Pet-friendly
Good to know
Good to Know
- Batumi has a very visible free-roaming dog and cat population; most are tolerated, informally fed by locals and businesses, and periodically vaccinated/sterilized through the municipality's contracted program, so encountering street animals is normal rather than alarming, but they are still animals of unknown health/temperament and shouldn't be handled carelessly.
- Because Georgia is outside the EU and classified as a high-rabies-risk country, entry into Georgia itself is comparatively simple (no titer test needed), but bringing a pet back into an EU country afterward requires a rabies antibody titer test — plan this well before departure if you'll be returning to the EU.
- Always double-check pet policies directly with your specific hotel, apartment, or beach section rather than relying only on a 'pet-friendly' filter or listicle, since terms (fees, size limits, allowed areas) vary property to property.
- Puppies and kittens cannot be vaccinated against rabies before 3 months of age, so very young animals need extra lead time before they're eligible to travel to Georgia.
- There's no confirmed, dedicated off-leash dog park in central Batumi — dog-friendly outdoor time mostly means walking on the boulevard/beach, where dogs appear to be informally tolerated rather than formally welcomed.
- Vet quality in Batumi varies a lot by clinic and even by which vet is on duty — it's worth asking other resident nomads/expats for a current personal recommendation before a major procedure, especially given at least one serious negative report about a routine surgery at a well-known clinic.
- Clinics like GoldenVet now operate as house-call-only services rather than a walk-in clinic, which can be convenient for nomads without a car.
- No clinic in Batumi publishes an official price list online, so budgeting for vet care in advance is hard — ask for a quote up front in GEL before agreeing to treatment.
Trusted Vets
GoldenVet
- Type
- House-call veterinary service (no fixed clinic address)
- Contact
- +995 595 09 02 35 (booking confirmed via Telegram)
- Notes
- GoldenVet has switched to a home-visit-only model in Batumi, covering therapy, surgery, dermatology, cardiology, dentistry, ultrasound and other specialties, and advertises itself as the only clinic in Batumi with a dedicated neurologist on staff.
Vet Help
- Address
- Griboedov St. 8, Batumi
- Notes
- Vet Help is a full-service clinic offering preventive exams, surgery and diagnostics, but has genuinely mixed recent feedback: several reviewers praise the staff for vaccination and postnatal puppy care, while one detailed May 2025 review describes a dog dying after a routine spay at this clinic. Given this split record, verify current staff/vet on duty before a serious procedure.
Giorgi Kalandadze Veterinary Clinic (Dr. GioVet)
- Notes
- Consistently praised in reviews for cleanliness and thoroughness, including nutrition planning for cats and general care; reviewers note the vet speaks English and Russian, which is useful for nomads. One review also flagged a scheduling/communication issue around a dog's leg surgery being postponed twice.
Chaki Veterinary Clinic
- Address
- Historical (old town) part of Batumi
- Notes
- Chaki Veterinary Clinic provides emergency medical care to pets at optimal prices and offers ultrasound, X-ray and blood diagnostics; some doctors speak Russian.
STARK Vet Clinic
- Notes
- A general-service clinic in Batumi covering routine medical care through to surgery and diagnostics, with generally positive customer feedback on service and equipment.
PLUTO Clinic & Pet Store
- Address
- Republican Hospital (old building), Tbel-Abuseridze St. 2, Batumi
- Notes
- Combined pet store and veterinary clinic.
Zooplaza
- Address
- Farnavaz Mefi St. 154, Batumi
- Notes
- Pet store combined with a veterinary clinic and veterinary pharmacy, open daily 10:00–19:00.
Dog Friendly Spaces
Batumi Boulevard / Seafront Promenade & Beach
- Type
- Public promenade and pebble beach
- Notes
- A traveler account describes walking a dog along Batumi's crowded seafront beach and promenade without ever being asked to leave, suggesting informal tolerance rather than an official off-leash dog area or designated dog park.
Fanfan
- Type
- Dog-friendly restaurant/café
- Notes
- Fanfan welcomes dogs at outdoor terrace tables and serves traditional Georgian and European breakfast/lunch dishes, including vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Blinneria
- Type
- Dog-friendly café (pancakes, crepes, coffee)
- Notes
- Blinneria markets itself explicitly as a dog-friendly café, but its Instagram currently shows the venue as temporarily closed — confirm it has reopened before planning a visit.
Acceptance And Travel Requirements
Social Acceptance
- Summary
- Georgia, including Batumi, has a large free-roaming dog and cat population that is broadly tolerated and informally cared for by residents and businesses rather than treated as a nuisance.
- Local Attitude
- Georgia's stray dog population is described as remarkably well-kept by Georgian society, with animals generally well-fed, well-behaved, and often already vaccinated by municipal programs, and one Batumi street dog (Kupata) became internationally known for guiding children safely across a crosswalk.
- Public Space Access
- Dogs are commonly seen accompanying owners along Batumi Boulevard and other public promenades, and several tourism-oriented sources describe Batumi's pebble beaches as allowing dogs, though owners should confirm specific beach and venue rules on the day since policies can vary by section and season.
- Municipal Management
- In Batumi, street animal management is handled by the municipality tendering the work out to a private company, which follows a catch-sterilize-vaccinate-release model with ear-tag identification for dogs, rather than mass removal.
- Adoption And Rescue Community
- Local and national rescue groups are active in the wider Georgia pet scene (e.g. Dog Organization Georgia, GSPSA, and Facebook-based rescue/adoption groups), and there is at least one dedicated shelter near Batumi ("True Friend") caring for dozens of vaccinated, microchipped dogs and cats.
- Pet Owning Expat And Local Scene
- Batumi has an active community of hotels, apartments and hostels that explicitly welcome dogs and cats — BringFido lists a large number of pet-friendly hotels in the city, most allowing pets of any size with no extra fee, though a minority charge a small nightly pet fee.
Travel Requirements
- Microchip
- A pet must have a microchip meeting the ISO 11784 standard, and as of the official ordinance taking effect January 1, 2023, all cats and dogs should already be microchipped prior to traveling to Georgia. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination is given, and the chip number must appear correctly on all accompanying documents.
- Import Permit
- Pet dogs and cats entering Georgia accompanied by their owner do not need a separate import permit; an import permit is only required for unaccompanied/cargo shipments.
- Quantity Limit
- Non-commercial travel typically allows up to five animals per traveler; different (commercial) rules apply above that number.
- Rabies Titer Test
- Georgia does not require a rabies antibody titer test for entry into the country from any origin country. However, since Georgia is classified by the World Organisation for Animal Health as a high-rabies-risk country, it is NOT on the EU's list of countries with simplified return, so pets normally resident in the EU will need a titer test completed before leaving in order to re-enter the EU afterward.
- Regulatory Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Health Certificate
- An international veterinary health certificate (covering identification, vaccination history and a fitness-to-travel statement) must be issued by an accredited/government vet in the country of origin, generally within 10 days of entry, and endorsed by that country's animal-export authority.
- Other Vaccinations
- Within 11 months of import, dogs must also be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus and parainfluenza, and cats against feline viral rhinotracheitis, panleukopenia and feline leukemia.
- Parasite Treatment
- Pets must be treated for internal and external parasites (a broad-spectrum anthelmintic against endo- and ectoparasites) prior to entry.
- Rabies Vaccination
- All cats and dogs must be vaccinated for rabies between 21 days and 11 months prior to entering Georgia. Puppies and kittens cannot be vaccinated for rabies before 3 months of age, and cannot travel on their mother's vaccination record.
- Governing Authority
- Georgia's National Food Agency sets the rules for companion animals entering the country; Georgia is not an EU member and its requirements are separate from (though similar in spirit to) the EU Pet Passport system.
- Sample Hotel Pet Fee
- GEL 10
Example nightly pet fee charged by at least one Batumi hotel; most listed pet-friendly properties charge no additional fee at all.
- Local Pet Passport Fee
- GEL 40
Approximate mid-point of the typical 30–50 GEL fee range for obtaining a local pet passport/certificate.
- Local Pet Passport Process
- Within Georgia, a vet-issued 'pet passport' (identification, vaccination record, National Food Agency validation) can be obtained locally, with fees typically in the range of 30–50 GEL and processing taking up to about two weeks.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.