owner Mr. Bryan Parkin has claimed.

And fellow store owner, Mr. Ed Pereira of Island Pet Supply, accused the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of not being "democratic''.

He and Mr. Parkin had strongly opposed the new regulations, but, Mr. Pereira said: "At the end of the day, they have made their decision already.'' The new rabies regulations require that kittens and puppies imported from the US and Canada must receive two vaccinations for the killer virus instead of one, at an interval of not less than six months.

This means that kittens and puppies arriving from those locations will be at least 10-months-old when they get to the Island.

"No one wants a puppy at that age,'' said Mr. Parkin, and the cost of keeping puppies or kittens in someone else's care until that age would add ruinously to the cost of the dog.

"We don't import from the eastern seaboard, which is where they have all the trouble,'' he said.

"We've been bringing in puppies from the United States and Canada for years and years and years, and we've never had one outbreak of rabies here that I can remember,'' Mr. Pereira stated.

The regulations do not apply to countries designated as rabies free, such as the United Kingdom, Jamaica and New Zealand -- provided the animal arrives directly from these countries, or remains in quarantine during stopovers said Government Veterinarian Dr. Neil Burnie.

But Mr. Parkin said the freight charges from Britain would be about $150 for a three-pound Yorkshire terrier.

A $500 or $600 dog could turn into an $800 or $900 dog, Mr. Pereira claimed, especially with the pound strong against the dollar.

However, he and Mr. Pereira are banding together to consider importing from Britain, hoping to find a way around freight charges.

Mr. Pereira said that regulations a year and a half ago about the number of dogs allowed in a pet shop, and stipulating that there should be a play area for puppies, had been expensive, but he had complied.

This preceded the present change.

And local breeders cannot possible satisfy Island supply, he said.

Furthermore, those breeders sold their dogs themselves, not though local pet stores.

The regulations are stiffening because free movement in the US and Canada increase the chances of individual animals incubating the rabies virus. In 1992, the US recorded 8,644 cases of rabies in animals, of which 732 were domestic. The high incidence of the rabies virus continued in 1993, with over 700 cases recorded in Connecticut, 460 in New Jersey.

In Canada in 1992, the reported number of rabies cases was 2,270.

One man, who did not wish to give his name, told The Royal Gazette he was expecting a dog from the US in January, but because of the new rules, he had to wait until it was ten-months-old.

He had already paid for it, he said, but now there was nothing for him to do but wait.

Dr. Burnie said that his department suggested that prospective pet owners look to the UK as a source of puppies. He added that it was unfortunate that most pet owners prefer to purchase puppies.

AIR ARRIVALS ON THR RISE TOU Air arrivals on the rise Air arrivals for the week that ended Sunday were up by 4.7 percent.

Air visitors for the year are up 0.8 percent as of December 11. Total arrivals, which combine air and cruise ship visitors, are up 4.1 percent for the year.

Figures released by Government Information Services show that 3,203 visitors arrived by air last week, compared to 3,059 during the same week in 1993.

That brought visitors for the year to 404,601, up from 401,253 last year.

There have been 172,865 cruise ship arrivals this year, a jump of 12.4 percent over 1993.