Here's what I wish someone had told me about Italy: there is no quarantine and no import permit. None. The whole trip lives or dies on one appointment — the official veterinarian who signs a certificate good for ten days. Cooper has done this trip three times now, and the only year it got tense was the year I booked that appointment a fortnight out instead of the week of the flight.

Bringing a pet to Italy requires three documents in the right order: a microchip, a rabies vaccine within the destination's wait window, and a government-endorsed health certificate. The table below lays out exactly what's required, what's not, and where each rule comes from.

How Italy handles your pet

Key points

  • What happens at the border: pets arriving from outside the EU are presented at one of Italy's 57 designated points of entry (41 airports, 16 seaports), where the competent authorities carry out a documentary and identity check — "At the time of entry, you must contact the competent authorities present there, who will check your pet's documents and identity." (europa.eu)
  • If those checks fail: "it may be returned to the country of departure, be placed in quarantine until such time as it complies with EU health rules or if neither of these options are possible, the animal may be euthanised." (europa.eu)
  • Ticks and tapeworm: Italy states the negative explicitly — "A preventive treatment against ticks and echinococcus is NOT required for the introduction of pet animals in Italy." (salute.gov.it)
  • Breed rules: Italy's current ordinance replaced the earlier one by eliminating Annex A, the dangerous-breed list, on the reasoning that a dog's risk cannot be established from its breed
  • No breed is banned from entry

Downloadable forms

Each fact comes straight from the operator’s published policy. Tap the to read the exact wording; the opens the source page.

Health & documents

Health certificate validity10 daysverified 2026-09-03
Microchip · Required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Microchip · StandardISO 11784/11785verified 2026-09-03
Microchip · Tattoo accepted Yesverified 2026-09-03
Microchip · Must be done before vaccination Yesverified 2026-09-03
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Approved labs list
  • https://food.ec.europa.eu/animals/movement-pets/designated-laboratories-performing-rabies-antibody-titration-tests_en
verified 2026-09-03
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Minimum level iu ml0.5verified 2026-09-03
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Approved laboratory required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Import permit · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Flea treatment · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Heartworm test · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Tick treatment · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Issuerofficial veterinarianverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Endorsed bycompetent authorityverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Validity days10 daysverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Valid for days10 daysverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Original required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Bilingual required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Health certificate · Government endorsed Yesverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Distemper Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Adenovirus Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Bordetella Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Leishmania Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Parvovirus Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Leptospirosis Noverified 2026-09-03
Other vaccinations · Canine influenza Noverified 2026-09-03
Rabies vaccination · Required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Rabies vaccination · Booster required Yesverified 2026-09-03
Rabies vaccination · Waiting period after vaccination21 daysverified 2026-09-03
Rabies vaccination · Min age at vaccination12 weeksverified 2026-09-03
Tapeworm treatment · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Screwworm treatment · Required Noverified 2026-09-03
Internal parasite treatment · Required Noverified 2026-09-03

Other rules

Pets accepted Acceptedverified 2026-09-03

Timing chain

Day -90 microchip implant · Day -21 rabies vaccine deadline · Day -10 health certificate issued · Day 0 arrive at customs

Conditional requirements

These rules apply only to pets with a specific travel history. Most travelers can ignore them — but if one applies to you, skipping it can mean denied entry.

Pet arriving from an unlisted (non-Annex II) third country — If your pet has been in one of 111 higher-risk countries in the last 6 months:

  • Rabies titer (blood) test: Required

Ports of entry (57)

  • ALGHERO AEROPORTO FERTILIA
  • ANCONA AEROPORTO FALCONARA
  • BARI AEROPORTO BARI PALESE
  • BERGAMO AEROPORTO ORIO AL SERIO
  • BOLOGNA AEROPORTO BORGO PANIGALE
  • BOLZANO AEROPORTO SAN GIACOMO
  • BRESCIA AEROPORTO MONTICHIARI
  • BRINDISI AEROPORTO DEL SALENTO
  • CAGLIARI AEROPORTO ELMAS
  • CATANIA AEROPORTO FONTANAROSSA
  • COMISO AEROPORTO PIO LA TORRE
  • CROTONE AEROPORTO SANT'ANNA
  • CUNEO AEROPORTO LEVALDIGI
  • FIRENZE AEROPORTO AMERIGO VESPUCCI
  • FOGGIA AEROPORTO GINO LISA
  • GENOVA AEROPORTO CRISTOFORO COLOMBO
  • GROSSETO AEROPORTO DELLA MAREMMA
  • LAMEZIA TERME AEROPORTO SANT'EUFEMIA
  • LAMPEDUSA AEROPORTO
  • MILANO LINATE AEROPORTO
  • MILANO MALPENSA AEROPORTO
  • NAPOLI 1 AEROPORTO DI CAPODICHINO
  • OLBIA AEROPORTO COSTA SMERALDA
  • PALERMO AEROPORTO P. RAISI
  • PANTELLERIA AEROPORTO ITALO D'AMICO
  • PARMA AEROPORTO G. VERDI
  • PESCARA AEROPORTO D'ABRUZZO
  • PERUGIA AEROPORTO SAN FRANCESCO D'ASSISI
  • PISA AEROPORTO GALILEO GALILEI
  • REGGIO CALABRIA AEROPORTO DELLO STRETTO
  • RIMINI AEROPORTO MIRAMARE F.
  • ROMA CIAMPINO AEROPORTO
  • ROMA FIUMICINO AEROPORTO
  • SALERNO AEROPORTO COSTA D'AMALFI
  • TARANTO AEROPORTO MARCELLO ARLOTTA
  • TORINO CASELLE TORINESE AEROPORTO
  • TRAPANI BIRGI
  • TREVISO - AEROPORTO SAN GIUSEPPE
  • TRIESTE AEROPORTO FVG
  • VENEZIA AEROPORTO MARCO POLO DI TESSERA
  • VERONA AEROPORTO V. CATULLO
  • ANCONA PORTO
  • BARI PORTO
  • BRINDISI PORTO
  • CATANIA PORTO
  • CIVITAVECCHIA PORTO
  • GENOVA PORTO PASSO NUOVO
  • MONFALCONE PORTO
  • NAPOLI PORTO
  • PALERMO PORTO
  • PORTO EMPEDOCLE
  • RAVENNA PORTO
  • SALERNO PORTO
  • SAVONA PORTO
  • TRIESTE PORTO INDUSTRIALE
  • TRIESTE PORTO PUNTO FRANCO NUOVO
  • TRIESTE PORTO PUNTO FRANCO VECCHIO

verified 2026-09-03

Sequence beats speed. The microchip must be implanted and working before the rabies vaccination is given, and the veterinarian must scan it again before each entry recorded afterwards. A vaccination logged against a chip fitted later is invalid for EU entry, and the remedy is a fresh vaccination followed by a fresh waiting period rather than a corrected date in the passport.
Italy operates no banned-breed list. The governing ordinance replaced its predecessor specifically to delete Annex A, on the stated ground that the list had not reduced attacks and that veterinary science cannot establish a dog's risk of aggression from its breed or its crosses. No dog is refused entry on breed alone here; the microchip and the certificate decide the outcome.
The EU animal health certificate runs 10 days, from the official veterinarian's signature to the documentary and identity checks at the traveller's designated point of entry. Count backwards from the flight rather than forwards from the appointment. Ten days reads as generous until a rebooked departure consumes four of them, so take the signing slot as close to the travel date as the practice allows.
Italy is among the gentler EU arrivals — no quarantine, no permit, no tapeworm treatment — which means the thing that goes wrong is almost always a date rather than a rule. Get the sequence on paper before you get attached to the apartment. Pawgo's plan builder takes your origin country and your travel dates and counts the whole run backwards for you, appointment by appointment.
Get YOUR personalized plan for Italy →

Glossary

ISO chip
ISO 11784/11785 — the universal microchip standard.
FAVN
Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization — a rabies serology test required by rabies-free destinations.
Brachycephalic
Snub-nosed breeds (French Bulldogs, Pugs, Persians, Himalayans) with restricted airline acceptance due to heat-stress risk.
AVIH
Animal Vehicle In Hold — IATA's term for cargo pet shipment, with fees that vary by carrier and route.