Thanks for the reply. In our case, because we were gone for several years our choice was to take our family with us, mind you, our dog was small and used to a leash and quite well behaved in public. Where we were headed, the Bahamas and West Indies, it took extra effort to locate and respond to the local regulations. We found animal clinics, marinas, and the "cruisers network" very helpful. Other boaters, and locals were a great help in telling us what we needed. Checking on all islands that we visited was mandatory (some islands have long quarantines). Most islands welcomed our animals, cats are much easier than dogs because they usually don't go ashore. When we dined on outside decks, the dog was made welcome as well. As long as we had them on a leash and they did not cause a disturbance, it was fine. We had a few years of enjoyable retirement vacation with our family.
