Savannahs

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SAVANNAHS IN CANADA

About Permits, CITES, USA Imports and Alberta --What is the true story?

TRUE AND FALSE

Savannahs and Bengals are allowed as pets in every province

TRUE But there are restrictions on generations allowed in some provinces

The Exotic Animal Act in Canada has prevented the breeding and importing of servals

FALSE: This act does not address servals. They are not included as an exotic animal of concern in this legislation. But there are still some restrictions in certain areas on the breeding, owning, exhibiting, importing and exporting of servals and their hybrid counterparts, Savannahs.

There is no restriction on owning Savannahs in Alberta as nothing is in writing.

FALSE Because you cannot find this legislation online easily, does not mean it doesn't exist. Savannah cats are restricted and cannot be owned as pets in Alberta unless they are F4 or lower generations. They must be registered in TICA (The International Cat Association) and the owners need to be able to prove by pedigree that there is no serval blood(or other wild cat blood) in the animals pedigree for 3 generations.

If you bought a Savannah from someone else in Alberta and it is F1,F2,or F3 you will be exempt from this law because the cat was bred in Alberta

FALSE: the person who sold you the cat is in violation and so are you. The cats can be seized and disposed of by the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Branch.

Serval Cats are wild animals

FALSE: Serval cats were domesticated and used for hunting by the Egyptians 5000 years ago. Many Serval cats live "wild" in Africa and these are WILD CATS, but there is a small percentage of them that has remain domesticated as pets for many generations.

Just like parrots and budgies there is a large percentage of them living wild and another percentage of them that lives as companions to humans.

Serval Cats are perfect pets

TRUE and FALSE: Many owners find servals to be the perfect pet and accustom their lifestyle to include the unusual requirements of a serval as their compainion for 20 years.

Some owners also find Large snakes to be the perfect pet? or loud macaws!

It is a personal choice, but with any pet be sure of your choice before you make it and be prepared to alter your lifestyle to include your pet for it's entire life span.

A pet should not be disposed of because you have a child, a new boyfriend or you want to take a job overseas.

You cannot bring a Savannah cat from the U.S. to Canada without a Canadian CITES permit

FALSE: I am not sure why some breeders have this information on their websites but it is NOT true. Canada requires only a rabies vaccine on the cat to bring it into the country. The U.S. has export requirements to take the cat out of their country so you will need a US CITES export permit PLUS fish and wildlife paperwork, but Canada has no restrictions on bringing it INTO Canada. Just make sure you have the paperwork required to get it OUT of the states.

It takes months and months to get a Savannah from the US to Canada

FALSE: It takes about 7-8 weeks to get an the export permit

IT costs thousands of dollars to import a cat from the states

FALSE:

It costs $100 U.S. for a cites permit and $250 for a fish and wildlife inspection, $150 for USDA health certificate. Then the cost of flight, carrier and Duty based on the value of the kitten and broker fees, about $250-$350.