VSD Maintains Regulations and Guidelines for Importation of Live Animals

The Veterinary Services Division (VSD), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, has emphasised its commitment to maintaining regulations and guidelines for the importation of live animals.

With the reality of diseases that affect animals also affecting humans – known as zoonotic diseases – this function is critical for the public health and the safety of both animal and human populations.

Senior Veterinary Officer, VSD, Dr. Simone Martin-Shaw, says persons must be cognisant of the fact that there are diseases that can cross from one animal species to the next.

“You also must think about the fact that Jamaica is an island. We don’t share borders with anyone. So, if animals are getting into the country, someone is bringing them in either by plane or boat or the animals are migrating – in this instance, birds flying into Jamaica. Sometimes these migratory birds can carry diseases as well that will negatively impact our industry,” she notes.

In a recent JIS ‘Get the Facts’ interview, Dr. Martin-Shaw assures that though the highly pathogenic avian influenza bird flu is a disease of concern, it is not in the country.

“It’s around us in the region, to the North of us and most recently to the South of us, as it was detected recently in Brazil. We have to be very careful when we are thinking about importing. Dialoguing with our partner countries and veterinary services in terms of what they need to do in terms of poultry and domestic pet birds coming into the country is critical,” she tells JIS News.

The entry of diseases, such as bird flu, into the island could be devastating economically, potentially debilitating our capacity to feed ourselves as a nation and cripple our food security efforts.

This is why Dr. Martin-Shaw underscores the importance of regulating the entry of live animals.

“It is important because one of the things we need to consider is that humans and animals have a very intrinsic relationship. We are regulating because we have an animal population to protect, whether it’s our domestic pets, domestic livestock, our wildlife – any kind of animal,” she emphasises.

“We must protect what we have because diseases that affect our borders – transboundary animal diseases – can have negative impacts on our animal population. It can totally wipe out native wildlife species and it can potentially wipe out our domestic livestock. It can also have negative impacts at a public health level for persons contracting zoonotic diseases,” Dr. Martin-Shaw adds.

The regulatory function also prevents the entry and reproduction of invasive species that can pose long-term problems.

“Once you introduce a specie that is not native to Jamaica and we are not too certain what that specie will do when it gets into our environment, we have to be cognisant that it can possibly kill our local species here and overtake the population,” Dr. Martin-Shaw says.

The regulations used by the VSD are different for varying animal species because there are some diseases that are unique to particular species and there are some diseases that can cross animal species.

The country an animal is coming from also plays a role in entry. “Each country has their own unique environment and some countries have diseases that we do not have here. We have to think about what’s happening in that environment from a scientific perspective and population, before we can consider importing those animals into Jamaica,” Dr. Martin-Shaw says.

Persons can import domestic live animals such as dogs and cats for personal use. Persons can also import domestic farm animals, with wildlife being reserved for attractions and zoos.

“Countries are categorised based on whether they have rabies present or not. We are proud to say we are a rabies-free country. It’s a very deadly zoonotic disease. So, we must ensure that the animals are vaccinated for rabies, or that they are not coming from a country where rabies is present and vaccination is not practised. Usually that is done by persons applying online. The necessary application forms are online,” she notes.

“We review the applications and there are certain criteria that we look at initially for dogs and cats. Once those criteria have been met, then they go through another process where we do a particular set of tests and vaccinations prior to entry within a specific time frame. We put the responsibility on the exporting countries to make sure that all the requirements are met,” Dr. Martin-Shaw explains.

Once an animal arrives at the airport, the VSD does checks to ensure that the animal’s documentation is in order and that the animals themselves are well.

The importation of exotic animals is usually done collaboratively with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

This is to ensure that animals are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and that the necessary permits are acquired by facilities accommodating the animals.

“For domestic livestock it’s a bit more challenging as you are importing a larger number of animals. We have to ensure that they are not going to impact our livestock industry here negatively …[by] introducing unwanted diseases,” Dr. Martin-Shaw says.

For importers, she notes that specific criteria are considered. “We usually look at where they’re going to keep the animal and if they meet certain biosecurity requirements. We do inspections of documentation and inspections at the farm level, as well, to ensure that certain basic requirements are met,” she notes.

Dr. Martin-Shaw also says a collaborative effort is used to manage stowaway animals that sometimes show up in containers.

“Sometimes when you are alerted, the animals may have died or they are still alive and we have to catch them. We work with NEPA and if it’s on the Port we work with the teams on the port. We have to consider putting them down because we don’t know anything about them,” she adds.

For further details on the importation of cats and dogs, persons can click here.