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Pets and International Travel United States Department of State

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Pet therapy utilizes trained animals and handlers to achieve specific physical, social, cognitive, or emotional goals with patients. We only accept checked pets for active-duty U.S. military and U.S. State Department Foreign Service personnel traveling on official orders. Up to 2 pets may be checked and they must meet the minimum age and health requirements of the destination. Since capacity is limited, we accept checked pets on a first-come basis.

  • Anthropomorphism, or the projection of human feelings, thoughts and attributes on to animals, is a defining feature of human pet-keeping.
  • Pets have commonly been considered private property, owned by individual persons.
  • You could try teaching your cat or dog to lie down or roll over when you say the word “boo”.
  • As part of a three-month trial starting in late September 2022, we will start to allow pets outside in designated areas on the upper passenger deck of ferries sailing between Sunshine Coast and Powell River .
  • Overweight pets have been shown to be at a higher risk of developing diabetes, liver problems, joint pain, kidney failure, and cancer.

Pets also provide valuable companionship for older adults. Perhaps most importantly, though, a pet can add real joy and unconditional love to your life. In addition to providing health benefits for their owners, pets also impact the social lives of their owners and their connection to their community.

Planning to Adopt a Pet?

While many people have kept many different species of animals in captivity over the course of human history, only a relative few have been kept long enough to be considered domesticated. Other types of animal, notably monkeys, have never been domesticated but are still sold and kept as pets. There are also inanimate objects that have been kept as “pets”, either as a form of a game or humorously (e.g. the Pet Rock or Chia Pet). Some wild animals are kept as pets, such as tigers, even though this is illegal.

Help Save Wildlife

Even watching fish in an aquarium can help reduce muscle tension and lower your pulse rate. The Overseas Briefing Center provides country-specific pet information for the foreign affairs community assigned to a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. We encourage pet owners to review carefully their travel plans for upcoming international moves. Food bills, veterinary care, licenses, grooming costs, toys, bedding, boarding fees, and other maintenance expenses can mount up. If you’re unemployed or elderly, on a limited fixed income, it may be a struggle to cope with the expense of pet ownership. One of the reasons for these therapeutic effects is that Pets News fulfill the basic human need for touch.

Even hardened criminals in prison show long-term changes in their behavior after interacting with pets, many of them experiencing mutual affection for the first time. Stroking, hugging, or otherwise touching a loving animal can rapidly calm and soothe you when you’re stressed or anxious. The companionship of a pet can also ease loneliness, and most dogs are a great stimulus for healthy exercise, which can substantially boost your mood and ease depression.