Traveling with dog from Ghana

Question
Hi!  My husband and I have been living in Ghana for the past 14 months.  We
got a local puppy here about 10 months ago, and he's had his parvo, rabies,
etc. shots and we've de-wormed him according to schedule.  We will leave
Ghana late April 2008 and stop in Amsterdam for a week before heading
back home to the US.  We cannot get a straight answer on what exactly is
needed for entering the Netherlands with our dog, and we are esp. concerned
bc we are coming from W. Africa and there may be extra restrictions.  We are
flying KLM, and we bought one of their 'approved' sky kennels to fly our dog
in cargo.  Do we need a microchip and/or a tattoo?  And that ties to the EU
pet passport?  We are concerned about finding a place to get the microchip or
tattoo, if that's what's needed.  Any information you could provide would be
very helpful.  Thank you.

Answer
Dear Laurie
You will most likely need to meet EU requirements for pets coming
from a so called 3rd class country.  This would mean: microchip,
rabies vac, blood test for titre standards, and wait 3 months.  You
do NOT have time for this.
You can visit:  www.ipata.com  and contact members in AMS for their
comments.
I strongly advise that you simply ship the dog directly to USA on
KLM or Lufthansa if available.  You can bypass all the EU requirements
Entry into USA is very easy.  Health cert issued within 10 days of
travel and a valid rabies vac.  If you will tell me the final
destination in USA then I can advise on travel plans, etc.
This may NOT be just what you wanted to hear, but is by far the most
logical and practical.
Please let me know how I can further assist
Sincerely, Jerry Mishler   www.actionpetexpress.com