How to bring your cat or dog with you into Switzerland

Moving to Switzerland with your cat or dog needn’t be too stressful, just make sure to line everything up in the right order with the correct paperwork and it should be ok.

“How do I bring by dog/cat with me Switzerland”? This is a question I see asked almost weekly on the local forums and social media, so I thought I’d put all the info in one place.

We moved to Switzerland over a decade ago with our two elderly cats that we had adopted in the uk, and once those had passed away with old age, we adopted two kittens from a kill shelter in Spain and then later on our dog from a shelter in Greece, so it’s fair to say we’ve been through this.

For the vast majority of us, moving abroad without bringing our pets along with us is unthinkable, and luckily in Switzerland, you can bring them with you if you follow the rules and get things done in the right order. The last bit is where it gets tricky and there seems to be a lot of bad advice flying about, so having been through this recently with the adoption of our dog, I can tell you exactly which order things need to be done in.

Switzerland’s Federal Council has published advice on the above, which I will put a link to below. I’ve taken all my details from their official site.

To bring in your pet dog to Switzerland from the UK and EU.

Microchip Identification: Microchip (ISO 11784, readable by reader compliant with ISO 11785). Identification must take place before the anti-rabies vaccination.

Valid anti-rabies vaccination: The rabies vaccine can be given to dogs over 12 weeks of age, with a valid in date vaccine. The label with the expiry date must be put in the pet passport. The vaccination becomes valid 21 days after completion of the vaccination or booster protocol.

Veterinary certificate and owner’s declaration: Your animal must have a veterinary certificate and an owner’s declaration. The original, stamped and signed form is required, not a copy. Acceptable languages are German, French, Italian or English. Other languages must be translated using a certified translation service. The certificate must be completed by an official veterinarian in your country of origin, and is valid for only 10d. Here is a link to an example copy of such a certificate.

It’s important to note, Switzerland doesn’t allow importation of dogs with cropped ears or tails for animal welfare reasons. They will consider making certain exceptions, such as when a dog has already been owned as part of the family moving to Switzerland and has had it’s ears or tail docked for medical reasons. However, such cases must be individually approved and the onus is on the owner to prove with a veterinary certificate that it was done for medical reasons only. More details at this link here.

The order you do things in matters.

I mentioned above that there is a certain order in which to do everything, and this is really important. Trust me it will save a lot of headaches and back and forth with the authorities if you don’t get it right.

1. The dog must be microchipped FIRST.

2. Next - rabies vaccines and pet passport. Remember, the rabies vaccine only comes into effect 21d after the full course.

3. No more than 10d before arrival in Switzerland, get a veterinary certificate and owner’s declaration. Your vet must also examine the dog, give a worming treatment as well as one for fleas and ticks and declare the dog fit for travel.

4. When and where you cross the border into Switzerland is VERY important. You must cross by one of the major Douannes (Border Controls) and arrange to do so on a Monday to Friday to make sure it is manned by the appropriate personnel. Don’t skip this part by going through a minor border pass or on a weekend. It’s absolutely paramount that you stop at a large manned Douanne during office hours, get out with your dog and their certificates, and then declare the dog. The douaniers will examine everything and allow entry to the country if satisfied that all is in order. They will issue a tax for your dog’s value…so even if you have a rescue dog, your tax will depend on the perceived market value as if you had just bought the dog from a breeder. Once paid, they will issue a receipt which is fixed into the dog’s passport, which will then be stamped and dated to show that the control was done.

   Here is a link to see the opening hours of each Swiss Douane.

5. After this, you must declare your dog to your local commune, preferably within the first week. Again, you must show all the certificates and the receipt from the Douanne, don’t lose this, it’s vital. The reason to get this commune declaration done quickly is that they will issue a certificate stating that this has been done along with a number for your vet to then register the dog AMICUS, the Swiss dog database, which is legally required for owners.

6. You need to have a local Swiss vet see your dog within 10d of arrival and the vet must then register the dog with AMICUS….I wouldn’t leave this till day 10 though, as vets can be busy and might not get the declaration in on the same day. The best thing is to do all of the above within the first few days of arrival. Make sure to visit your commune FIRST before the vets, as the vet can’t register your dog without the certificate number the commune provides.

If you’re bringing your dog into Switzerland from a non-EU country, complete this official Swiss government questionnaire, where they will guide you through the process and requirements.

To bring a cat into switzerland from the EU, the above points 1-4 apply. The difference for cats is that you don’t have to declare them with the local commune or with AMICUS through a local vet.

The Federal Council of Switzerland’s official government pages for bringing in small pets to Switzerland.

https://www.blv.admin.ch/blv/en/home/tiere/reisen-mit-heimtieren/hunde-katzen-und-frettchen.html

I know that was a lot of information to digest, which is why I thought it best to lay it out in one page. Good luck, don’t let all the steps above put you off, we never had any issues bringing out pets with us to Switzerland. And finally, enjoy having your animals with you here in the land of chocolate and cheese…..it’s a great place for dog walking. Switzerland offers a huge variety of dog walking opportunities, such as beaches, large forests and rivers, mountains and vineyards to name just a few examples. However, as always, there are some rules in Switzerland about where you can and can’t walk your dog….I’ll cover these in another blog.