Expats who wish to bring their pets along to Kerala have reasons to cheer as the Centre has extended the permission granted to the Cochin airport to import pet animals. Pets can be brought into the country only through designated airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad where animal quarantine facility is available. On an experimental basis, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying had given the Cochin airport permission to import pet animals till September 30, 2021 under the Livestock Importation Act, 1898. The permission has now been extended to June 30, 2022.
When the initial permission was granted, no one could make use of the facility due to the restrictions enforced for air travel following the COVID-19 outbreak. The latest notification issued by the Centre states that the pet dog or pet cat as permitted under the applicable baggage rules shall be allowed to be imported through the Cochin airport till June 30.
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