Bringing a Dog or Cat to Belize: BAHA's Permit, Certificate and Rabies Rules
Verified on 14 November 2026 on the Belize Agricultural Health Authority’s (BAHA) import conditions for dogs and cats and its fees page, and on the BAHA Act and the BAHA (Service Fees) Regulations as printed in the Revised Edition 2020 of the Laws of Belize (Attorney General’s Ministry).
Section 60 of the BAHA Act, as printed in the Revised Edition 2020, makes it an offence to import any animal into Belize “otherwise than under a permit in that behalf granted under section 62”, the section under which BAHA grants import permits. BAHA’s import conditions for dogs and cats, dated June 2023, require a veterinary certificate issued within two (2) weeks of the travel date and a current rabies vaccination, and say all pet animals entering Belize are to be inspected by a BAHA official. Read 14 November 2026.
| Requirement (BAHA import conditions, June 2023) | As BAHA prints it | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Veterinary certificate | Issued within two (2) weeks of travel date by a registered veterinarian in the country of origin | Dogs and cats |
| Health | Clinically healthy, free of signs of infectious and contagious diseases, free of ectoparasites, no fresh wound or wound in the process of healing | Dogs and cats |
| Rabies | Vaccinated and the vaccination current; date, trade name, lot number and expiry date on the certificate | Dogs and cats |
| First rabies vaccination | At least 4 weeks (28 days) before traveling | Dogs |
| Puppies | Not vaccinated against rabies before 3-months (12 weeks or 84 days) old; the certificate must include age or date of birth | Dogs |
| Other vaccines | Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis and Parvovirus | Dogs |
| Other vaccines | Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calici Virus and Panleukopenia | Cats |
| Internal parasites | Treated with a registered product in the country of origin within thirty (30) days of exportation | Dogs and cats |
| On arrival | Inspected by a BAHA official | All pet animals |
Three of the rabies items (first vaccination, puppies, adult boosters) are worded for dogs only; for cats, BAHA’s conditions state only that the rabies vaccination must be current.
The rest of BAHA’s conditions
Adult dogs (15 months or older) may travel less than 4 weeks after a booster vaccination if they carry proof of a history of previous rabies vaccination, with at least one vaccine given after 3 months of age, and one current booster.
Pets from or passing through countries affected with diseases and pests of quarantine importance (BAHA names FMD and Screwworm) require veterinary inspection at the port of entry. For those, BAHA says the importer will be told of the inspection when the permit is issued and must notify BAHA of the date, time and flight number two (2) working days before the animals arrive, so that a veterinary officer is present. BAHA’s notes also say that all costs of quarantine are borne by the importer, and that the cage must be new or cleaned and disinfected with a registered product.
The fees: BAHA’s page and the regulations differ
| Item | BAHA fees page, read 14 November 2026 | BAHA (Service Fees) Regulations, regulation 6, Revised Edition 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Permit | Animal Health Permit: $50 | import permit, live animals: BZ$50.00 per application (US$25.00, our conversion) |
| Pet passport | Pet Passport: $200 | pet passports (validity of 1 year): BZ$100.00 per application (US$50.00, our conversion) |
BAHA’s fees page prints a bare dollar sign with no currency name, so we have not converted its amounts. Neither source has a line named for a dog or cat import permit, and we do not say which of the two applies. The regulations were gazetted on 27 November 2004.
Arriving without the papers: regulation 11
Regulation 11 of the Service Fees Regulations sets out what applies to a domestic dog or cat that arrives without the full documents:
| Situation | As the regulation prints it |
|---|---|
| No import permit, but supporting documents such as a health certificate or proof of rabies vaccination | Import allowed on paying an administrative fine of one hundred dollars (BZ$100.00) per dog or cat |
| Import permit, but no supporting documents | Import allowed on condition that the animal remains in house quarantine, on paying an administrative fine of one hundred dollars per dog or cat |
| Neither permit nor supporting documents | BAHA may, in its sole discretion, allow the import, provided an administrative fine of two hundred dollars is paid per dog or cat |
Under regulation 11(4) and (5), failure to pay these fines results in confiscation; the animal is housed by the Animal Health Department for one day, and if the owner or importer does not remove it from Belize it shall be euthanized by an authorized officer of the Authority, at the owner’s or importer’s expense. Regulation 12 sets an administrative fee of two hundred dollars for a person traveling in transit through Belize with a dog or cat but without an import permit and supporting documents. Under section 60 of the Act, an animal imported without a permit may be seized and, on conviction of the offender, forfeited to the Government.
BAHA is the authority on these rules; this page only reports what its published texts say. The boats to the cayes set their own pet rules, on our water taxi luggage page; the traveller’s own entry rules are on our entry requirements page.
What BAHA doesn’t publish
BAHA’s June 2023 import conditions for dogs and cats, read 14 November 2026, print no fee, no processing time for the permit and no microchip requirement, and they cite the BAHA Act’s Revised Edition 2011, while the Attorney General’s Ministry publishes the Revised Edition 2020. BAHA’s fees list, read the same day, names no currency and carries no date.
How we researched this
On 14 November 2026 we downloaded BAHA’s June 2023 import conditions for dogs and cats, read its fees page, and extracted sections 60 to 63 of the BAHA Act (Chapter 211) and the Service Fees Regulations from the Attorney General’s Ministry’s Revised Edition 2020. The US-dollar figures are our conversion at Belize’s fixed 2:1 peg, applied only where the regulations print BZ$.
Sources
- Belize Agricultural Health Authority — Import conditions, dogs and cats, June 2023 (PDF) — the certificate, health, rabies, other-vaccine and parasite rules, inspection, the two-working-day notice, quarantine costs, the cage, the legislation it cites
- Belize Agricultural Health Authority — Fees — the $50 Animal Health Permit and $200 Pet Passport
- Attorney General’s Ministry — BAHA Act, Chapter 211, Subsidiary Laws Revised Edition 2020 (PDF) — the Service Fees Regulations: regulation 6 permit and pet-passport fees, regulation 11 fines and confiscation, regulation 12 transit fee, the 2004 gazette date
- Attorney General’s Ministry — BAHA Act, Chapter 211, Revised Edition 2020 (PDF) — section 60 (the permit offence, seizure and forfeiture) and section 62 (BAHA’s power to grant import permits)
Last verified: 2026-11-14
Researched and written by Estuardo Enriquez for belizetravelblog.com, an independent site with no connection to any airport, airline, tour operator or government body.