Comments on: Bringing Pets To Panama

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:43:54 +0000

..hmmm…perhaps we are too trusting but we are bringing four pets (birds so more complicated than dogs) down this year and Jose Saenz says he has arranged for the vet to be there after hours; of course we have to pay extra but we are happy to do so to lessen the stress on the animals. So is it an issue of the vet is not available or an extra charge? Or maybe that people don’t know they can pay for the vet to stay longer?
Sam

By: Don Ray

Don Ray — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:07:48 +0000

Hi Rob. Thanks for dropping in and taking the time to leave the comment and the extra information.

By: T. Rob Brown

T. Rob Brown — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:34:57 +0000

Dear Steve, We are about to do our second winter trip from Toronto to our house in Santa Clara, Cocle (near The Decameron resort) We flew our two large dogs (12 year old Black Lab and 1 year old Goldendoodle) down last December - horrible trip - delayed twelve hours, had to overnight at both airports) Please advise people they must arrive between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in order to be processed by the vet - otherwise they must leave their pets overnight at the airport. We did Air Transat last time - are considering driving to Florida and flying from Ft. Lauderdale - anyone done that with pets? Rob

By: Don Ray

Don Ray — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:06:40 +0000

I also used the Texas State Offices instead of any Panamanian Embassy. Every time I talked to the Panamanian Embassy, I never got good information. I wiill get up to Paradise Gardens one of these days.

By: Charlotte Newman

Charlotte Newman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:56:04 +0000

Hi Don,
Re: Pets, a couple, few things.

First - Thanks to all who passed on information. We will be bringing in our two cats, and this is by far the most stressful in terms of the move, as they have no say, and will be dragged along, temporarily traumatized, etc. If anything happened to them because of our lack of preparedness, we’d both never forgive ourselves.

Second. Will need to check if this applies to pets, but for our “human” documents and apostiles, here in Oregon, (and, I believe this applies across the board in the U.S.), we were able to go down to our State Capital, to the Attorney General’s Office, to have all documents officially stamped, apostiled, etc., rather than, (in our case), fly down to, or send documents to San Francisco, where the closest Panamanian Embassy is. Again, haven’t thoroughly checked on this lately, re: applying to pets, as we’re not at a close enough point yet to move forward with the pet portion of the move. Will let you (all) know if I do get verification on this, if anyone’s interested. Definitely made things much easier for us humans.

Third - Does anyone have any info. on booking on a freighter, rather than flying, including bringing pets on board? I found one site that is a conduit to traveling via freighter, or other non-cruise ship, options. Can check and see if it’s bookmarked in my Favorites, or hunt it down again, if anyone’s interested. There’s a charge to sign up for the service conduit site, so again have not yet pursued.

And, #4. Don, you’ve absolutely got to get yourself to Paradise Gardens. What wonderful people! I believe they brought in (at minimum) 18 parrots of various species - from England. They said that they avoided the U.S., as they were concerned about U.S. regulations. They also shipped about 10,000 lbs. of stone, as well. I kid you not. He is a master stone mason. He’s erected a fabulous fountain/sculpture in Paradise Gardens, using Irish stone. Magnificent. And, if you’ve never been up close and personal with a Howler monkey, Oh My! Their little girl Howler is amazing. Believe she will be released back into the wild when she’s old enough. Also, think they’ve got their website up now. Was still under construction last time I checked, about two months ago.

OK. Thanks for, and to, all. Will also check in with the Link provided on your post. I’ve read it, but need to post questions/comments there, as well.
Happy 4th! ******! Best, Charloe

By: Rob Alan

Rob Alan — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:23:25 +0000

Sam,
You may want to contact Earle or Les at Anton Valley Hotel in El Valle. They brought their cockatoo (Coconut) from the US to Panama last year. See http://antonvalleyhotel.com for their contact information. BTW, we have stayed there & it is a very nice boutique hotel.
Rob

By: Don Ray

Don Ray — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:18:53 +0000

Hi Sam. Thanks for passing that information on. I need to get up to Paradise Gardens one of these days and take some photos. Seems like every time I go to Boquete, it is for a specific reason. I need to make Paradise Gardens a specific reason some day.

Good luck on bringing your birds. I have never tried to bring birds and I understand that they are more difficult.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:46:35 +0000

Hi Don;
Have been reading your blog for some time and appreciate all the time and effort you take. Thank you.
We are bringing four cockatoos down and it is quite a production as they are endangered and protected under the international treaty CITES. Whew, what a lot of work (permission required both to export and import birds plus proof they were domestically bred in addition to other usual Panamanian documentation) but we have been given invaluable advice and help from Paul at Paradise Gardens (can’t speak highly enough of him) and Susan in Bocas kindly sent a highly informative email to me. We will enlist Jose Saanez on the Panamanian end. If anyone else has experience in bringing birds to Panama, we sure would appreciate any words of wisdom.

By: Don Ray

Don Ray — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:56:17 +0000

Hi Steve. Thanks for adding that information.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:50:59 +0000

Don,

Just made the following post on Joyce’s blog. Thought it might be of interest here.

——————-

We just arrived yesterday (6/26) with our Australian Shepherd. Because we elected to “charter” a plane for the trip I cannot provide any information about airline related issues.

But … with respect to paperwork and the actual arrival process at Tocumen I can offer the following.

IMPORTANT - Following applies to U.S. residents only.

Paperwork - no problem. We used FedEx (from a location more remote than most, St. Croix, USVI) to/from the Panama Consulate in Washington. You MUST prepay the return. Have your vet complete APHIS Form 7001 along with a rabies certificate (your vet should have these forms available) THEN take/send the completed forms to a USDA vet (your vet should be able to tell you where the nearest USDA vet is located). The USDA vet needs to endorse (stamp) these two forms. THEN, send the two forms plus a USPS money order for $30 to the nearest Panama Consulate (you do NOT need the forms notarized using this procedure) for authentication. Use FedEx (don’t forget to enclose a prepaid return FedEx envelope). It’s important to phone the nearest (physically) Consulate to confirm they actually will process your papers - they may refer you to another Consulate. Using this procedure (and avoiding the notarization hassle) we received our authenticated documents back from the Panama Consulate in six days.

With respect to our arrival at Tocumen. We used Jose Saenz bocasfrog@yahoo.com (website bocasfrog@yahoo.com (website http://www.goldenfrog.net/)and had absolutely no problem. You could do this on your own but most of us don’t need the extra hassle and surprises - highly recommended. The Panamanian vets, along with Customs and Immigration officials where all very helpful/professional. We actually attracted a crowd because of “Wags” breed and unusual coloring.

If any of the above is confusing feel free to email stxsteve @ islandmail.us (just leave out those spaces).

Good luck with your move.