Your dog or cat to Italy: the EU passport, and the dog in the anagrafe within ten days

Yes, your dog or cat simply comes along to Italy, and no quarantine or health certificate is involved: the European pet passport suffices, provided the animal is chipped, vaccinated against rabies and there are 21 days between the first vaccination and the trip. What it costs is a vet visit in the Netherlands and afterwards one obligation in Italy that almost nobody knows: the dog has to go into the anagrafe canina, the regional dog register. In Rome the deadline is ten days after arrival, and the ASL charges € 28.

What has to be in order before the trip?

The rules are European and apply to dogs, cats and ferrets.

Requirement	What it involves
Chip	a microchip to the EU standard; a legible tattoo only counts if applied before 3 July 2011
Rabies vaccination	valid, and given after chipping — otherwise it does not count
Waiting period	at least 21 days after the first (primary) vaccination; the animal is at least 12 weeks old at that jab
Document	the European pet passport, issued by an authorised vet, valid for life as long as the vaccinations are kept up
Number	at most five animals per traveller, unless you can show it concerns a competition or show

What Italy does not ask for: the treatment against the fox tapeworm. That requirement applies only to Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Northern Ireland. If you read an old travel guide you may still see it listed for Italy; by all means have the vet do it if you later travel to such a country, but it is not required here.

A puppy under twelve weeks cannot be vaccinated, and then separate rules apply with a declaration attached to the passport. For a move it is simpler to wait until the vaccination and the 21 days are done.

Why does the dog have to go into the anagrafe canina?

Italy has a national obligation: every dog is identified by microchip and registered in the anagrafe. The Ministry of Health writes it as the owner's duty: have it chipped and registered by a vet, with a registration certificate that serves as the animal's identity document at every transfer. Since 1 January 2005 the chip is the only recognised means of identification.

For a Dutch dog that means: the chip is already in, but the Dutch registration does not count in Italy. You report the dog to the veterinary service of your ASL or to a vet authorised for the purpose, who enters the existing chip into the regional database. Cats and ferrets may be registered but need not be, except when you have a European passport issued for them in Italy or sell or give them away.

How fast, and what does it cost?

The deadline and the price differ per region, and that is why this article takes Rome as its example.

ASL Roma 1
Deadline	within sixty days of birth, or within ten days of taking possession of the dog — so after arrival
Cost	€ 28 in total: € 15 for placing a chip, € 5 registration, € 8 for the registration document
Who	the veterinary service of the ASL, or a private vet authorised by the ASL
On moving within Italy	the registration moves with you via a report to the new ASL

Your Dutch chip therefore does not need replacing; the chipping fee then lapses, the registration and the document remain. Other regions apply other deadlines and rates; ask the ASL where you live, and do it in your first week.

Ten days is shorter than your residenza. Registration at the town hall takes two working days, but the residence check afterwards can take 45 days — and the dog belongs in the register much earlier. So don't wait with the anagrafe canina until "everything is sorted"; the ASL asks for your identity document and your codice fiscale, not for a completed residenza.

What if I move with more than one dog?

The European maximum of five animals per traveller applies to the trip, not to ownership. Whoever moves with six dogs has to show it is an exception, otherwise the animals fall under the trade rules with a health certificate. Discuss that beforehand with the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and, if need be, split the animals between two travellers.

Where does this belong in your journey?

The vet visit sits in the moving phase, at least three weeks before departure if a vaccination is still needed; the anagrafe canina belongs to your first week in Italy, together with the codice fiscale the ASL asks for. The step-by-step plan at /italie puts both in the right place, also if you go to live in a region other than Lazio.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Italy or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.