Description:

Pet Travel Rules from Brittany to UK relaxed

 

Currently, anyone who wants to travel with their animals and bring them back into Britain needs to have their pet vaccinated and microchipped six months before coming back into the country . Their animals then need a blood test a month later to ensure the anti-rabies vaccine is fully effective. Then are they given a Pet Passport, allowing them to come back into the country.

Last week, Caroline Spelman, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, is expected to announce that Britain will relax the rules, bringing the country into line with more liberal regulations in place across most of the European Union.

Animals will only need to be vaccinated for rabies 21 days before coming back into the country and the blood test requirement will be dropped. The new rules are expected to come into force from the start of next year.

 

 Many vets charge pet owners £100 for the blood test, which most scientists say is completely unnecessary. It is understood that a report, commissioned by Defra, will calculate that pet owners will save £7 million a year as a result of the dropping of this requirement.

 

An estimated 100,000 owners a year use the pet passport scheme to take their animals on holiday or on work trips.

Rabies has almost been completely eradicated in Britain, with the exception of some rare cases in bats and foxes.  According to the Health Protection Agency, there have only been four cases of human rabies infection since 2000.

 

Currently a French vet signature and stamp of the Pet Passport is required before pets leave France for the UK confirming the tick and worm treatment. This procedure also involves vet fees, possibly up to €50 per pet.

 

Apart from this cost, ferry operators and Eurotunnel charge up to €50 per pet for travel with pets. Although Eurotunnel only make this charge for travel to the UK, ferry operators fleece pet owners by charging for both inward and outward trips.
 

Entry rules for pets entering the UK from the EU and listed non-EU countries:

What has to be done	Now	From 1 January 2012
Microchip	Yes	Yes
Rabies vaccination	Yes	Yes
Documentation (pet passport or third country certificate)	Yes	Yes
Blood test (dogs and cats)	Yes	No
Pre-entry waiting period	Yes	Yes
Length of waiting period before entry to the UK	6 months from date sample taken for blood test	21 days after vaccination against rabies
Tick treatment	Yes (24-48 hours before embarkation)	No
Tapeworm treatment	Yes (as for ticks)	Under consideration at European level

Entry rules for pets entering the UK from unlisted non-EU countries:

What has to be done	Now	From 1 January 2012
Microchip	All pets from unlisted third countries are licensed into quarantine for 6 months and vaccinated against rabies on arrival	Yes
Rabies vaccination		Yes
Blood test		Yes. Blood sample taken at least 30 days after vaccination.
Documentation ( third country certificate)		Yes
Pre-entry waiting period		Yes
Length of waiting period before entry to the UK		3 months after blood sample date
Tick treatment		No
Tapeworm treatment		Under consideration at European level