CVI, Fair Papers, Health Certificate, Veterinary Inspection, Oh MY!

Did you Know?

Any large animal crossing state lines must travel with a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection. 

The only exception that applies to any of our patients, is if sheep and goats under 18 months of age intended for meat are being transported directly to a slaughter facility.  These are also allowed to travel off farm (in NY state) without some form of official identification.

• For Horses official identification is considered to be a negative Coggins test certificate.  These will either have a drawing of the horse's markings or images of the horse's front, left and right sides.
• For Sheep and Goats official identification is a Scrapie program tag or breed registration tattoo when the registration papers are with the animal.
• Alpacas and Llamas are not required to have official identification to travel off farm, but most shows and fairs require a negative Bovine Viral Diarrhea certificate and either a microchip or a detailed drawing of markings signed by a veterinarian.  These are also often required for travel into other states in addition to a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.

Why?

Disease trace-ability.  If a horse at a competitive trail ride in another state is diagnosed with a reportable or contagious disease soon after leaving the ride, that state is able to pull up the health certificates of all horses who had that ride as a destination.  They will then notify the state the other horse's came from so that owners and veterinarians can be informed and disease control measures can be started.  

Disease Prevention.  A Certificate of Veterinary Inspection requires the veterinarian signing it to certify that the animals listed appear healthy, and depending on the state to certify that there have been no known unhealthy animals on the farm of origin for 30 days.  This allows sick or potential carrier animals to be identified before they travel and spread disease.

How long is a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection good for?

Certificate of Veterinary Inspection's issued in NY state are good for 30 days from the date of veterinary inspection.  This means that you can travel across state line on a single certificate of veterinary inspection for 30 days before requiring a new one.  It is recommended if you are going to multiple locations to ask your veterinarian to issue additional health certificates at the initial inspection rather than traveling to multiple areas on the same certificate (defeats the disease trace-ability aspect of a health certificate).

What about Fair Health Papers?

NY state requires Health Certificates for some species of animals to enter county and state fairgrounds.  The requirements should be listed in your prize list or fair entry information.  These are different than a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection to cross state lines.  If you have any questions about whether you require a Fair Health Certificate for NY state please contact us, and if we do not know the answer we will contact the state veterinarians who are checking in animals directly.