.

M.J. Wixsom practices veterinarian medicine at Guardian Animal Medical Center in Flatwoods, Ky. For questions, call 606-928-6566.