Porto with your dog: papers, leash, metro

Taking your dog to Porto needs very little paperwork: Portugal is in the European Union, and the three usual items are enough. What does need planning is daily life there, because the leash rule works on two levels, national and municipal, and the Porto metro is stricter than Lisbon’s. Here is what the official pages say, read on 21 October 2026.

What documents does your dog need for Porto?

A microchip, a pet passport and a valid rabies vaccination. The Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária, Portugal’s veterinary authority, writes that non-commercial movement between two European countries, and entry into Portugal from a European country, is governed by Regulation (EU) No 2016/429 and Delegated Regulations (EU) 2026/131 and 2026/133, for a maximum of five animals travelling with their owners.

The European Commission points to the same texts. Its health directorate-general writes that the rules for dogs, cats and ferrets are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/429 on transmissible animal diseases and its delegated acts, that non-commercial movements fall under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, and that these rules target rabies and echinococcosis, infestation by the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis.

The three conditions, as the DGAV lists them: a microchip, a tattoo being accepted only if it is clearly legible and was applied before July 2011; a pet passport, issued in the European country where the owner habitually resides, in the name of the person the dog travels with; and a valid rabies vaccination. How to obtain the passport is covered in The EU pet passport for dogs.

Sequence matters as much as substance. The DGAV specifies that the vaccination must have been given when the animal was at least 12 weeks old, on or after the date the microchip was implanted, and that 21 days must have passed since the injection in the case of a first vaccination. For a booster given within the timeframe set by the vet, that waiting period does not apply.

One detail if someone else takes the dog for you: the DGAV treats as commercial any movement that is more than five days apart from the owner’s own journey.

Do you have to notify the Portuguese authorities before arriving?

No, not on a flight from a European Union country. The DGAV is explicit: for movements inside the Union, no arrival notice has to be sent, the passport simply having to remain available for checking if requested. Keep it on you rather than in your suitcase.

Checks do happen. The same page states that in Portugal they are carried out by the DGAV and may be performed by the vets at travellers’ points of entry, together with Customs, or at the animal’s destination by the regional veterinary authorities; the owner must then produce the passport and make the animal available. Where the entry conditions are not met, the DGAV lists three possible outcomes, all at the owner’s expense: return to the country of origin, quarantine until the prescribed health conditions are met, or, as a last option, being put down if neither of the first two measures can be applied.

Two points deserve attention. Tapeworm treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis is required, according to the same page, only for dogs travelling to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malta and Finland, and must then be given more than 24 hours and less than 120 hours before arrival: it does not apply to Portugal, unlike the United Kingdom. And beyond 120 days of stay, the DGAV points out that national obligations fall due, including registration in the SIAC database.

Collar, leash or muzzle: what does Porto require in the street?

An identifying collar, and either a muzzle or a leash. Porto city council says so in its animal welfare FAQs, and it starts with the principle: a pet out on the public highway must be accompanied by its keeper.

Next comes visible identification. The council writes that a collar or harness is compulsory, and that it must carry, in one form or another, the keeper’s name and address or telephone number. An engraved tag does the job.

Then comes restraint. The dog must be out with a muzzle or a leash, and the council adds a detail that changes everything for a visitor: in certain municipal spaces the leash is compulsory. A muzzle alone is therefore not enough everywhere. Trust the sign at the park gate rather than a list found online.

For a dog classed as dangerous or potentially dangerous, the council is stricter still: a muzzle and a short leash of no more than one metre, attached to the collar or harness. Both together, not one or the other.

Which breeds have special rules in Portugal?

Seven breeds and their crosses, though their entry is not closed off. The DGAV writes that entry into Portugal from another member state is permitted, for non-commercial movement, to dogs of the following breeds considered potentially dangerous, and to their crosses: cão de fila brasileiro, dogo argentino, pit bull terrier, rottweiler, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier and tosa inu.

The length of the stay makes all the difference. For a stay of less than four months, the DGAV requires one thing only: that the animal wear, in public places, a muzzle and a short leash of no more than one metre, which is what Porto city council repeats for the public highway.

For a stay of four months or more, the regime changes completely. On top of SIAC registration, a potentially dangerous dog keeping licence must be obtained from the junta de freguesia of the place of residence. The DGAV lists the documents: a sterilisation declaration for animals not registered in an officially recognised studbook, the keeper’s criminal record certificate, civil liability insurance, and proof that the keeper has passed training for keepers of dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs.

Porto city council adds a point about these licences. It explains that Portaria no. 421/2004, which governed the registration and licensing of dogs and cats, was repealed by Decree-Law no. 82/2019, but that the annual licence from the junta de freguesia remains compulsory for potentially dangerous breeds and dangerous animals. It also recalls that identification is compulsory for dogs, cats and ferrets, the marking and SIAC registration having to be done within 120 days of birth.

Can your dog ride the Porto metro?

Only if it is small and inside a carrier. That is the sharpest difference from Lisbon, whose metro allows a dog to travel muzzled and held on a short leash, with no carrier, on three conditions: that it is not of a breed considered dangerous or potentially dangerous, that it is accompanied by its owner or carer, and that it has an up-to-date vaccination record and a municipal licence. The detail is in Lisbon with your dog.

Metro do Porto allows objects and animals on board, but under a condition it states in a single sentence: admitted on board its vehicles are, besides guide dogs, small domestic animals, provided they travel inside a carrier. A labrador therefore does not ride the Porto metro.

For STCP buses and trams, the published rule we were able to read concerns assistance dogs. Its accessibility page states that disabled people have the right to be accompanied by an assistance dog, under Decree-Law no. 74/2007 of 27 March, at no additional cost. Those dogs are exempt from wearing a functional muzzle or a container, may be identified by a card or badge issued by a training establishment, and their keeper must carry civil liability insurance for damage caused to third parties; the right cannot be exercised while the animal shows obvious signs of illness, aggression or poor hygiene. For an ordinary pet, ask the operator for its rule before boarding.

Who sets the rules for the flight itself?

Your airline, and nobody else. The DGAV is clear about who does what: information on transporting the animal, the carriers, arrival at the airport or port, transport crates and where the animal travels must be obtained from the carrier you choose. The veterinary authority sets the documents, not the dog’s place on the aircraft. That is where the gaps open up: maximum cabin weight, carrier size, hold requirements, all covered in Flying with a dog over 8 kg and Dogs in the cargo hold. Requirements by destination are on our travel requirements pages, and the other European guides in our blog, including Madrid with your dog.

Does your dog really have to travel in the hold?

No, not on our flights: the dog stays in the cabin with its owner, never in the hold, and spends the flight at your feet. Loulou Air, an AEROAFFAIRES brand and a private aviation broker since 1991, sells Pay-per-Seat private jets for your dog and you: you pay for your seat, not the jet, and one ticket covers one person and their dog. There is none of the weight limit imposed by scheduled airlines, because your dog does not travel in the hold: capacity depends on the aircraft and the number of animals on board, and a broker confirms each dog case by case. Boarding is through a private aviation terminal, with no queues and no separation. The requirements described here remain due on every flight, private ones included, and our brokers check every file before departure.

Our routes currently serve New York, Dubai and Los Angeles: see the open flights. We open new flights every month, so tell us where you want to go by going to talk to a broker; and for a whole aircraft, our sister company AEROAFFAIRES offers full charter.

Frequently asked questions

Is an EU pet passport enough to take a dog to Porto?

Yes, together with the microchip and the vaccination. The DGAV requires a microchip, a pet passport issued in the European country where the owner habitually resides, and a valid rabies vaccination. Check that the microchip was implanted before the vaccination: the other way round, the vaccine does not count for the journey.

Does my dog have to wear a muzzle in the streets of Porto?

Not necessarily, but the leash is not always optional. Porto city council requires a muzzle or a leash on the public highway, and specifies that the leash is compulsory in certain municipal spaces. For a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog it requires both: a muzzle and a short leash of no more than one metre, attached to the collar or harness.

Can my large dog travel on the Porto metro?

No. Apart from guide dogs, Metro do Porto only admits small domestic animals travelling inside a carrier. A large dog meets neither the size condition nor the carrier one, so plan another way of getting around the city.