A Boston attorney rescued a puppy from St. Lucia. Now, he’s suing to challenge a ban on dogs entering the US.

Now, Katz is spearheading a legal battle challenging a new federal regulation that will ban all dogs from entering the United States before they are 6 months old — a move he says will devastate animal rescue efforts in the Caribbean and prevent Americans from adopting strays who roam beach resorts in search of food and capture their hearts. In June, he filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Boston on behalf of a half-dozen nonprofit animal rescue groups, including Newton-based Potcake Place K9 Rescue, urging a judge to bar the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from implementing the ban, slated to take effect Aug. 1.

“Getting the dogs off the island is the way to save them,” said Blake Ulrich, executivedirector of Maryland-based Bruno Project Rescue, which placed Doby with the Katzes. “The longer they stay on the island, the less access to veterinary care they have, the less access to food they have. Every day they are there, they are at risk of a brutal, harsh, painful death.”

The CDC ban is part of a sweeping regulation announced by the agency in May to crack down on the importation of dogs and prevent the spread of rabies in the United States, which was declared free of canine rabies in 2007.

In 2021, the CDC temporarily suspended the importation of dogs from 113 countries considered high-risk for rabies after a rescue dog from Azerbaijan tested positive after being placed with a Pennsylvania family. The new regulation allows dogs from those countries to enter the United States under stringent controls, including proof that they have been vaccinated for rabies and have undergone a veterinary examination and testing.

However, the lawsuit alleges that the CDC overstepped its authority by imposing an “irrational” and unnecessary blanket ban, which prohibits healthy dogs under 6 months old from entering the United States even if they have been vaccinated and lived their entire lives on Caribbean islands that the American government has long recognized as being “rabies free” or “rabies low-risk.”

Katz said the ban marks a radical shift from a 1956 regulation that allowed dogs over 3 months old from rabies-free countries to enter the United States, with proof they had been vaccinated for rabies.

The regulation will make it impossible for the rescue groups to continue their work and “will result each year in the needless suffering and deaths of hundreds if not thousands of healthy, intelligent dogs whom citizens of the United States are eager to adopt,” the suit says.

David Daigle, a spokesperson for the CDC, declined to comment on the suit or the new regulation, saying the agency “does not comment on pending litigation.”

In announcing the new regulation, the CDC said it “strives to protect America’s families, communities, and pets by preventing the reintroduction of dog rabies into the United States.”

The suit names the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and its director, Mandy Cohen.

US District Judge Denise Casper has given the US attorney’s office, which is representing the government in the case, until Friday to respond to Katz’s request for an emergency order barring the CDC from imposing the ban against dogs under 6 monthsfrom entering the United Statesfrom Caribbean islands that are rabies-free. That list includes:St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, Martinique, St. Barts, St. Martin, Cayman Islands, Antigua, Barbados, Aruba, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Turks and Caicos.

In the Caribbean culture, dogs tend to be viewed as “pests,” rather than valued pets, and “something to get rid of,” Ulrich said. Veterinary care is limited and thousands of stray dogs roam the streets seeking food and shelter. The average life span of a Caribbean dog left to the streets is about 3 years, she said.

Rescue organizations provide food, shelter, veterinary care, vaccinations, and spay and neuter programs for the dogs. They have a better chance of being adopted when they are puppies, according to the rescue groups.

It’s critical for rescue groups to transport the puppies when they’re about 16 to 18 weeks old, according to the suit, because airlines only allow pets to travel in the passenger cabin when they’re small enough to fit in a carrier tucked under a seat. By the time they weigh about 20 pounds, they must travel in cargo holds, which are cost-prohibitive for the nonprofits. And commercial airlines don’t allow animals to travel in the cargo holds of planes departing the Caribbean from April through November when temperatures soar, according to the suit. Service dogs, which are working dogs, are exempt from those restrictions.

Aaron Katz with his family’s St. Lucia rescue dog, Doby, on a bench.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

“These dogs deserve a chance,” Katz said during a recent interview. “There are so many people that want to give them chances.”

New Life for Paws Foundation, one of the organizations represented by Katz, rescues about 500 or 600 puppies a year from Aruba and finds most of them homes in the United States, according to Marie Geerman, of Westchester County, N.Y., who cofounded the nonprofit group.

“We find them in the most horrific condition,” said Geerman, recounting the recovery of puppies found beaten, thrown in the ocean, and tossed out car windows. “We are there to pick the babies up and save them.”

She estimated there are about 25,000 street dogs in Aruba and said the ban will have a devastating impact on rescue efforts. She has been scrambling to fly as many rescued puppies as possible off the island before the ban takes effect.

“The island is going to be drowning in suffering dogs because we are not going to be able to help,” said Geerman, 59, who has been rescuing dogs on the island since the 1980s. “I’m having nightmares. It’s my life work going down the drain before my eyes.”

Winchester, MA, 07/17/2024, Aaron Katz with his family’s St. Lucia rescue dog Doby.
Animal advocates say a new government regulation will derail efforts of rescue groups and lead to the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of puppies that will no longer be eligible to travel. Katz has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the groups and is urging a judge to prevent the CDC from implementing the rule.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe stafSuzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff