Why You Can't Bring Your Pet to Bali: The Province-Wide Ban Explained

A lot of pet travel guides state that Bali became “officially rabies-free in 2022.” No government source confirms that specific claim, and case data through mid-2025 shows the opposite — Bali was still recording tens of thousands of suspected rabid-animal bites that year. What is confirmed, directly from IATA’s Timatic regulatory database, is simpler and more absolute: pets are not allowed to enter or transit at Denpasar-Bali (DPS). Not with a permit. Not with a clean titer test. Not even to connect through on the way somewhere else. See the Indonesia pet transport guide for how this fits into the wider entry process.

Part 1: What’s Actually Banned

The closure covers the whole province, not just the airport. A pet flying from Vietnam cannot land at Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) or use it as a connecting point, and the same rules close Bali’s sea and road entry points to dogs and cats. This sits on top of Indonesia’s general HPR import framework described in the full Indonesia pet import guide.

Part 2: Why the Ban Exists

Bali was rabies-free until November 2008, when an outbreak in the Kedonganan and Jimbaran areas made it the 24th Indonesian province to record the disease. The provincial government responded with Pergub Bali No. 88/2008, closing HPR movement in and out of the province, backed by a matching ministerial decree at the national level. Neither regulation appears to have been repealed — Bali’s provincial livestock office still lists Pergub 88/2008 as active.

Bali is not rabies-free today. A 2020 health ministry release listed only 8 of Indonesia’s 34 provinces as rabies-free and named Bali as still endemic, and Bali has kept recording human rabies deaths through 2025 and 2026. The closure exists to stop rabies moving in and out of the island, and it still applies.

Part 3: Is There a Legal Route Through Jakarta?

Not for a household pet. Clearing quarantine in Jakarta does not open a road or ferry route to Bali. Under the national decree (Kepmentan 1696/2008) and Bali’s provincial rules (Perda Bali No. 15/2009 and Pergub Bali No. 19/2010), dogs, cats and other rabies-susceptible animals may not be brought into, out of or through the province. The provincial rules treat keeping an animal as a pet as commercial movement, which is not allowed from outside the island; the only exceptions are non-commercial purposes such as religious ceremonies, state security, research and conservation, each needing the Governor’s recommendation. Quarantine officers at Gilimanuk, the ferry port from Java, still turn animals back under this rule.

Part 4: Other Regions With Restricted Status

Bali may not be the only province that limits the movement of dogs and cats. Published lists of other restricted areas do not agree with each other, and IATA’s Timatic names only Denpasar (DPS). If your pet will live outside Java, ask the quarantine office of that province about its rules before you book.

Part 5: What This Means for Planning

If you are moving to Bali, decide where your pet will live before booking anything: under the current rules a pet can enter Indonesia through Jakarta, but it cannot continue on to Bali.

The quarantine itself is not optional and applies to every pet entering Indonesia. See the Jakarta quarantine guide for what actually happens during that holding period.