Cats imported to the west indies and the Caribbean

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Date: 4/14/05 3:18 PM

Hello. I've read that cats are imported into the West Indies and the Caribbean from Britian and Northern Ireland. Since the Abyssinian and the Somali are found in Britain, and I'm assuming Northern Ireland, is it fair to assume that these two cat breeds are imported to Jamaica, the West Indies, And the Caribbean? Please let me know. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mr. Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com

Answer -
I'm afraid I don't know any of the import or export laws of any of those countries except to say cats are routinely exported from Britain and Ireland to the U.S.  If it's true that cats are shipped from the United Kingdom into the West Indies and the Carribean, then there isn't any reason why Abyssinians and Somalis would be exceptions.  I'd say the assumption that they would also be shipped would be perfectly fair.

Date: 4/15/04 4:04 PM

Hello:
Thank you for responding.
The info I read was at this link:
http://www.jhcuk.com/resources/reg_imp_dogs_cats.html
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mr. Jason Goldman
JGoldman10@yahoo.com

Answer
Thank you for the information.  The purpose of their stringent import rules, as you may know, is because Jamaica is a rabies-free island, and they'd like to keep it that way.  So they accept imports only from rabies-free countries.

However, looking into things more deeply, I have found that, opposite of Jamaica, the Carribean Islands REQUIRE vaccinations against rabies.  And the main islands in the West Indies, apart from Jamaica, are all known to have rabies.  Any animals coming into those islands must be vaccinated against rabies, as well.  So depending on where you are having the animal imported to, you would need to tell the breeder if the cat should be vaccinated against rabies or not.