Petition under Section 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946
Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue and Soi Dog Foundation petitioned the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seeking regulatory changes that would allow the rescue groups to resume importing dogs rescued in foreign countries. The CDC temporarily suspended the import of dogs from 113 countries in June 2021 due to concerns for rabies introduction and dubious reliability of foreign rabies certificates, halting much U.S. international rescue work. Petitioners are seeking rulemaking to update rabies control systems and expand import eligibility to anyone who complies with specified vaccine testing protocols and safeguards.
[To accompany Agency Update "Dog Rescue Groups Petition CDC to Update Rabies Import Controls" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 120.]