by ISR Guest Author
I’m in Mexico City. To get to the point, the cutest dog started hanging around my neighborhood. He’s super well behaved, polite better describes him. When I fetch him something to eat he sits patiently and waits until I give him the go ahead. He loves being patted. I’m seriously thinking of adopting him.
I checked with the neighbors, in my broken Spanish. No one has seen him before few weeks ago. By the look of him he’s been on the street a long time. Whether or not I adopt him he is going to a vet for a checkup, bath, defleaing, deworming, shots, etc. I’m sure a certificate of health will be required to take him to the States with me.
I know someone could show up to claim him. If that happens I understand I’ll have to give him up. A colleague adopted a street dog last school year. Months after taking the dog in a woman who lives down the street came to tell her she can’t keep the dog because he belongs to the neighborhood. The woman essentially confirmed the dog has been living on the street. My colleague has chosen to ignore her. So far so good.
Do any of you pet lovers have experience adopting a street dog in a foreign country? Do these dogs adapt to being confined to a house and backyard? I would think so. If you have experience adopting a street dog in Mexico or any other country I’d love to hear about your experience.
Muchas Gracias,
Carol / ISR Guest Author
ISR Discussion Boards 
Ive done this. We found a puppy in Mexico City that had been abandoned.
We took her to the vet, she needed bottle fed for a while and alot of care.
At 17 years old, after living in Mexico Germany Scotland, Spain, Qatar, China and Korea, she passed away having lived an amazing life. We were devastated.
That was 8 months ago and weve decided recently (we live in Mexico City again) to do the same again and adopt another one.
The paperwork and formalities are really not that bad, it can be done. Best thing we ever did
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I am the ISR Guest Author. I just want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences with adopting a pet/s overseas. I’m super encouraged and ready to move forward. Thank you all so much!!!
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This is a problem in many countries! I ended up returning to the UK from Qatar with 30 rescue cats! A costly procedure, but what do you do? They all had traumatic beginnings and were near death, or else I would have left them in the managed colonies.
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We adopted our dog in Tanzania. As rabies is endemic, we had to get a rabies titre test done. In the whole African continent, there are currently only two licensed labs for this test. The first sample was ‘lost’ and then the result for the next sample sent took nearly six months due to claims of ‘covid backlogs’ – on research, the lab had actually undergone a change in management and had only just regained their license to practice. We received very little communication whilst waiting for the results and several other families gave up on waiting and left their animals behind – we did not but it has been a very costly and stressful process, including all the additional paperwork and incompetence of pet travel agents that you’re required by law to hire. We have no regrets of course – our dog is our family and we fought long and hard – but our recommendation would be to start the process as early as possible if you’re trying to get your pet out of Africa – we started well before the time and still ran into so many problems and extra costs on top of an already expensive process.
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I have adopted a cat from each country I worked in. It was generally an easy process. The. airfare can be pricey depending on where you are going. My first cat was adopted in Mongolia. I had to pay a bribe to get her out, but it was well worth it! She now lives with a good friend of mine. Next I was onto Venezuela where I found a sweet kitten that was living under a container at my school. I brought her home and later when I was unable to get back into Venezuela because of visa problems I had my good friend clean out my apartment and then bring my cat and things to the US until I was relocated. Once relocated to Belarus my poor kitty was lonely so what better way to fix this than adopt another kitten. The two became inseparable. Just before I was leaving Belarus to return to the US a tiny little kitten was dropped off at the gates of my school. She was brought home to my other two and I haven’t looked back nor regretted adopting her. All said, when I returned to the US I brought three cats with me. All of them had to be chipped and then had to have shot records and of course each has their own passport. Unfortunately, I had to put down cat number two last thanksgiving as he was experiencing major heart problems. I would do it all in a flash again!
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Hello Carol / ISR Guest Author
I think I can help you. I took my dog from México City to Europe! It was really much less difficult than I had imagined. My puppy/dog born in México, needed the following; fully vaccinated, microchipped, worming and a registered vet’s certificate of good health (needed for transport on any airline plus a IATA approved crate for transport (my dog is a Dalmatian so needed to go in the hold).
I can put you in touch with my friend Helen who has lots of experience importing and exporting dogs from México. You can find her at https://helenspethotel.com.mx. She is English, lives in and has a dog/cat hotel just outside Estado de México. My vet arranged microchipping.
Let me know if you need any further contacts. I love that you want to give a street dog a forever home.
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I adopted Hinckley in Turkey right from the hills, and he lived for 13 great years. Now I have Kimba, Piper and Louis from the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is loads of walking and fewer vacations, but they are my family !
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I adopted three cats from the streets of Jakarta. They are wonderful, sweet, loving and super smart. Best thing I have ever done. When I left Jakarta, they all came with me. They are my joy, and I could not imagine my life without them. If you can, adopt. Of course it is expensive to move animals from one country to another, but the joy they give you every day is worth the money!
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I would say to check out how much it would cost to ship the dog to your next teaching location (or best guess about where you’ll be). Ask around to find out the minimum charges. It’s expensive and this ends up being how many animals get dumped (though I’m not saying you would do that). I adopted a cat in South Africa and am paying about $1800 to send him home to the US but other carriers quoted twice that amount and dogs are definitely more expensive.
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Both my dogs have been adopted, from 2 different countries. Such a wonderful experience. Jingles was born at an animal shelter in Tunisia and has been with me since he was 2 months old (he’s almost 12 now). I used to take him home with me during long holidays between Tunisia and Canada. It was super easy as neither country had onerous regulations so he would just travel as “excess baggage”! However, moving to Indonesia and China was an expensive prospect. I had a IPATA certified pet mover deal with all the paperwork both times. VERY expensive but so worth it. My latest is almost 2 years old and I adopted her from a rescue organization in Shanghai. I’m planning on staying here for awhile but when I do move, will use a company again. I will do anything for my beloved dogs and am so grateful to have them in my life!
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We have two street dogs from Mexico at the moment. Both are very grateful and have lovely personalities. Training them is fairly easy although you might have to keep your food safe – ours are very good at opening doors and have been known to jump on tables when your back is turned. One is thirteen and we’ve had him since he was a puppy, the other is about a year old who we just rescued from the side of the motorway begging for food with an infected wound in her face. I haven’t tried to leave Mexico, but know it’s possible to take them to the UK if they have the right certificates.
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I lived in Mexico for 4 years teaching and I found a beautiful beat up doggie. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. A lot of folks end up dumping their dogs or moving and leaving them. It’s super sad. I say go for it, as long as you can actually commit to it. The paperwork from the vet won’t be difficult to get and basically as long as they are vaccinated and you have the records you are good. I would travel by land in my Mexican car and sometimes they would ask for papers and other times no.
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We were living in west Phoenix, Arizona when a little rat terrier and a white dog randomly wandered into our garage. Our neighbors informed us that the people down the street had been foreclosed on and simply left all their positions in the house, with the dogs locked outside. We already had an English Bulldog, so we simply took both of these dogs to try and rehome them.
The Bulldog immediately fell in love with the rat terrier, but fought with the white dog constantly. We ended up rehoming the white dog, but keeping the rat terrier. We started calling him “little rat” and “ratty” because, well he’s a rat terrier.
Now the bulldog is 12 years old, and has developed a slipped disk in his lower back. He requires a lot of care. Ratty has been super helpful in aiding us in managing care. He has become part of the family.
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It was in Hangzhou, China. I always swore I’d get a dog only when I retired, then I saw him in a photo with the rest of his eyes-still-shut dumped litter and that was it. I am planning to stay in my current school throughout the rest of his life because he was pretty traumatised by the move out of CN, which was expensive and, well… traumatising.
He is very happy in our current home and has no interest in another dog joining us, which is a challenge, as I would love to rescue another of the local strays.
I deal with the guilt of putting him in a kennel occasionally for the holidays by reminding myself that it is better than the street he was saved from.
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I rescued cats while living in Sohar, Oman. I took four away with me. Expensive, but worth every penny. They are now living in their third country. Do it!
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I adopted a wild street “wadi” dog in the Sultanate of Oman when she was about 5 months old (when she jumped into my arms running from 2 bigger dogs). The process was over a thousand USD total for plane ticket, travel kennel, vet visits, shots, exit visa, registrations, etc. Worth any price as she is precious and would have likely died abandoned and alone if left there. Most intelligent I have had, over pure bred show dogs even. Sweet, loving, adored by everyone and a mini ambassador for Oman now! Everyone asks where she came from. You must be committed to the long term costs of travel in case you move around, patient with processes. I did not use a travel service for pets as I wanted her on the same flight as me and assured of her arrival. Qatar airways was amazing with pet care. Brought her to me immediately before baggage arrived. Research Mexico’s requirements to exit with a dog and know you can not fly on a US airline with them in cargo above 84F at your US destination, so timing and location is important. I flew in to a different airport than my destination due to summer heat, rented car after dog friendly airport hotel rest and drove to my final destination 5 hours away. The US has regulations depending on the country the animal comes from often, so check. Typically, rabies shot and proof of it is the bare minimum requirement for the USA, but check on restrictions to be sure as things change. Certificate of health from vet, “doggy passport” of health records, and sometimes exit visas are needed by the country you depart. Check airline rules too. Best wishes!! The investment in a pup who seems to have chosen you is invaluable!! No regrets here!!
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I adopted a small rescue from Qatar, and the process was expensive but worth every penny to bring her back to the US. She played in her first snow this year and loves living like a cat in my window watching the world go by. I used a pet relocation service since the regulations were so complicated.
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We got our dog off the street in Malaysia. We have had her for 9 years now and currently live in Thailand. She is not the best behaved dog, but the kids absolutely adore her. I know she had a lot of early trauma. She was about 7 months old when we rescued her. She was dodging mean people and cars, it was heartbreaking to watch. Then she vomited up noodles, so not fed well. Anyhow, we couldn’t live without her. She’s part of our pack.
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Hi I ‘adopted’ a street dog from the streets of Shanghai China. She was the opposite however, super nervous of anything and anyone. She was caught by the police and mistreated badly, before a rescue agency stepped in. Long story short I saw her on the agencies page and fell in love with her little face and the traumatic start she’d had in life. She’s an absolute sweetie, loyal and protective of myself and my daughter. We moved to the UAE last year and she came too. Most expensive street dog ever to get her from one country to another but worth every penny.
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