John, I'm glad to hear you live in a safe place. As Naa-Dei mentioned, I would consider cooking the meats. You gotta do what you gotta do . It may not be as good as RAW but it's probably the next best alternative if a good quality kibble isn't available (IMO, I would rather feed a good quality kibble if RAW was impossible for some reason).

Great that you found someone you can talk with for info on importing your dog! That is good news. It would be interesting to see how he feeds his dog, too.

I would suggest looking into finding an agent that specializes in clearing dogs thru customs over there. Europe is pretty "easy" to import dogs, since so many dogs come and go from Europe every day, but importing my dogs this weekend to Belgium was alot of work. Extensive (4 page) belgian health papers had to be filled out, as well as an application for import permits and USDA stamped and signed US health certificates. Requirements of microchips to be implanted too. If the microchips were implanted after the rabies vaccine was given then the rabies vaccine has to be given again. Rabies vaccine has to be over 21 days old and less than 1 year old to admit the dog into the country. They often can't read US microchips so you have to provide your own chip reader to the veterinary inspector so they can verify the dogs chip number.

If Africa is strict on animal importing, then make sure you get everything figured out to the finest detail and see if you can find an agent that will clear it thru customs for you so you don't have to run around with a stack of papers figuring out which department does what and end up getting your dog sent back because you missed a date or they couldn't read the chip or something stupid like that Also it's been my experience that when travelling to countries that work on a bribery system as Will said, its nice to have a local around on your side to grease the wheels a little for you

Good luck!

 Quote: john e. araman

Great links Will and Sandy, very informative.. I did have my secretarty call the airport and all they "said" was you need the dog's international health certificate and vaccinations up-to-date..

The place where I live is a relatively safe complex and security guards on all exits.. It's relatively safe.. regarding what I'll be feeding him.. This is my concern... Adolf has been a RAW food pup since I got him from the breeder. I was considering cooking the meats cause , I'm not too sure if the meat will be safe raw.

I'm actually in Cotonou - Benin.. Lome is actually in the neighboring country of Togo

You are completely correct and I am highly embarrassed -- teach me to not write before coffee and on the way out to work.

Food: the nice thing about living in Accra and in one of its southernmost reaches at that was that we were just half a mile from the Gulf of Guinea. And every day other than Tuesday (I don't expect this will be the case for you, but it's the local day of rest for fishermen), we could get fish landed not an hour ago direct to the door, packed in ice, first thing in the morning. Doesn't get much better than that.

So fish, whatever was in season is most of what formed (well, still forms -- it's me who's not living there any longer) the basis of our dogs' diets. When herring's in season, we buy it up in bulk and freeze it. When we raised our own chickens, we'd also give them that and eggs. All cooked save the eggs.

Raw... seriously, unless you know very, very well where it's coming from and really trust the source, I'd give it a miss! A modicum of distrust regarding raw or undercooked (anything not very well done is undercooked) food is both traditional and healthy. A well put together cooked diet is better than a Russian Roulette raw one. Though I have to say, I'd rather try either than kibble. I used to be envious of people importing dog food for their pets -- until I made the connection that their dogs were dying of liver neoplasms by five, six years of age.


Best of luck and I'm certainly interested in how you get along.

Update: I went and spoke to a local vet and here's what she said:

1- International Health Certificate
2- Update Vaccination Book
3- 5000 or 10000 CFA (which roughly equals $10 to $20) to give at the airport ( and YES she meant as bribery fees)

As for now I'm having my brother send me my collection of 26 Leerburg Vids ..

I'll be going to get Adolf in late July early August.
I can in the meanwhile practice with my neighbors malxgsd mix..

As for the raw meat.. well if the French people here are able to withstand eating undercooked meat and sometimes raw beef (I forgot what's it called).. I'm guessing that my dog can handle it .. right?

Update:

I went to Lebanon and got Adolf a new crate,updated his vaccinations :$, and an international health certificate.

He stayed in his crate for 15 hrs st. no water/food cause I wasn't allowed to see him in Morocco.. He rushed out of the crate to go to the toilet as soon as we were out of the airport.

Oh. if you were wondering.. No one asked for the international health certificate nor the vaccination book.. NOTHING.. I just took him and walked out of the airport..

Now the I'm introducing him to the other two dogs that belong to my neighbor.

Glad to hear he's back with you now. What an ordeal for him, poor baby. But good to know you weren't given any serious problems by anyone.

One last note and I hate to be the one to bring it up but I just got an email a couple of days ago from my nephew who is serving a mission in Ghana. They are preparing to eat dog, which he is gearing up for as you can imagine. However, he has already been served both bat, cat and rat and survived. Although, stomach aches and diarrhea have become the norm for him lately. There are still a lot of people there that are hungry on a regular basis. Never leave him outdoors when you are not home and actually keep an eye on him when you are home. Poverty and hunger drive people to do odd things. Good luck!

 Quote: RobbinMann

One last note and I hate to be the one to bring it up but I just got an email a couple of days ago from my nephew who is serving a mission in Ghana. They are preparing to eat dog, which he is gearing up for as you can imagine. However, he has already been served both bat, cat and rat and survived.

 Quote: robbinmann

eat dog,

Yep. yep. so I've heard..I'm taking care of that. He stays indoors crated while I'm at work and is loose in the house and in the "HUGE" front and backyard that we have in the compound when I'm there to keep an eye on him. Oh.. and loose means either leashed or with the electrical collar.
His dog food is about to finish and I'm still wondering whether or not to feed him raw :S

John - you stay safe man!!