[SIMON LOCK]

Hi Steve:

Literal just joined the forum today and immediately saw your post on the third line down. My wife and I spent a month in Panama, in January 2014, with her Guide Dog and so have some first hand experience in this arena.

Firstly, as Jessica states from the point of view of entering the country you follow exactly the same procedure as if your dog was a pet. If you are in the USA you need to get a veterinary certificate that is completed by your vet and then sent to the State Veterinarian (USDA) for certification. With proof of your dog’s training the State Veterinarian should wave their fees. Then the certification and Panamanian documents get sent to the embassy in Washington – no fee waivers here. You then need to scan everything and email the material to the Ministry of Health in Panama with your arrival information.

We had no trouble with Delta – all I did was to inform them that my wife was traveling with her dog to ensure that we had seating with enough legroom – no extra documentation here. On arrival at Toucomon Airport we found that they were prepared for our arrival and after collecting our luggage they directed us to Quarentine. We paid an additional fee there – I think $16 – and were out of there within about 15 minutes. Everybody was very helpful and gracious.

The surprises start when you start moving about the country – we had pre-arranged a hotel in PC for the first night that knew we were traveling with a guide dog so had no problems. Taxis to Aldebrook bus station were the start of the inconsistencies that we encountered – several refused to take us and then when we found one who would he initially wanted to charge us about double the normal rate – it took some hard bargaining on my part with my very limited knowledge of Spanish to get a more favorable rate.

In Boquete and David we had mixed experiences – my wife with Guide were graciously and politely thrown out of Romero’s supermarket in Boquete because management were apparently afraid of their “health laws”. A letter to the Minstry of Health on this very issue was NEVER answered. We also got thrown out of a restaurant in David because of the dog and no amount of arguing about this being a “pero guia” and a a very special dog had any influence. By contrast we had no problems with gringo-owned restaurants in Boquete and a couple of other establishment in David. Keep in mind that because of the temperate climate many restaurants do have outdoor seating so if a particular establishment is important to you but they resist having the dog you can compromise by asking to sit on their patio.

Our most interesting experience was our return bus trip from David to PC. I left my wife with the luggage while I purchased our tickets. We then proceeded to the boarding area where the luggage loader refused to take our luggage because of the dog – a Peace Corp worker who was fluent in Spanish tried to reason with the man but he called his boss who was adamant that the dog was not allowed on the bus (never asked how we got to David, which of course was by bus). The boss then referred us to the ticket seller who remained in her glass cubicle but was also insistent that the dog was not allowed on the bus. There was no further arguing so I walked away came back to the side of the bus where my wife had remained with dog and luggage and just said to the luggage loader “todo est buono” – he loaded the luggage and we board the bus. As a final note everybody was rooting for us and when we got upstairs on the bus the ticket attendant asked someone to move back a couple of rows so that my wife had a seat which was opposite a small open area at the top of the stairs where the dog would be more comfortable.

I think this gives you a flavor of some of the inconsistencies we encountered – mainly because there are no laws in Panama that we can find that specifically address Guide Dogs and most people have never even seen or heard about a Guide Dog or other assistance dog. My wife will shortly be writing in more detail some more of her Guide Dog related experiences in Panama on her blog “Six legs will travel“.

If you want to further discuss this one-on-one please feel free to contact Penny directly by email through her blog with your contact info.

In closing – Panama is a beautiful country and the locals are mostly warm and friendly – please don’t be intimidate or discouraged by thoughts of rejection because of your dog. Panama is about where the US and Canada were back in the seventies and early eighties in terms of consistent regulations but then with a small population (what is it 3.5 million?) you may be the ONLY guide dog user in the country at the time of your visit unless we are back on our next trip there 😉

Good luck

Simon

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