Moving to Italy with a dog, cat or ferret

A vaccination recorded before the microchip is void for travel and must be repeated: the vaccination date may not precede the date the animal was identified. Same appointment is fine — same order is not optional.

Coming from another EU country

Your EU pet passport stays valid: passports issued on the old model before 22 April 2026 are expressly still compliant, and there is no duty to swap it for an Italian one. You may move up to five animals in one non-commercial movement — more only for competitions or shows, with written evidence and animals over six months old.

One thing Italy does not allow: the puppy derogation. Some member states admit animals under 12 weeks, or 12–16 weeks not yet 21 days past vaccination. Italy does not — the Commission's register records Italy as "No", and the ministry says so in writing.

Coming from outside the EU

Two tiers. From a listed country or territory — which includes the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, Switzerland and around fifty others — you need the microchip, the rabies vaccination and an animal health certificate issued or endorsed no more than 10 days before entry, with a signed non-commercial-movement declaration attached. The certificate then covers you for six months, or until the vaccination expires, whichever comes first.

From an unlisted country you also need a rabies antibody titration test: blood taken at least 30 days after the primary vaccination, showing a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml, and taken at least 90 days before the health certificate is issued. Note the reference point — the old rule counted three months back from travel; the current one counts 90 days back from the certificate. Budget four months or more, as the ministry itself advises. Two countries that were listed under the old regime — Russia and Belarus — are not on the new list.

You must enter through a designated travellers' point of entry (Italy names 41 airports and 16 ports) and present the animal to the authority there for document and identity checks. Young unvaccinated animals cannot enter the EU from outside it at all.

After you arrive: register in SINAC

Italian law, not EU law: an animal brought in with its owner and staying more than 30 days must be registered in SINAC, the national pet section of the animal database (90 days for birds, rabbits and other Annex I Part B species). Under that, registration is optional. Failing to register is an administrative fine of €150–900 per animal; changes of ownership, address or death must be notified within 7 days, loss or recovery within 48 hours.

The obligation is national but delivery is regional, so the procedure and any fee depend on your region and local ASL — and regional registers sync to the national database at different speeds. An Italian pet passport is issued by the ASL veterinary services; for dogs, only after the animal is on the register.

What Italy does not require

• No tapeworm or tick treatment. The Echinococcus multilocularis treatment applies only to dogs entering Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway. The ministry states expressly that neither is required for Italy.
• No routine quarantine. For a compliant animal there is none. Isolation of up to six months exists only as an exceptional, permit-based arrangement for animals that do not comply.

When it stops being a "pet move"

Three things push you out of the pet rules and into commercial import — with TRACES certification and border-control-post checks instead: more than five animals without the show derogation, any sale or transfer of ownership (adoptions included), or the animal travelling more than five days apart from you. If someone else brings the animal for you, they need your written authorisation attached to its document.