After PETA India Appeal, the Government Relaxes Import Requirements for Companion Dogs and Cats From Ukraine

Following an appeal to Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying issued an office memorandum stating, “Considering unique and extraordinary situations in war-hit Ukraine wherein pre-export requisite formalities to export pets into India may not be fulfilled, the import of pet dogs and/or pet cats along with stranded Indians being rescued by the Government of India is being facilitated as [a] one time relaxation measure.” PETA India approached the minister following an appeal for help on social media by Rishabh Kaushik, an Indian student who was refusing to leave war-hit Ukraine without his puppy Malibu.

The memorandum includes relaxed pre-import and post-import conditions and directs regional officers of all animal quarantine and certification services to coordinate with the respective state veterinary authorities to share details of each import with the central government’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

With this decision, India joins the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, countries which have made entry for animals less bureaucratic.

From Ukraine, there have been reports of people who have refused to leave without their companion animals and travelled great distances facing the bitter cold and risks of war carrying their companion animals in their arms, trying to find a safe route out. A café owner in Lviv, Ukraine, refused to leave his city because he feared that in his absence, the cats under his care would starve and die.

PETA India encourages those with the time, patience, love, and resources to bring a companion animal into their home to adopt an animal from the streets or an animal shelter.