Keeping pets in Georgia: import and export.

Key point for the owner: the animal must be registered, vaccinated against rabies, properly cared for, never abandoned; the owner must comply with the rules on walking and transport, and for breeding must obtain a permit or operate through a registered kennel. Substantial fines are set for breaches: for example, GEL 1,500 for lack of identification/registration, GEL 1,500 for breach of the sterilisation/castration requirement, GEL 3,000 for breeding without the consent of the municipal authority, and GEL 5,000 for an individual or GEL 10,000 for a legal entity for abandoning an animal. (LEPL “Legislative Herald of Georgia”)

The Law on Domestic Pets

The law establishes the legal framework for managing pets, including animal welfare, traceability, the duties of owners and of people caring for stray animals, the powers of municipalities, and the powers of the National Food Agency (LEPL “Legislative Herald of Georgia”).

Important: in the context of this law, “pets” effectively means dogs and cats used for social needs or functional purposes. This is confirmed by the secondary act on registration, which defines a pet as an owned, attached, homeless, or stray dog or cat.

The Code on the Safety of Food/Feed, Veterinary Matters, and Plant Protection

This Code governs veterinary control, animal health and welfare, quarantine, and traceability, as well as the import, export, re-export, and transit of animals and goods subject to veterinary control. Cross-border movement is supervised by competent authorities, including the Revenue Service and the National Food Agency (LEPL “Legislative Herald of Georgia”).

The owner is required to ensure:

• identification and registration of the animal in a unified database;
• safe walking and transport, and safe participation of the animal in events;
• veterinary examination, comprehensive vaccination, deworming, and preventive measures;
• rabies vaccination;
• sterilisation/castration, unless the animal falls within an exception provided by the law or secondary legislation;
• immediate referral to a veterinary facility if the animal becomes ill;
• notification of the municipal authority of the loss or death of the animal;
• notification of the municipal authority or the National Food Agency of any bite, scratch, or saliva contact with another animal or a person, where there is a risk of rabies or another dangerous zoonotic disease;
• immediate cleaning of any public space soiled by the animal.

In practical terms, the owner cannot rely on the argument that the animal “just lives in the yard” or “walks itself.” The system is built around an identifiable responsible person: an owner or caretaker who must be established through registration.

A unified database is being set up to keep records of animals, to identify owners and caretakers, to prevent abandonment, and to help find the owner of a stray animal. The database is managed by the National Food Agency.

The database records information about the animal — species, breed, sex, date of birth, name, description, colour, microchip/transponder number, or ear-tag number — and details of sterilisation/castration and vaccination, as well as data on the owner or caretaker, including name, personal number, telephone, and address, or the data of the legal entity.

Transition period: owners must ensure identification/registration, or enter an already identified animal into the unified database, by 1 January 2027. The main part of the resolution on the registration procedure enters into force on 1 July 2026.

The Government has approved a technical regulation on the sterilisation/castration and breeding of pets. It comes into force on 1 July 2026. Its purpose is the humane management of the animal population. The requirements apply to individuals and legal entities that carry out sterilisation/castration or breeding, but do not apply to farm or wild animals.

Breeding is allowed either by a kennel or by an owner for non-commercial purposes, but only under set rules. Consent for the breeding of a pedigree animal is granted to the owner by the municipal authority on a one-off basis for 2 years, with the possibility of an extension of up to 1 year. Only healthy animals - including those free from hereditary diseases - may be used for breeding; once an animal is no longer used for breeding, it must be sterilised/castrated, except for show animals that meet defined criteria.

A kennel must be registered with the municipal authority; the registration is valid for 3 years. A kennel must have a cynologist/felinologist, comply with sanitary and hygiene standards, provide food, water, indoor and outdoor enclosures, and keep records of animals, a stud book, and a record of offspring.

A dog may be walked in public places, including boulevards, parks, and squares, only on a leash or in a muzzle, except in specially designated areas where the municipality permits walking off-leash.

Bringing animals into the premises of pre-school, school, higher, and vocational education establishments and hospitals is prohibited, with limited exceptions: cultural and educational events, cats and small dogs held in arms or in a carrier, and assistance dogs.

In public transport, an animal is allowed on a leash or in a muzzle; cats and small dogs may also be carried in a carrier, a bag/container, or in the owner’s arms.

The law prohibits abandonment of an animal, euthanasia outside the established cases, transfer of an animal as a prize or award, using an animal for food or for the production of preparations, hoarding/collecting animals, and training dogs for fighting purposes, except for service dogs.

Cruel acts are prohibited: inflicting wounds, mutilation, dangerous harm to health, setting an animal on or encouraging it to attack a person or another animal, performing operations without a therapeutic or functional purpose, organising animal fights, and any acts that cause suffering.

The Criminal Code of Georgia provides for liability for torture of an animal, cruelty, or other violence. If this results in mutilation, the penalty is a fine, house arrest from 6 months to 1 year, or imprisonment of up to 3 years. If the act is committed by a group, in public, repeatedly, in the presence of a minor, or against two or more animals, the sanction is heavier. If the animal dies, the penalty may reach 5 years of imprisonment (LEPL “Legislative Herald of Georgia”).

General rule: animals imported into Georgia are objects of veterinary control and must comply with the requirements of Georgian legislation. At the border, animals undergo veterinary border-quarantine control. If a good/animal does not meet the import requirements, it may be returned, treated/disinfected, or destroyed at the owner’s expense (LEPL “Legislative Herald of Georgia”).

The National Food Agency states that it issues permits for the import and transit of products subject to veterinary control; such products include all types of animals, animal-origin products, raw materials, feed, and veterinary preparations. The permit for the import/transit of veterinary-controlled products is issued electronically; the deadlines and fees are:

• 20 business days - GEL 100,
• 5 business days - GEL 200,
• 1 business day - GEL 300.

Practical conclusion: when importing a dog or a cat into Georgia, the owner needs to have documents on the animal’s health, vaccination, and identification ready in advance and, where necessary, an import permit/veterinary certificate. For private trips with a pet, it is best to check the requirements with the Revenue Service and the National Food Agency before entry, because actual admission depends on the veterinary control carried out at the border.

For exporting an animal from Georgia, the rule of the country of destination applies: animals intended for export must comply with the requirements of the importing country, and the Georgian National Food Agency or Revenue Service issues the corresponding veterinary/sanitary certificates.

The National Food Agency publishes a dedicated service, “export of a pet abroad,” and the related veterinary-certificate procedure. The certificate is issued by a veterinary inspector of the regional office of the National Food Agency on business days. After issuance of the certificate, the animal must leave the territory of Georgia within 72 hours, or within 10 days of the issue date when travelling to an EU country.

To obtain the certificate, the following are required: an application, a copy of the applicant’s ID (or that of a representative, with a power of attorney), a physical examination of the animal — the animal must be brought to the place where the certificate is issued — and the animal’s passport with the owner’s details and a record of the animal’s name, vaccinations, and other procedures. For the EU, rabies vaccination and a rabies-antibody titre test are required: the test must be carried out at least 30 days after vaccination and at least 3 months before entry. The certificate is issued only to animals vaccinated against rabies; for the EU, the titre is also required. The fee is GEL 300. The certificate is not issued to animals under 3 months old or to animals not vaccinated against rabies.

For the CIS countries, a certificate of the animal’s health/of a 21-day quarantine from an official or private veterinarian is required. For the Eurasian Union, quarantine is determined by the requirements of the country of import; where necessary, the Agency carries out quarantine veterinary supervision, or a private veterinarian’s certificate of quarantine is accepted.

The key authority is the National Food Agency under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. It carries out veterinary control, manages the unified database, participates in the registration and traceability of animals, issues veterinary certificates and permits, and runs vaccination programmes.

On rabies, the Agency states that rabies is a zoonotic viral disease which, once clinical signs appear in a human or an animal, is always fatal. The sources of spread are domestic and wild carnivores, including dogs and cats; infection occurs through bites, scratches, saliva contact, or saliva entering mucous membranes/damaged skin. Every year, the Agency carries out preventive vaccination of dogs and cats that are owned or attached.

In 2025, the Agency reported free vaccination of dogs and cats across the country, with more than 260,000 rabies-susceptible animals already vaccinated and 320,000 procedures planned by the end of the year; it also stated that since 2013 the number of rabies cases has fallen by 96% (nfa.gov.ge).

Georgia is moving from fragmented municipal regulation to a centralised model: registration, traceability, rabies vaccination, breeding control, and owner liability are becoming mandatory elements of keeping dogs and cats. For a conscientious owner, the risks are manageable: the animal must be registered, vaccinated, and walked and transported according to the rules, and travel documents must be prepared in advance.

The most serious legal risks are: lack of registration, lack of rabies vaccination, abandonment of an animal, breeding without a permit, breach of the walking rules, and cruelty. As for import/export, the principle is straightforward: for entry into Georgia, the requirements of Georgian veterinary control apply; for exit from Georgia, the requirements of the country of destination apply, plus a Georgian veterinary certificate.