New Joint Pet Policy bans certain dogs in base housing Published July 16, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Sara Csurilla 18 Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Beginning Oct. 1, 2012, changes made to the Pet Policy will go into effect, banning certain breeds of dogs from living in Military Family Housing on island. According to the Joint Service Pet Policy for all MFH on Okinawa, the following dog breeds will be prohibited from residing in all MFH areas on Okinawa: Pit Bull (full or mixed breed), to include American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire terrier or English Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Rottweiler (full or mixed breed). Canid-wolf hybrid (full or mixed breed). Doberman Pincher (full or mixed breed). Chow (full or mixed breed) "The policy was signed May 11, 2012, with an Oct. 1, 2012 effective date for incoming personnel," said Marcia Flowers, 718th Civil Engineer Squadron, housing flight chief. "Personnel currently in government housing with restrictive breeds will be grandfathered, but must register their pets before Oct. 1, 2012." The Air Force has had a pet policy in place on Okinawa for many years that has restricted certain breeds of dogs, however, there were certain dog breeds that the Marine Corps restricted from MFH that the Air Force policy did not reflect. "The Marine Corps has always had a restricted dog breed policy in effect for their camps," Flowers explained. "However, the Air Force policy had two breeds of dogs that were not in the Marine Corps policy. So that the two policies did not conflict, an Okinawa Joint Service Pet Policy was developed." Other than certain dogs being restricted in MFH, Flowers said nothing else has really changed, but there were some things that she wanted to point out. "The policy did reiterate a previous policy that allowed residents to have cats in all of our military family housing, to include tower buildings," she said. "However, dogs will only be allowed on the first and second floors of a tower building and no pets are allowed in the elevators or common areas in tower buildings." Although these certain breeds of dogs will not be allowed to reside in MFH area, leadership wants to ensure that residents understand that if a service member comes to Okinawa with one of these breeds of dogs, it is not an automatic ticket to move off base. "After Oct. 1, 2012, bringing any of the restricted dog breeds may result in the military member residing off base at their own expense, if they elected not to make alternative arrangements for the dog," said Flowers. "The Housing Office has been working diligently with all the services to get the word out, as well as have PCS orders revised to reflect the restrictive breeds so that incoming families are aware long before they arrive on island." For all service members that might have one of these dog breeds and need to register their pet before the policy is effective, the housing office will be setting up at Exchange areas on Kadena, Camp Foster, Camp Courtney and Camp Kinser to conduct pet registration in the month of August. Exact dates and times will be advertised to the community. For additional information on the pet policy, contact the housing office at 634-0582 or visit www.housing.af.mil.