Hi,
I have travelled just about everywhere with my dog. We’ve never had too many problems when flying on airplanes, except between Memorial-Labor Day, when it’s just too hot for them.

Can I bring my dog for a vacation to Hawaii? I’ve heard things about quarantine laws, but I’ve also heard that it was done away with. Can you help me with this? Going to the beach just wouldn’t be the same if my dog couldn’t come.

Thanks, Jessica & Timber

What’s up Jessica and Timber,

Your question is something that runs very near to my heart; my longest boyfriend has been my golden retriever.

There is good news and bad news to your question.  Let’s do the bad first because it’s more fit to your situation.  Unfortunately, no, you cannot just ‘bring’ a dog, cat, or other pet onto the plane to join you on your vacation.  The reason for this is that Hawaii is a ‘rabies free’ state, and in order to keep things that way, they cannot allow casual visitors.  In fact, most of the puppies sold at pet stores here are from Australia, not the U.S., because Australia also is rabies free.  I totally understand your wanting to bring your dog here, but it looks like s/he’ll have to wait for a different trip.  The only exceptions to this are guide dogs for the blind, certified service dogs, and dogs from New Zealand, Guam, Australia, or the British Isles (all rabies free places).

The good news in this answer  is that if you were to move here, the Department of Agriculture has worked out a system where your dog to have at least two rabies shots a certain time apart.  Then they get their blood drawn at your vet, and the rabies antibodies results are ultimately sent to the Dept. of Agriculture.  When the Dept. of Ag. receive those results, that in effect begins their ‘quarantine’ period, and after 120 days, your pet is good to go for entering Hawaii.  What this means is that your pet can do its quarantine at home with you as opposed to 6 months in a kennel in Hawaii.  It’s a much more efficient process; I got to take my dog home the same day we flew in.  However, it is a lot of paperwork and there are steep processing costs, but knowing that my dog didn’t have to spend any time in a kennel was priceless.  For information about that, check out the Department of Agriculture’s website:  http://www.hawaiiag.org/hdoa/ai_aqs_info.htm