pawmit.

Flying with a dog or cat inside the United States

There is no federal rule for a domestic flight with your own pet. The destination state decides — and eleven of them require nothing at all.

Referential verified at source on September 12, 2026.

There is no federal rule

APHIS, the federal veterinary agency, does not regulate the movement of a pet by its own owner between states. Its authority covers businesses that take custody of an animal for hire, under the Animal Welfare Act.

So there is no single American answer, but fifty-one. The useful question is never "do I need a certificate in the US" but "what does the state I'm landing in require" — and, separately, "what does the airline I booked require", because a carrier can ask for a document no state does.

The eleven states that exempt personal travel

These states explicitly distinguish travelling with your own pet from sale, adoption or exhibition, and require no certificate of veterinary inspection in the first case.

One caveat, since the summer of 2026: the exemption lapses if you are flying out of a state affected by New World screwworm. Texas is the only one. Vermont, which ordinarily requires nothing, then demands a veterinary certificate less than five days old and a preventive treatment; Virginia, Florida and Mississippi have comparable clauses. The exemption covers the ordinary regime, not emergency animal-health measures.

State-by-state requirements

Fifty states and the District of Columbia. "CVI" is the certificate of veterinary inspection. The window shown is the maximum delay between the certificate being signed and entering the state. Each row links to that state's official page.

StateCVI for personal travelWindowOfficial source
AlabamaRequired—agi.alabama.gov
AlaskaRequiredwithin 30 daysdec.alaska.gov
ArizonaRequired—agriculture.az.gov
ArkansasRequired——
CaliforniaNot required—cdfa.ca.gov
ColoradoRequiredwithin 30 daysag.colorado.gov
ConnecticutRequiredwithin 30 days—
DelawareRequiredwithin 30 days—
District of ColumbiaRequiredwithin 30 daysdchealth.dc.gov
FloridaNot required—fdacs.gov
GeorgiaNot required—agr.georgia.gov
HawaiiRequired—dab.hawaii.gov
IdahoRequired—agri.idaho.gov
IllinoisCase by case—agr.illinois.gov
IndianaRequiredwithin 30 daysin.gov
IowaCase by casewithin 30 daysiowaagriculture.gov
KansasRequiredwithin 30 daysagriculture.ks.gov
KentuckyRequired—apps.legislature.ky.gov
LouisianaRequiredwithin 30 days—
MaineNot required—maine.gov
MarylandRequired—mda.maryland.gov
MassachusettsRequired—mass.gov
MichiganRequiredwithin 30 daysmichigan.gov
MinnesotaRequiredwithin 30 daysbah.state.mn.us
MississippiNot required—mbah.ms.gov
MissouriRequiredwithin 30 daysagriculture.mo.gov
MontanaRequiredwithin 30 daysliv.mt.gov
NebraskaRequiredwithin 30 daysnda.nebraska.gov
NevadaRequired—leg.state.nv.us
New HampshireRequired—gc.nh.gov
New JerseyCase by case—nj.gov
New MexicoRequiredwithin 30 days—
New YorkRequiredwithin 30 daysagriculture.ny.gov
North CarolinaNot required—epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov
North DakotaCase by case—ndda.nd.gov
OhioRequiredwithin 30 daysagri.ohio.gov
OklahomaRequiredwithin 30 daysag.ok.gov
OregonRequiredwithin 30 daysoregonvma.org
PennsylvaniaNot required—pa.gov
Rhode IslandRequired—rules.sos.ri.gov
South CarolinaRequiredwithin 30 daysclemson.edu
South DakotaNot required——
TennesseeCase by casewithin 30 daystn.gov
TexasNot required—dshs.texas.gov
UtahRequiredwithin 30 daysag.utah.gov
VermontNot required—agriculture.vermont.gov
VirginiaNot required—vdacs.virginia.gov
WashingtonRequired—agr.wa.gov
West VirginiaRequiredwithin 30 daysagriculture.wv.gov
WisconsinRequired—datcp.wi.gov
WyomingRequiredwithin 30 dayswlsb.state.wy.us

Hawaii, the only state that quarantines your pet

Hawaii is the only US state that legally places an arriving animal in quarantine. The regime is close to a foreign country's: an ISO microchip implanted before any vaccination counts, two rabies vaccinations, an OIE-FAVN blood test, and a minimum thirty-day wait after the laboratory receives the sample. Paperwork received at least ten days before arrival opens direct airport release; otherwise the animal goes to the station. Allow four to five months of preparation.

dab.hawaii.gov

The territories

Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Guam do not follow the fifty-state regime. Each applies its own entry conditions, and Guam — rabies-free like Hawaii — is stricter still. Each row below links to its official source.

Banned breeds: a municipal question

No state bans a dog breed. Twenty-two even bar their own cities and counties from adopting a ban. In the rest, regulation exists at town level, and it's the arrival address that decides — not the state, not the airport.

Security screening

  1. Screening procedure with a pet — TSA (official source)

Further reading

Documented domestic routes

315 US routes, each with the airlines that accept a pet, their weight limits, the destination state's regime and its official source.

The other regimes