Taking Your Dogs, Cats, Birds To Mexico
Taking your dogs or cats to Mexico is no problem. Taking your pet birds to Mexico is impossible. Dogs or cats only need a heath certificate from a US vet saying they are healthy (duh), proof of vaccinations and that is it. This health certificate for your pet is supposed to be notarized, but it is very seldom even asked for. But, if you are asked for it and do not have it, you will be sent back to the USA, so get the pet health certificate anyway. The all-in-one vaccination is DHLP-P for dogs. For cats, you should have both FVRCP-P as well as feline leukemia shots.
Taking birds to Mexico is another story, and a short one at that. While it is theoretically possible to take SOME birds to Mexico, it is incredibly difficult. And the law changed on Oct. 14, 2008 so that no birds native to Mexico may be imported. Period. If you want to know more, read on.
It is probably a good idea to immunize puppies against the parvovirus, which is common on the South Texas border and in some parts of Mexico. All age dogs should be protected against Ehrlichia (relatively unknown in the northern USA). Discuss this with your vet. We immunize our adult dogs against this.
While some Mexican sites will give you a laundry list of what you need to do to import birds (parrots, parakeets and so on), forget it. Those requirements are for commercial bird importers and may be out-of-date. Mexican consulates generally refer you to a web site for the Paisano program, which often gives incorrect info about bringing your pet birds to Mexico. The one thing that few loving bird owners would do is to quarantine their family members for 30 days on the US side. If you got your birds into Mexico, find out the current regulations about bringing them back to the USA. I am offering the following link of a story by a woman who imported her birds to Mexico because you may have heard of it. I do not endorse her conclusions. I do not believe this is a typical story and think she was lucky, but she does have all paperwork that was required, at the time she wrote it. I also think the new laws make her story not relevant to you today.
I strongly suggest you verify everything and ask yourself if you are willing to go to the lengths she did before you consider moving to Mexico. It is because my wife and I did not want to subject our birds to the quarantine or to be at the whim of two governments that might change their laws at any moment, that we chose not to move to Mexico with them. With the so-called swine flu scares, I imagine birds are even less welcomed.
To get your dog or cat back into the USA, you need for their vaccinations to be up-to-date. If they are not, most border crossings have the names of local vets you can call to come and make a 'house call.' In reality, I have never had a tag checked. You can get rabies and other vaccinations in Mexico for practically nothing.
You will see some sites claiming that you need a special permit from the Mexican agriculture department. Technically I believe that to be true, but do not know anyone who ever got it. Just for fun, I tried to get one of those a few times. The agriculture guy was not at the two border crossings I tried, ever. I have never, ever heard of anyone getting such a permit. But here is a cautionary note. As you cross from one Mexican state to another, there is always an agricultural inspection station. I stopped at one once (again just for fun) with my god, er dog. The inspector looked at Fluffy and said, I know you have the permit required, so I am going to pass you. The moral is - don't stop at those stations, because if you do, the inspector is supposed to check your pet paperwork.
Transporting reptiles within Mexico is quite illegal, so even if your pet serpent is from the USA, you cannot take snakes south of the border.
A nonprofit and real site (meaning it is not just an advertising portal like most) about pet-friendly hotels is 'La Pata de Perro,' operated by a couple of animal lovers who update it a couple of times a year from their own travels and those of other pet-friendly-tourists.