The Complete Guide to Shipping Your Dog or Cat from the USA to the Dominican Republic

Written by My Pet Air Travel, based on our own USA→Dominican Republic pet relocations combined with USDA APHIS and Dominican government (DIGEGA) requirements.

The Dominican Republic is a real, steady route for us — not an occasional booking, but a lane with a clear pattern: Santo Domingo as the destination, a small handful of specialist cargo airlines, and a named partner on the ground who reviews every document before your pet ever lands. The regulatory side is comparatively simple — no titer test, no quarantine, no breed restrictions — which makes routing and airline choice the parts most worth planning around. One quick note before we go further: if you're moving to Dominica (a separate island nation in the Eastern Caribbean), that's not this guide — we occasionally get this mix-up, and it's an easy one to make.

At a glance

Step 1: Microchip, vaccination, and the health certificate

Your pet needs a microchip in place before its rabies vaccination, with the vaccination given at least 30 days before travel (your pet must be at least 12 weeks old at the time of that first vaccination). Because the US isn't a high-rabies-risk country by Dominican standards, no titer/blood test is required. Your pet travels on a USDA-endorsed health certificate, examined by an accredited vet within 72 hours of travel and endorsed through USDA's electronic system — we build enough lead time into your timeline that the endorsement and your travel date line up comfortably, since this certificate carries a short validity window once issued.

Step 2: There's no import permit to wait on (for a typical pet)

Unlike some of our other destinations, the Dominican Republic does not require an import permit for an ordinary personal pet shipment — that requirement only applies to commercial shipments or larger multi-pet imports. For the vast majority of our clients moving one or two pets, this means one less document and one less approval to wait on, which is part of why this route tends to move faster than some of our others.

Step 3: Santo Domingo is the airport we actually use

Every real shipment we've booked to the Dominican Republic goes through Santo Domingo (SDQ). Punta Cana and Santiago do show up on airline rate sheets as theoretically available, but we haven't operated a client shipment through either — if your destination is closer to Punta Cana, we'll be upfront that SDQ plus ground transport is our proven path, rather than presenting an untested airport as equivalent.

Airlines: a few specialists, chosen by your departure city

We book this route across a small number of live-animal cargo specialists rather than the major passenger airlines: Amerijet and Sunrise Air Cargo for direct Miami–Santo Domingo service, Copa Airlines Cargo for a live New York–Santo Domingo route, and Aeromexico (routing through Mexico City) for West Coast departures. Which one we book depends on your departure city and your pet's crate size — we'll walk you through the specific option for your shipment rather than defaulting to a single carrier that may not actually serve your route well.

What happens on the DR side

Our Santo Domingo-based partner, based at Las Américas International Airport, reviews your paperwork before your pet's flight lands — checking your microchip number and vaccination record against your paperwork so any issue is caught in advance rather than at the airport. They then coordinate the release of your pet with customs and hand off to your designated local contact.

How much does it cost?

Based on our own real Dominican Republic quotes:

Typical range: roughly $2,000–$3,100 for a single pet, with your departure city and crate size the two biggest factors — West Coast departures routing through Mexico City and East Coast direct-to-Miami departures both work, but pricing and routing differ enough that we'll always quote based on your specific city.

Real lessons from Dominican Republic shipments we've handled

• Your departure city meaningfully affects which airline and routing we use — Miami has the most direct options, while West Coast departures need a connection through Mexico City, and airline choice narrows further depending on your pet's breed and crate size.
• A carrier can decline a previously scheduled shipment. We've had an airline refuse a booked shipment on its scheduled date and had to rebook on short notice — we build a small buffer into your travel window specifically because of this kind of last-minute change.
• Some breeds are restricted by specific carriers on this route — we'll confirm your pet's breed is clear with the specific airline we're booking before we commit to a date.
• Double-check you mean the Dominican Republic, not Dominica — these are two different countries, and we want to make sure your quote and paperwork are for the right one from the start.

Questions clients actually ask us

• "Do we need an import permit?" (Not for a typical single pet — that requirement is for commercial or larger multi-pet shipments.)
• "Do we need the rabies titer test?" (No — not required for pets coming from the US.)
• "Why does our routing go through Mexico City if we're on the West Coast?" (Because that's currently the most reliable live-animal cargo path from that region to Santo Domingo.)
• "Can our pet fly into Punta Cana instead of Santo Domingo?" (We haven't operated that route — we'll be upfront about what we have real experience with.)
• "What if our travel date needs to change close to departure?" (We'll tell you what flexibility your specific airline allows.)

A note on where this guide comes from

This guide reflects our own USA→Dominican Republic shipment history combined with current USDA APHIS export requirements and Dominican Republic (DIGEGA) import guidance as of September 2026. A handful of secondary sources cite a validity window or permit requirement that differs slightly from official government guidance — where sources disagreed, we relied on the official USDA and DIGEGA documentation. Nothing here is legal advice.