Pets and Bali: bringing a dog and getting home

Short answer: Bali has officially been closed to incoming dogs and cats since 2008, and Australia won't take a pet straight from Indonesia, so this is a one-way problem in both directions.

The short version

A Bali governor's regulation from December 2008 temporarily closed the island to dogs, cats and monkeys coming in or going out, to stop rabies spreading. It's still published by the provincial agriculture office [1].
A 2010 regulation classes bringing in pets as "commercial" movement, which is prohibited into Bali from outside the island [2].
Australia being rabies-free doesn't get your dog an exemption. The Bali rules don't carve one out [1][2].
Australia treats Indonesia as a non-approved country. A pet from Bali must first move to a Group 2 or 3 country and do the full preparation there before it can fly to Australia [4].
If you get a dog or cat in Bali, you must vaccinate it against rabies every year and register it with your village head [3].

Why Bali is different from the rest of the move

Australia is free of rabies in dogs and cats. Bali isn't. The island's first outbreak was in 2008, and the provincial government has spent the years since vaccinating dogs and chasing at least 70% coverage, the level needed to stop transmission [5]. Smartraveller still warns that rabies is present throughout Indonesia, including Bali, and is spread mainly by dogs, cats and monkeys [6].

That shapes the rules in both directions:

Into Bali: the province wants fewer animals moving onto the island, not more, so it closed the door.
Out of Bali to Australia: Australia wants nothing that has lived somewhere with rabies to arrive without months of testing in a country it trusts.

Your pet gets caught in the middle. Plenty of Australians find this out after they've signed a villa lease that says "pet friendly".

The rules for bringing a pet into Bali

Bali runs on provincial regulations (Peraturan Gubernur, or Pergub) on top of Indonesia's national quarantine law. Three matter here.

Regulation	What it says	What it means for you
Pergub Bali No. 88 of 2008	Temporarily closes Bali to rabies-carrying animals (dogs, cats, monkeys and similar) being brought in or taken out. No exceptions are written into it [1]	The starting position is no
Pergub Bali No. 19 of 2010	Pets, shows and sales count as "commercial" movement, which is prohibited into Bali from outside. Non-commercial movement (ceremonies, state security, science, conservation) needs a provincial recommendation, a lab test showing rabies antibodies and quarantine [2]	A family pet doesn't fit the non-commercial categories
Pergub Bali No. 18 of 2010	How HPR animals (rabies-carrying animals) must be kept on the island: yearly rabies vaccination, registration, confinement [3]	Applies to any dog or cat you own in Bali

All three are posted on the Bali agriculture and food office's website, uploaded in 2025 [1][2][3]. We couldn't find a published regulation that reopens Bali to imported pets.

What about older guides and pet agents?

You'll find websites saying Bali accepts pets from rabies-free countries with a microchip, vaccination, a titre test, an import permit and 14 days' quarantine. Some of these are years old, and some describe the rules for the rest of Indonesia rather than Bali. One long-running pet travel site still says no dogs or cats can enter or leave Bali, and that it couldn't confirm any change [7].

You'll also hear stories of someone whose dog "got in". Don't plan a move around a story. If you want to try:

Ask Indonesia's quarantine agency (Barantin) in writing whether a pet dog or cat can enter through Ngurah Rai, and under which regulation.
Ask the Bali provincial livestock office whether it will issue the recommendation that Pergub 19 of 2010 requires [2].
Get any agent's promise in writing, with the legal basis. An animal that arrives without the right papers can be refused, sent back or worse, at your cost.
Have a plan B: a family member in Australia, or a decision to rehome before you leave.

Flying into Jakarta instead

Landing in Jakarta, then crossing to Bali by road and ferry, doesn't get around anything. The Bali rules cover animals coming from anywhere outside the island, by air, sea or land [1][2]. Arriving through the Gilimanuk ferry port from Java instead of the airport changes nothing.

Owning a dog or cat in Bali

Many Australians end up adopting a local dog or a kampung cat, often from one of the island's rescue groups. If you do, the 2010 keeping rules apply [3]:

Rabies vaccination from one month of age, then every year. Keep the vaccination card [3].
Registration with your kepala dusun or kepala desa (hamlet or village head), who issues an HPR card [3].
Confinement: keep the animal inside the house or a fenced yard with the gate shut [3].
Out and about: dogs outside the yard must be on a chain or lead, muzzled and under control [3].
ID: registered, vaccinated dogs should wear a collar or tag [3].

Microchip your Bali pet anyway. If there's any chance you'll take it to Australia one day, the microchip has to come first, before the vaccinations and blood tests that count [4].

Ask your landlord in writing before you adopt. Plenty of villa leases ban pets, and the banjar may have views about dogs roaming.

The long road from Bali to Australia

This is the hard part. Australia sorts countries into groups by rabies risk, and Indonesia isn't in any of them [4]. The department says that if your country is non-approved, you have to move your pet to an approved Group 2 or 3 country and prepare it under that country's step-by-step guide [4]. The old indirect route, which let pets transit through approved countries, ended on 1 March 2023 [4].

There's a second problem. Pergub 88 of 2008 closes Bali to animals going out as well as coming in [1]. So step one is getting a lawful export from Bali, before you even look at Australia's rules.

Stage	Where	What happens
1. Leave Bali	Bali, then onward	Export permission from Bali and Indonesian quarantine, plus the entry rules of the next country
2. Settle in a Group 2 or 3 country	For example Singapore (Group 2) or the UK (Group 3)	Your pet must meet that country's own import rules first
3. Full Australian preparation	That country	Microchip check, rabies vaccination, blood test (for Group 3), permit, tests and treatments [4]
4. Fly to Melbourne	Direct	Post-entry quarantine at Mickleham

For a Group 3 country, the blood test is followed by a wait of at least 180 days before export, then at least 10 or 30 days in quarantine at Mickleham. Our living-abroad guide on bringing pets home walks through that timeline and the 2026 fees.

In practice, the whole journey can take the better part of a year and cost many thousands of dollars in boarding, vets, flights and agents. Many owners rely on a friend or family member living in an approved country, or an agent with a boarding facility there. Check the destination country's rules for pets arriving from Indonesia too, as they can be strict in their own right.

Taking your Australian pet back home

If your dog never left Australia because Bali wouldn't take it, there's nothing to bring back. If it went somewhere else in Indonesia or Asia first, Australia still treats it as coming from wherever it lives now. Keep every record of its Australian origin anyway.

Your decision checklist

Before you move: assume your Australian pet can't come. Line up a family member, friend or long-term carer at home.
Before you adopt in Bali: decide what happens when you leave. Rehoming locally is the realistic outcome for many expats.
If you adopt anyway: microchip, yearly rabies vaccination, registration with your village head [3].
If you might go home with it: start planning a year ahead, and choose the Group 2 or 3 country you'll stage through [4].
Get everything in writing from officials and agents.

Rehoming a Bali dog before a move home, or looking for someone who's done the Singapore route? Join Cooee Indonesia, our Facebook group for Australians in Indonesia, and ask the people who've been through it.

Pets and Bali: why your dog probably can't come, and why getting home is harder