Can I bring my pitbulls to Qatar?

You will have to contact a specialist pet relocator to get a restricted breed permit. It is not a huge problem with their guidance. The only two problems you may encounter is finding food that is suitable (you can get Royal Canin and Eukanuba only) and, a big problem is theft. these dogs are highly desired and you will have to make sure your garden is secure. Contact Qatar Pet relocators or Doha Vets for the permit and also pm Chelsea on Qatar Living for info, she knows everything you need to know about this. Remember that they must also be up to date with all their vaccinations and rabies must have been done 3 months before travel. Do not attempt to clear Customs without a relocator, my experience was that they prefer to deal with the professionals. That said, don't be put off, it sounds stressful but people bring their dogs in all the time.

Check with Chelsea about entry requirements, I used to work in a vet clinic here but the rule may have changed since I left a year ago. All the best. JJ

Pitbulls are actually NOT human aggressive by nature. They do have the tendency to be aggressive to other dogs. But humans have nothing to fear from them, unless they have been intentionally trained or abused to make them aggressive to people. My two dogs are the most sociable people-loving dogs I have ever had experience with (and I've had various types of dogs my whole life). They are actually very poor guard dogs as well.

Thanks for the helpful comments. I found a contact to the veterinary clinic in Doha and they said there would be no problem importing my dogs as long as I go through the proper procedures. I never leave my dogs alone or off leash now (except in our backyard with an 8' privacy fence) and I definitely won't do it in Qatar either. They are such loving sweet dogs they would be a sore disappointment to anyone looking for a fighting dog anyway. :)

It sounds like people tend to be a bit misinformed about these dogs in Qatar (probably because of the ban in Qatar and subsequent lack of experience with these dogs when they are normally raised by the general populace and not by unscrupulous characters). Pitbulls were never even bred to be aggressive to humans until very recent years, originally they were bred to kill rats and then later, to fight other dogs. At the same time they were in fact bred to be very NON human aggressive, because how can you patch up your prize fighing wounded dog if he is aggressive towards you? In fact the dog in the old show the Little Rascals was a pitbull, who were known to be very good with children. Nowadays they are portrayed as bloodthirsty human aggressive animals but the truth is in fact completely the opposite, unless they have been misbred, abused, or otherwise warped in their experiences. Because of their strength and tenacity people have misused them for their own purposes and given them a bad name. I have had many dogs so far in my life and I can say without a doubt that these two pitbulls are the most friendly and sociable dogs (with humans) I have ever had experience with. They not only tolerate people including strangers, they absolutely love them. It is true that they can be aggressive towards other dogs and won't usually walk away if another dog picks a fight, but towards humans I've never seen any dogs that have a better temperament than these two do.

If a pitbull is the least bit aggressive towards humans, it has either been trained to be that way by the owner, or has been intentionally misbred, because human aggression is actually extremely RARE in this breed.

Contact Janet at Qatar Pet Relocators (www.qatarpetrelocators.com) as she is a recognised pet relocator and has permission to bring in banned breeds under special circumstances.

As long as your pitties are neutered, micro-chipped & over a year old then there shouldn't be any problems!

Contact Janet at Qatar Pet Relocators as recognised pet relocators have permission to bring in banned breeds under special circumstances. Family pets that are neutered, microchipped and over a year old are normally accepted. The website is www.qatarpetrelocators.com and there is an online enquiry form. Don't worry - there are many well behaved banned breeds living here but you may need to sign a document stating that you guarentee to take them back with you when you leave Qatar.

Yes you can bring it but be careful this kind of dog is very very very dangerous. Because I have one that my friend brought it to my last year from Kuwait. You can talk to Doha Airport to be sure about that.

One caveat - if you can (and there are official channels to follow) get your dogs here NEVER leave them alone or off leash - not because of them but because of the sickos who see the breed and assume they are fighting dogs.

I have a shepherd and I've lost count of how many times someone has wanted to "buy" her - she's big and black and they see her as a fighter because of that.

There are several Pet Relocators here in Qatar and I suggest you contact them regarding your dogs. Check here on Qatar iving for the Pets & Animal section and it will give you the info on pets here in Qatar as well as the different Pet organizations.

Thank you and it's good to know that there are some moral and responsible pitty owners in Qatar, some of the web sites I've seen make me sick at how people are taking these normally people loving animals and misusing and abusing them for sport (and then people who aren't informed blame the dogs who are the ones being abused, not the ones doing the abusing in the first place).

Sorry to tell you QS but I actually also have 3 very well behaved human friendly PITBALLS...Dogs take after their owners and training. Oh an mine can even be with other dogs...shock horror...please dont dont be ignorant...that is a preconceived notion...Oh and I also live in Qatar...:O I will pm you with the details about how to get them here.

If you would speak English you would understand what the word "banned" means.

Please don't bother responding to this question unless you actually have knowledge on the subject. Thank you.

There goes another job opportunity for the sake of two lovely animals.

they are definitely banned in Qatar... so as LP said, how do you want to import something which is banned? Custom is not going to let them in...

frankly speaking, for me it sounds a bit nonsense "very well behaved people friendly pitbulls".. as for me, these two don't come together, it's EITHER "very well behaved people friendly" or "pitbulls".. sorry, eh?...

hope your husband won't be able to figure out my real name and address.. :)

If they are 'banned', as you suggest, then it obviously means that your are not allowed to bring them into Qatar.