Your pet to Singapore: the titre test, the five-day rule and the breed that decides the flat

Your dog or cat can come to Singapore, and the animal service AVS of NParks explains exactly how. The Netherlands is in Schedule II, the middle of three rabies categories: no quarantine if you plan it well, but a microchip, a rabies vaccination and a titre test taken at least 90 days and at most 12 months before departure. The trap is in two things that have nothing to do with vets: the five-day rule, which decides whether your animal must go into home quarantine, and the breed, which decides whether your animal may live in an HDB flat at all.

Which steps does AVS require?

AVS lists them, and the order is binding because one step needs the other.

Step	What AVS prescribes
Microchip	ISO 11784 or 11785; the animal is at least 12 weeks old at departure
Rabies vaccination	valid, with an inactivated or recombinant vaccine
Titre test	blood taken at least 28 days after the vaccination, at least 90 days and at most 12 months before departure; result at least 0.5 IU/ml
Core vaccinations	dog: distemper, adenovirus type 1, parvovirus type 2; cat: calicivirus, herpesvirus-1, panleukopenia
Licence for the animal	before the import licence, via PALS; first time with the free online Pet Ownership Course
Import licence	S$ 100, one working day, valid 90 days
Book inspection	at least 5 days before arrival; without an appointment S$ 133 per hour
Parasite treatment and health certificate	2 to 7 days before departure

The titre test is the clock that sets your planning. The blood may only be taken 28 days after a valid rabies vaccination, and after that the animal must wait at least another 90 days before it may enter Singapore. Whoever starts in October therefore has, at the earliest, an animal that meets the requirements in early February. The laboratory must be a WOAH reference lab or an approved lab in a Schedule I or II country; the Dutch vet knows which lab that is.

When must your animal go into quarantine?

For Schedule II: no quarantine if two conditions are met at the same time. The animal arrives in Singapore within five days of your own entry, and it has already lived at the same address as you for more than six months. Whoever has the dog flown over a month later, or a cat adopted four months ago, gets a home quarantine of at least ten days: apply via an AVS form, which responds within five working days, only then the import licence, and a smart collar at S$ 29 per animal per day.

Fly together, or within five days. The difference between no quarantine and ten days of home quarantine with a GPS collar lies in one date: that of your own arrival. So plan your animal's flight around yours, and keep the proof that the animal has lived at your address for more than six months, because AVS asks for veterinary records with breed, sex, date of birth, microchip number and owner.

Which animals are not allowed in, and where may they live?

AVS bans pit bulls and their crosses, the Akita, Boerboel, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Neapolitan Mastiff, Tosa and Perro de Presa Canario, and Bengal and Savannah cats up to and including the fourth generation. Then the home. In an HDB flat, according to HDB, only one dog is allowed, from a list of over sixty small breeds, from the Affenpinscher to the Yorkshire Terrier, and since 1 September 2024 two cats; a breach costs up to S$ 4,000. In a condo or other private home AVS allows up to three dogs or cats. Whoever has a Labrador or a shepherd therefore does not look for an HDB flat; first read renting in Singapore.

What does it cost in Singapore?

The import licence costs S$ 100. The licence you need before that costs S$ 15 a year for a sterilised animal or S$ 35 once for its whole life, S$ 90 a year for a non-sterilised animal; AVS gives a 10% rebate on online payment. On the animal itself Singapore levies GST, but whoever relocates can get the same relief as for household goods: the animal has been yours for at least three months, arrives within six months of your first arrival and is not sold for three months. If the animal travels separately, your agent submits a Declaration of Facts to Customs at least five working days in advance; if it travels with you, you fill in the form for hand-carried goods. See your household goods to Singapore.

What do you arrange in the Netherlands?

The microchip and the rabies vaccination at your own vet, in that order, because a vaccination of an unchipped animal is not valid according to the NVWA. Then the certificate: AVS wants your vet to complete sections I to III of the Singapore health certificate and the official veterinarian of the country of departure to sign section IV. In the Netherlands that is the NVWA, which in many cases visits you to check that the animal meets the requirements of the destination country. Dogs and cats arriving in Singapore by air are handled at the Changi Animal & Plant Quarantine Station, in a rigid IATA crate; soft bags are not allowed there.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Singapore or go straight to step 4.4 in the open plan.