Lost your dog's vaccination card? How to get proof again

Ask the clinic that gave the vaccines for a duplicate certificate on its letterhead, signed and stamped, with the date of each vaccine and the next due date ¹. Vets must keep a register of the certificates they issue and a copy of each one, so the clinic should be able to find your pet's record ⁹. If it can't, only a vet can decide what to do next, and a backdated certificate is never the answer: a vet who signs an untrue certificate can be struck off the register ⁹.

Ask for: A duplicate on the clinic's letterhead, signed and stamped by the vet¹
It must show: Each vaccination date, the next due date, and the vet's council registration number¹
Why the clinic can help: Vets must keep a register of the certificates they issue, with a copy of each⁹
Bought from a breeder: Breeders must keep each dog's vaccination record for at least 8 years and give the buyer a copy¹⁰
Delhi and Chennai: The licence runs out with the rabies vaccination, so check that date on the duplicate²⁵

From our familyWith Auggie, our Labrador, the card lived in a drawer, and we only remembered it when a vet or a boarding asked for it. Our story

Get a duplicate in four steps

Call the clinic that gave the vaccines. Give your name and phone number, your pet's name, and roughly when the shots were given, so they can find the record.
Ask for a duplicate certificate on the clinic's letterhead, with each vaccine's date and the next due date, and the vet's council registration number, signature and stamp ¹.
Registering in Delhi? Ask for MCD's format: a photo of you with your dog, attested by the vet; your name, address and mobile number; and your dog's name, gender, breed, colour and any identification mark ¹. The MCD registration guide has the rest of the steps.
Photograph every page the day you get it, and keep the photos where the whole family can find them, not on one person's phone.

If the clinic can't find the record

Search your phone first: WhatsApp chats with the clinic, payment messages with the date, and old photos of the card or the vaccine sticker.
Bought your pet from a breeder? Breeders must keep each dog's health and vaccination record for at least 8 years, and give the buyer a copy ¹⁰. Ask them for it.
Bought from a pet shop? The shop's receipt must list the pet's vaccination details, and the shop keeps a copy of every receipt ¹¹.
Look in other papers: an earlier registration certificate, a boarding's form, or an old travel certificate.
Still nothing? Take your pet to a vet with whatever you have. Only a vet can decide whether a fresh dose is needed now, and a new dose comes with a new certificate.
In Chennai, Greater Chennai Corporation's pet clinics give the rabies vaccine free ⁴.
Never ask for a backdated or blank certificate. A vet who signs an untrue certificate can lose their registration ⁹.

Will a duplicate be accepted?

Offices look for the vet's own signed certificate, not the age of the paper. MCD needs a valid anti-rabies certificate from a registered vet ²; BMC wants rabies and leptospirosis certificates signed and stamped by a registered vet ³.
Trains and Air India check the vaccination record along with a recent vet certificate ⁶⁷. See the travel fitness certificate for when to get it.
Boardings set their own rules; see what boardings ask for.
If someone questions the duplicate, give them the clinic's phone number. The vet keeps a copy of what was issued ⁹.

So it doesn't happen again

Keep a photo of every vaccination page somewhere the whole family can open, and a printed family record next to the card.
Note the next due date. In Delhi the registration ends with the rabies vaccination, and in Chennai the licence date follows the latest rabies vaccine, so a missed booster also means a lapsed licence ²⁵.
Travelling? Carry the originals; Air India checks them at check-in ⁷.

If a person was bitten

Checked against vet sources. Not yet reviewed by a vet.

Your dog's card doesn't replace care for the person. If a bite breaks the skin, wash it under running water with soap for 15 minutes, then see a doctor today about rabies shots ⁸. Call your vet about your dog too.

Not fully clear yet

Official sources disagree or leave gaps on these. Confirm before you rely on them.

The vets' code of conduct says a vet must keep a copy of each certificate, but not for how long, or what happens to the records when a clinic closes ⁹. If your clinic has shut, ask the vet who ran it.
We found no official rule on how a duplicate should be marked. If an office questions it, ask the vet to add a line such as 'duplicate, issued from clinic records on <date>'.
Chennai's licence rules come from a November 2025 news guide; GCC's own page confirms the free rabies vaccine but not how long a licence lasts ⁴⁵.

Last checked 5 Oct 2026. Facts checked against the official and veterinary sources below by Thapki. Not yet reviewed by a vet. Written with AI help from the sources below and checked against them line by line; the Thapki team reads and approves each page before it goes live.

Spot something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.

Sources

Sample of anti-rabies vaccination certificate (scanned PDF, from the portal) · Municipal Corporation of Delhi · seen 5 Oct 2026
Terms and conditions for registration of pet dog (PDF, from the portal), items 3 and 5 · Municipal Corporation of Delhi · seen 5 Oct 2026
Manual for application for dog license (PDF), step 11 · Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation · seen 5 Oct 2026
Veterinary public health activities (pet licence, pet clinics with free anti-rabies vaccination) · Greater Chennai Corporation · seen 5 Oct 2026
How to apply for a pet licence in Chennai: a step-by-step guide (11 Nov 2025) · Citizen Matters (news) · seen 5 Oct 2026
Know your Railway: rules for carrying pet dogs in trains (notice 426/2022-23, 2 Nov 2022) · Southern Railway, Indian Railways · seen 5 Oct 2026
Travelling with pets: documents needed (read in a browser; the page blocks automated fetches) · Air India · seen 5 Oct 2026
Rabies: fact sheet (17 Sep 2026) · World Health Organization · seen 5 Oct 2026
Code of ethics for veterinary practitioners, Regulations 1992 (Gazette of India, 1 Apr 1992; scanned PDF), regulation 42(3) · Veterinary Council of India · seen 5 Oct 2026
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Dog Breeding and Marketing) Rules, 2017, G.S.R. 496(E), rule 9(4) and 9(5) (PDF) · Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, via Animal Welfare Board of India · seen 5 Oct 2026
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules, 2018, G.S.R. 844(E), rule 7(13) and Form IV (PDF) · Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, via Animal Welfare Board of India · seen 5 Oct 2026