How to travel abroad with your Pet

This article illustrates all regulation and necessary documents for entering Germany with pets.

I am planning to travel with my pet, little Chihuahua, to Germany, and while starting to plan my trip I have encountered with the fact that I must prepare lots of paperwork for my little friend. I went on Google to look for answers, but there were so many articles with different contents of what and how to do to in order to take my pet from US to Germany. I could not find all requirements in one single article and this is why I thought to gather all information from my experience into this article.

The rules and regulations are subject to change and I cannot assume any responsibility for the information provided since this is based on personal experience which I hope will be helpful for those traveling with their pets from USA to any destination in Germany.

I will also include links for official websites where you can find more information.
Please note that the information provided in this article is strictly applicable for those traveling with the pet to Germany, other countries in Europe might have different regulations.
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If your pet is traveling on the same flight (cabin or cargo) with you, and if your flight is departing from United States and arriving to Germany as your first stop in Europe, then you will need the following:

You will need a Bilingual Veterinary Certificate; you can print it from the following link: Veterinary Bilingual Certificate

You will need a microchip for your pet (standard: ISO 11784 or ISO 11785) this is a 15 digit microchip that serves for identification purposes. If you pet has a tattoo, this will only be accepted as a means of identification until July 3, 2011; the tattoo will not be accepted if you are traveling to UK, Malta or Ireland.

You must print out the Veterinary Bilingual Certificate and present it to a Federal Accredited Veterinarian. Along with the Veterinarian Certificate you must also present last rabies vaccination and a proof of microchip. PLEASE NOTE that the rabies vaccination must occur after the pet got the microchip, or same day because usually the rabies certificate will only say the date of the vaccination.

The Bilingual Certificate also requires you to get your pet a tick treatment and echinococcus treatment (deworming), these are simple procedures that can be done directly at the vet's office.
You must have a Health Certificate as well, this a carbon form 7001 which is required by the airlines, this form cannot be downloaded online, you can get it only from a Federal Accredited Veterinarian. The cost of this form is about $30.00.
After you have completed above steps review all paperwork and gather it (Bilingual Veterinary Certificate, Rabies Certificate, Microchip Proof, Health Certificate and everything else that was given by the Vet to you) and send everything to the USDA/APHIS Veterinary Services Area office for final endorsement.
Be careful and plan in advance – the Health certificate must be issued no more than 10 days prior to the journey and endorsed by your regional veterinary services area office.
The final endorsement can be paid by check (SS number in this case is required), cash, all major credit cards or money order made out to USDA. The cost for final endorsement is $35.00.
You can come to your local USDA Office by appointment only; you will have to wait 2-3 hours. There is alternative, send all the paperwork by mail, overnight mail is always better since you do not have extra time due to the time limit for the health certificate; do not forget to enclose a return pre-paid overnight envelope, otherwise USDA office will send everything back by regular mail, and you do not want this to happen.
From the time the USDA receives your mail it takes about 2 full business days for processing.
Once your final endorsement is finalized you and your pet are ready for your journey.

I hope this information was helpful for you and enjoy your trip.

Links:
Bilingual Veterinary Certificate
USDA Offices
German Consulate in New York