GET UP TO $4,000 WHEN PCSING WITH NEW MILITARY PET RELOCATION REIMBURSEMENT

If you’re PCSing from Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) back stateside, depending on where you’re moving from, you may be entitled to an additional military pet relocation reimbursement if you have a cat or dog. This is a new program already in effect providing pet owners with up to $4,000 instead of $2,000 for pet relocation if they meet the criteria and are returning from places where there is an elevated level of rabies. Here’s how it all works:

Rabies Military Pet Relocation Reimbursement is $4,000 in 2024

This reimbursement is subject to the terms found within theJoint Travel Regulations (JTR), 050107. However, service members moving into the United States from high-risk areas for rabies may be entitled to as much as $4,000 for their relocation reimbursement.

To qualify, you must be PCSing from a high-risk location determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is an increase from the $2,000 previously available through the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and comes about after the CDC determined additional screening was needed for canines coming from many different countries.

Planning Ahead and the Qualifications

If you’re going to receive the increase in pet relocation from the military, here’s how you qualify and what you need to do to determine how much compensation you are entitled to:

• You must be moving into the states from a qualifying area determined by the CDC which is OCONUS.

• Patriot Express is at capacity for flights and regularly scheduled commercial airlines can’t be used for transporting pets at the time.

Service members meeting these qualifications will still need to apply through the Secretarial Process for any reimbursement over $2,000.

Which Countries Qualify for Increased Pet Reimbursement for Rabies When PCSing?

New rules from the CDC in August 2024 would inspire a response by the military in November 2024. Now, qualifying service members PCSing with pets from the following locations can apply for as much as $4,000 in pet relocation benefits:

• Afghanistan

• Algeria

• Angola

• Armenia

• Azerbaijan

• Bangladesh

• Belarus

• Belize

• Benin

• Bolivia

• Botswana

• Brazil

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Central African Republic

• Ceuta

• Chad

• China*

• Colombia

• Comoros

• Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

• Cuba

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Djibouti

• Dominican Republic

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Guinea

• Eritrea

• Eswatini (Swaziland)

• Ethiopia

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Ghana

• Guatemala

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Honduras

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran

• Iraq

• Israel (including the West Bank and Gaza)

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Mali

• Mauritania

• Melilla

• Moldova

• Mongolia

• Morocco (including Western Sahara)

• Mozambique

• Myanmar (Burma)

• Namibia

• Nepal

• Niger

• Nigeria

• North Korea

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Peru

• Philippines

• Qatar

• Republic of the Congo

• Russia

• Rwanda

• São Tomé and Príncipe

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Sierra Leone

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Sudan

• Sri Lanka

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Syria

• Tajikistan

• Tanzania (Including Zanzibar)

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• United Arab Emirates

• Uzbekistan

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

*Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are not included

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