PETS
Bringing pets to MCB Butler Japan is discouraged. Pets may limit your options for housing and will not be a consideration when making housing assignments if inventory is limited. Many landlords off-base will also not rent to families with pets. Travel with pets to and from Okinawa may also require inconvenient special arrangements and expensive fees.
The on-base Veterinary Treatment Facility’s priority is the health, well-being, and mission readiness of our Military Working Dogs. Their secondary mission is to provide routine pet care to privately owned animals. The Okinawa VTF is unable to provide after-hour routine or emergency care to privately owned animals, and Japan does not have any 24/7 emergency veterinary hospitals available, in or around Okinawa. A list of off-base, local veterinarians is available at the Okinawa VTF, as well as on their Facebook page. Pet owners must develop their own pet emergency plan with an off-base veterinarian.
If you do decide to PCS with your pet, you MUST take initiative ahead of time to ensure you complete all necessary steps for PCS’ing with your pet.
If you are PCS’ing with a pet, you need to review the following information:
**If you are PCS’ing more than 60 days ahead of your family, do not bring your pet with you, have your family bring your pet when they arrive. Upon arriving, you will be placed in unaccompanied housing and there will be nowhere to house your pet until your family arrives and you occupy family housing.**
Please Note: pets will need to complete a 14-day ROM upon arrival with their owners. Provided below is some important information on how to get your pet ready for travel.
Japan Pet Importation Requirements is a link to the Government of Japan website containing Japanese laws and regulations, quarantine requirements and procedures for importing pets from designated and other regions.
The Government of Japan Import Guide for Pets - Non Designated Regions (November 2021) provides a guide to the process to import pets into Japan from all non-designated regions.
AQS Pet Importation Guide Designated Regions Nov 2021 (November 2021) provides a guide on the process to import pets from the designated regions of Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Hawaii and Guam.
III MEF/MCIPAC Order 10570.1 provides policy and direction on the proper care and control of domestic pets, registration and de-registration policies and requirements on pets for all SOFA status personnel living on and off-base and the prohibitions on certain dog breeds on Okinawa.
The U.S. Army, Japan Veterinary Service on Kadena Air Base provides command and control of all veterinary elements in support of U.S. Forces on Okinawa. Their web page provides information on location of clinic, hours of operation, installation policies and traveling with pets.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides pet shipment checklists, airline pet polices, certification requirements and much more.
The U.S Department of Agriculture web page provides information on traveling with pets to include basic information on exporting and importing pets.