Pets in Hoi An

Good to Know

• Hoi An has actively branded itself as Vietnam's first dog-and-cat-meat-free, tourist-friendly city, which many nomads and expats find reassuring, but this is a local policy commitment rather than a nationwide guarantee.
• Bring physical, translated copies of your pet's health certificate, rabies vaccination record, and microchip documentation — enforcement and paperwork checks can be inconsistent, so over-preparing avoids delays.
• Notify the Animal Quarantine Station at your arrival airport (most likely Da Nang for Hoi An) ahead of time; arriving outside normal quarantine office hours without notice can cause avoidable delays.
• Vietnam is classified as a high-rabies-risk country, so keep your pet's rabies vaccination fully current both for entry and because this affects requirements if you later travel onward to a country with strict rabies-free rules.
• Complete the microchip-then-vaccinate order correctly and in the country of origin — doing steps out of sequence can invalidate your documentation for Vietnamese entry.
• Free-roaming street dogs and cats are common in and around Hoi An; supervise pets closely, especially in the Old Town and countryside areas, both for their safety and to avoid conflicts with local animals.
• Hoi An itself has limited dedicated dog infrastructure compared to Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City — the main international-standard vet clinic (Paws) is technically based in Da Nang, about 30–40 minutes away, so for anything beyond routine care, be prepared to travel.
• Local Vietnamese-run vet clinics exist in and around Hoi An and are much cheaper, but English may be limited — confirm language support before an emergency happens.
• Happy Paws Hoi An doubles as boarding, which is useful if you need to travel without your dog.
• Always confirm current prices directly with a clinic by phone or Facebook message, as posted pricing is rarely public in Vietnam.