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jillsouthworth

Jan 23, 2005, 1:09 PM

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bringing pets to sma

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good afternoon,
my husband ,myself and our 2 children ages 4 & 5 are moving to sma in april for a year and wanted to bring our pets. i have researched and found the dog to be pretty welcome in mexico but the goldfish and 2 chickens are presenting a bit of a problem...i cannot find anything about bringing these guys with us and as silly as they might seem those 2 fish are as animated as they get and the chooks too...we would hate to leave them in the states...does anyone have any experience bringing in anything other than a dog or cat? thanks in advance,
jill

Carol Schmidt

Jan 24, 2005, 7:31 AM

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Re: [jillsouthworth] bringing pets to sma

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Nobody is jumping in to answer you, maybe because nobody has brought in chickens and fish. There are several aquarium stores around, one in the Gigante mall, so you'd be able to get fish food and whatever else fish need here, and my ex-husband used to have a tropical fish store and take fish to show at various contests, and he imported tropical fish from Thailand, so I know they can travel. It was hard, though--water temps often varied too much and he'd lose an expensive shipment.

I have no idea if there are any more restrictions on bringing fish and chickens over or not. I would be sure to get an International Health Certificate from a vet 72 hours before your border crossing on all of them, just in case there were questions at the border. Could a vet do a health check on a fish and chicken? Probably, why not, but maybe ask yours in advance to see.

There are many restrictions on bringing parrots across borders because of the decimation of Mexico's parrot population by poachers, who wrap a hundred up in blankets and hide them various places in a car and most are dead by the time they reach the US but the few that survive bring enough money to make the trip worthwhile for the smugglers.

I wonder if there are restrictions on bringing poultry across borders because of fears of Newcastle disease, which can wipe out an area's poultry industry. I lived in LA at a time when hundreds of thousands of chickens were killed to prevent the disease's spread.

As far as once you get here, many Mexican families keep a few chickens around, even in residential neighborhoods--I see a half-dozen beautiful roosters and hens on the grounds of the Hotel Sautto and a few chicks once in a while. Some places won't have a yard for you to keep them in, and you might have trouble with street dogs finding a way in and eating your pets--that happened to one bunch of Sautto chickens. Just maybe someone might steal one for dinner, I'm guessing.

Personally I'd leave the fish and chickens at home and avoid all such problems and maybe pick up some substitutes here for the year, and give them to neighbors when you leave. But then I've never been attached to a fish or chicken.

Carol Schmidt

jillsouthworth

Jan 24, 2005, 4:37 PM

Post #3 of 3 (473 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] bringing pets to sma

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thankyou so much for your reply carol, i have read literally hours of your fine words on this website and was wondering if you have had any great pozos info. we were planning to move to san miguel but i get the feeling it is nearing its' gringo limit and so now perhaps pozos de mineral would be a better place for us to take a year off. all my reseach shows me that it seems like a fine, quiet, relaxing place to absorb the delightful culture of dear mexico. lights out at ten is fine by me. i have come across very little on this site or these forums regarding living there i.e renting/buying...any hints?
thanks again
jill