Relocating to Germany with Cats or Dogs 🐈 🐕

If you are planning to relocate to Germany with your furry family member, then we highly recommend organizing this early. The reason being is because there is quite a lot of paperwork involved and if all documents are not fully completed, your pet risks being quarantined.

To ensure that there are no issues upon entry to the Europe Union, each pet that comes from a third country (non- EU) must have the following upon arrival:

💉 In some cases vaccination certificates & blood test details must also be provided.

Please make sure you vaccinate your pet for rabies before you leave for Germany. Please note that German officials require proof that your cat or dog has received a vaccination at least 30 days before your arrival but no more than 12 months before.

However, younger pets that cannot be vaccinated may be allowed to travel without being vaccinated under certain conditions. Please see this link to learn more information on this matter.

🛫 Please also contact your airline for information about their specific regulations. Generally, the airlines will require an international health certificate, which must be issued by a veterinary office no more than 10 days prior to travel.

Once a dog has arrived in Germany, they must be registered and a tax (Hundesteuer) will need to be paid. The cost of the tax varies between German state and must be paid annually. You have 30 days from the date of your arrival to register your dog. This can be done at your local town hall or communal office.

Cats do not need to be registered or require a separate tax payment.

The EU pet-travel-plan has coincided with moves towards tighter pet restrictions in many EU countries, including Germany.

In particular, there is a law that certain dog breeds are not allowed to be brought to Germany. This includes the following:

Additionally, all German cities have various leash restrictions and laws, when taking your dog out in public. Please make sure to look up the leash laws in the city where you will be relocating to.

Berlin has passed tough laws for dog owners, which imposes specific restrictions on leashes and requires that your dog is microchipped. This is meant to ensure that animals cannot be simply abandoned or lost. Additionally, the law requires that dog owners must have personal liability insurance and this is also required for all newly purchased dogs.

In regards to your dog’s leash, the lead can be 2 meters long when in open areas like parks, forests & sport grounds. For more crowded spaces like railway stations, stores, public transport, festival, etc., the lead will need to be no more than 1 meter long.

Also Berlin’s dog owners must register their dog at the central register (dog register). The dog register is used to identify dogs and/or determine the last owner of the dog if they become lost or stray.

Please note that the registration at the dog register does not replace the registration/de-registration of your dog at the tax office or the registration/de-registration of dangerous dogs at the regulatory office. The fee for this is 17.50 EUR per dog when registering online and it is 26.50 EUR per dog when registering by writing or telephone.

There can be some high consequences if you do not register your dog in Berlin, as well any breach of notification obligation. The fine for this can be up to 10,000 EUR. You can find more information about this, here.

The law also reinforces strict rules on so-called ‘fighting dogs’ with the owners of 10 particular breeds. This will require that these dogs must wear a muzzle outside the home and in general to be on a leash.