I lost my dog's vaccination certificate. Where can I get a replacement?

Ask the veterinary clinic that gave the vaccines. It holds the record and can usually print or send a copy of your dog's vaccination history; ask for the rabies certificate by name if that is what you need. In the UK, the RCVS code tells vets to provide copies of relevant clinical records when a client asks. A lost licence or rabies tag is replaced by whoever issued it, usually your local authority. Another clinic cannot normally certify a vaccine it did not give.

What if the vet clinic that vaccinated my dog has closed?

First look for the practice that took over its records: closing practices are often required to tell clients or transfer records. Texas, for example, requires a closing practice to give clients reasonable notice and the chance to obtain copies or transfer the records to another veterinarian, and the UK RCVS asks a practice that is closing to give clients the chance to get copies. How long records must be kept varies by state and country. If nothing can be found, talk to your current vet about a titre test or revaccination, and ask the boarding facility what it will accept.

Can a titre test replace a lost vaccination record for boarding?

Sometimes, for the core vaccines. The statutory guidance for dog boarding in England says a vet certificate of a recent protective titre test may be accepted instead of a booster vaccination, at the licence holder's discretion, and the WSAVA vaccination guidelines describe antibody testing for distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus. Rabies is different: the NASPHV rabies compendium says antibody levels should not be used as a substitute for current vaccination. Ask the facility before you book the test.

Will a boarding kennel or daycare accept a photo of the certificate?

It depends on the facility. Many ask to see an up-to-date vaccination record, and some accept a photo or a copy, while others want the original or a record sent by the clinic. Check the facility's own requirements before you go. A clear photo taken the day you receive a certificate is still worth having: it is the quickest way to show which clinic, which vaccine and which date if the paper goes missing.

I live in Japan. How do I replace a lost dog licence tag or rabies tag?

In Japan, the dog licence tag (kansatsu) and the rabies vaccination tag (chūsha-zumihyō) are reissued by the city or ward office where your dog is registered. The Rabies Prevention Act's enforcement rules say to apply within 30 days of losing the licence tag, and to show the vet's rabies certificate when replacing the rabies tag. Fees are set locally: Yokohama and Tokyo's Koto and Katsushika wards charge 1,600 yen and 340 yen, and Sapporo charges 1,800 yen and 400 yen. Certificates for combination vaccines come from the clinic that gave them.

Lost Your Dog's Vaccination Certificate? Who Can Reissue Each Record, and What to Do if the Vet Has Closed

You arrive at the boarding kennel with a packed bag and a dog who already knows something is up. At the desk, they ask for proof of vaccination. The certificate is in a drawer somewhere at home, or it was, last spring.

"Vaccination certificate" sounds like one document, but for a dog it is usually one of three: the rabies certificate signed by the vet who gave the rabies shot, a licence or rabies tag issued by your local authority, and the clinic's record of the other vaccines, such as distemper and parvovirus. Each one is replaced by whoever issued it. Ask the clinic that vaccinated your dog for copies of the certificate and the vaccine history. Ask your local authority for a new tag. That is the short answer.

The long answer matters when the clinic that vaccinated your dog no longer exists. This article covers who can reissue each record, what happens to records when a practice closes, what boarding facilities accept when a record cannot be found, and how to keep a copy that survives a lost drawer or a closed clinic.

This is a guide to keeping records, written by the team that builds Memofu's health log. It is not veterinary or legal advice, and the rules differ between countries, states and even cities. Check the details with your local authority and your vet.

Three different records hide behind "vaccination certificate"

Record	What it shows	Who reissues it
Rabies vaccination certificate	A vet gave or supervised the shot	The vaccinating clinic
Licence or rabies tag	Your dog is registered locally	Your local authority
Vaccination history	The other vaccines and their dates	The vaccinating clinic

In the United States, the national rabies compendium from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) recommends that vaccinated animals carry a rabies vaccination certificate, such as the association's Form 51 or an equivalent. It says the form must be completed in full and signed by the administering or supervising veterinarian. Computer-generated forms with the same information are acceptable. The same compendium calls registration or licensing an integral part of rabies control, and recommends tags or microchips so a dog's rabies status can be checked.

The other vaccines — distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus, plus non-core vaccines such as leptospirosis or kennel cough — are usually on the clinic's vaccination record or card rather than on a separate certificate. Boarding kennels and daycares often ask for both.

Getting a copy from your vet

Call the clinic that gave the vaccines and ask for your dog's vaccination history. Most clinics keep it in their records system and can print or email it. If a facility has asked for a rabies certificate specifically, ask for that by name, since a vaccine history printout may not be signed.

In the UK, the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct says veterinary surgeons and nurses must provide copies of any relevant clinical records when a client asks.

Do not ask a different clinic to fill the gap. A vet can certify what their practice did. They cannot vouch for a vaccine someone else gave, and a new clinic will usually start from the records you bring them.

If the clinic has closed

This is the case that turns a five-minute phone call into a problem.

How long a clinic must keep records is set locally, and so is what happens to them when a practice closes. Two examples:

Texas makes a veterinarian who closes a practice responsible for giving clients reasonable notice and the opportunity to obtain copies of their records or have them transferred to another veterinarian.
In the UK, the RCVS code says that where a practice intends to cease trading, vets should, where possible, notify clients and give them the opportunity to obtain a copy of their records.

So the first step is to look for the practice that took over: the closure notice, the practice's old website or social pages, or a local practice that bought the list. Vets also move between practices; the vet who treated your dog may be reachable somewhere else.

If no record can be found:

Ask the facility what it accepts. The statutory guidance for licensed dog boarding in England says a vet certificate of a recent protective titre test may be accepted instead of a booster vaccination, and that it is up to the licence holder whether to accept one.
Ask your current vet about titre testing or revaccination. The WSAVA vaccination guidelines describe antibody testing for the core vaccines — distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus — as a way to check immunity. Whether to test or revaccinate is a decision for a vet who knows your dog's age and health.
Treat rabies separately. The NASPHV compendium says antibody levels do not directly correlate with protection, and should not be used as a substitute for current vaccination. If the rabies certificate is gone for good, the answer is a conversation with your vet about revaccination under your local rules.

What boarding kennels and daycares ask for

Requirements are set by each facility, and sometimes by the licence it operates under. In England, the statutory guidance for dog boarding says an up-to-date veterinary vaccination record must be seen, showing current vaccinations against parvovirus, distemper, infectious canine hepatitis (adenovirus), leptospirosis and other relevant diseases. Vaccination against kennel cough may be required as well.

Whether a photo or a copy is enough, how recent a vaccine must be and which vaccines are required vary from one facility to the next. Check the facility's own page before you go, especially for a first stay.

A photo is worth having either way. If the certificate goes missing, a clear picture of it tells a new clinic, a facility or you exactly which clinic gave which vaccine on which date.

If you live in Japan

Japan splits the same idea across different papers. The dog licence tag (鑑札, kansatsu) and the tag for that year's rabies shot (注射済票, chūsha-zumihyō) are issued and reissued by the city or ward office where your dog is registered. The vet who gives the rabies shot issues a paper rabies certificate (注射済証), and the enforcement rules ask you to show it when you replace a lost rabies tag. Apply within 30 days of losing the licence tag. Fees are set by each city: Yokohama and Tokyo's Koto and Katsushika wards charge 1,600 yen for a licence tag and 340 yen for a rabies tag, while Sapporo charges 1,800 yen and 400 yen. Combination vaccine certificates come from the clinic that vaccinated. For clinic records, the legal minimum retention period for dogs and cats is three years. The Japanese edition of this article covers each step in detail.

Before it happens again

Photograph each certificate the day you get it, sticker labels and signature included, before you leave the clinic.
Write one line: when, where, what. The date, the clinic's name and the vaccine. If the clinic closes, that line is what lets you find the records again.
Keep it where the whole family can see it. The person dropping the dog at the kennel is not always the person who filed the paperwork.
Put the next due date in a reminder. Many facilities check that vaccines are current, so it helps to notice before one lapses.

For the rest of what is worth writing down, see our guide to keeping a pet health record. Vaccination records are also on the list of things to take with you in an emergency.

Where Memofu fits

Memofu's health log keeps vaccines and vet visits next to your pet's photos. Here is what it does today for keeping a copy of these records:

Vet visits can carry a photo of the certificate. A visit records the date, clinic, reason and what the vet said, with photos. Take a picture of the certificate the day you get it and add it to that visit, and you can show it from the app wherever a photo is accepted.
Only your circle can see those photos. They never appear on the timeline or on the grandparent page, and anyone in the family who takes the dog in can open the same record.
Care reminders for vaccines and preventives, repeating yearly. The owners and co-owners are notified on the day, and the record shows who marked each one done. A vet visit's next appointment is reminded 7 days before, the day before and on the day.
A read-only health link, free, for a new vet, a boarding facility or a sitter. It opens in any browser, stops working after a day, a week or a month, and shows vaccines and preventives and past visits. It never includes photos or your family's names.
The health link is not a certificate. It was not issued by a vet. Where proof is required, show the certificate itself, or a photo of it where the facility accepts one.

Every health record, including its full history, is free on every plan, and a full export of your data is free forever. There are no ads, your data is never sold, and there is no public feed. See the features page for what the health log does and the pricing page for what is free and what is paid.

To say it once more: this is a guide to keeping records. Your local authority decides how tags are replaced, and your vet decides what your dog needs next.

Sources

Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, 2016 (National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, PDF hosted by Cayuga County, NY)
Rabies Vaccination Certificate, NASPHV Form 51 (CDC Stacks)
13. Clinical and client records (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons)
Dog kennel boarding licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities (GOV.UK)
22 Tex. Admin. Code § 573.55 (Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners rule, via Cornell LII)
WSAVA Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats, 2024 (World Small Animal Veterinary Association)
Rabies Prevention Act, Enforcement Regulations and Veterinarians Act (e-Gov, Japanese)
Reissue fees: Yokohama, Koto, Katsushika and Sapporo (Japanese)