AVMA applauds renewed congressional effort to strengthen dog importation standards

(WASHINGTON, DC) May 13, 2025 — Working alongside lawmakers in Congress, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) helped secure the reintroduction of the Healthy Dog Importation Act in the House and Senate. Strongly backed by the AVMA, the legislation would help prevent the introduction and spread of diseases impacting animal and human health. Improving current dog importation standards, the bill would ensure that a dog is in good health when being imported into the United States.

If passed, the Healthy Dog Importation Act would allocate additional and necessary resources to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies to responsibly screen the large number of dogs entering the U.S. each year. It would also ensure every imported dog would have a certificate of inspection from a licensed veterinarian confirming they are in good health and not at risk of spreading diseases that could endanger animal and public health.

“With the number of dogs imported into the United States rising to over one million annually, the risk of introducing and spreading diseases impacting human and animal health has dramatically increased,” said Dr. Sandra Faeh, AVMA President. “The proposed legislation equips federal agencies with the necessary tools to ensure all dogs entering the country are healthy and not a risk to public health. We urge Congress to pass the Healthy Dog Importation Act swiftly, as it is vital to improving our dog importation standards and strengthening the country’s animal health infrastructure.”

During the previous Congress, the Healthy Dog Importation Act was included in the 2024 Farm Bill proposals in the House and Senate. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) and Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tina Smith (D-Minn reintroduced the bill in the House and Senate.

“We’ve recently seen the terrible effects of animal diseases. Avian influenza is one example that has affected hundreds of millions of birds and drastically decreased the egg supply,” said Rep. Johnson. “The Healthy Dog Importation Act seeks to ensure fewer diseases are imported to the United States to protect our food supply chains and safeguard the health of pets, livestock, and humans.”

"We must protect not only our pets from dangerous diseases but also farmers, service animals, and entire communities throughout eastern North Carolina and rural America,” said Rep. Davis. “By promoting responsible practices and standards for animal health, we are taking one step towards doing just that."

“Maintaining animal health is critical to our nation’s overall public health goals. We want to stop the spread of diseases that can hurt both animals and humans. Our commonsense proposal will boost an existing program to ensure all dogs entering the United States are healthy and not at risk of spreading dangerous diseases that threaten humans and our livestock,” said Sen. Grassley. 

“We’ve seen first-hand the risk that animal-borne diseases pose to other species and humans, so it’s important that we screen animals coming across the border to make sure we’re keeping Minnesotans and their families safe,” Sen. Smith said. “This bipartisan legislation ensures every dog imported into the United States is screened and vaccinated. Monitoring the illnesses of imported dogs will not only protect the health of our domestic and wild animals, it will also prevent disease outbreaks in people.”