Pet Travel Scheme Changes

Anonymous · Dec 5, 2011

Originally posted by Martin

I don't know if anyone takes their dog to Europe with them or if you are thinking about it, but the Pet Passport scheme is being relaxed to make it much easier bringing your dog back into the UK.

We always take our dog Sophie away with us as we don't like leaving her in kennels and it does work out cheaper anyway even with the extra costs.

The final details have not been confirmed yet but some information is here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/p ... /#from1jan

Anyone who has done this previously will realise the hassle with finding a vet in France before coming back to the UK with the 24 hour rule as it normally meant your last stop would need to be near the port.

With the new rule hopefully we can just get straight on the ferry/train without seeing a vet

Read more: http://www.vw-california-owners-forum.c ... z1ffrr0ky7

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post T5WOB

ace find thinking of taking are dog .but never have yet thanks martin

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post alf170

Just gone through the whole pet passport thing in last few weeks to get the dogs out to Germany. Really easy now, rabies jab, can't come back for 21 days after the jab and not before 1 Jan 12. Still a bit of confusion over ticks treatment but we frontline ours very regularly as the ticks in Scotland are more abundant that the mossies. And hte cat is coming too in the back of the Cali!!

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post caliangel

Thanks Martin for the link. I have had a look at it but it still seams like walking through treacle to me. If we wanted to take our dogs out of the UK in March 2012 when do we have to get them a rabies injection? If you have 5 mins are you able to point out a simple summery of what we need to do to take our pets into Europe and back into the UK for a three week holiday? Many thanks.

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post Martin

Hi CaliAngel, I must admit it is not the simplest of procedures, it took us ages to get our heads around it the first time we took the Sophie to France.

Anyway, so long as you are leaving after January 1st 2012 you will need:

1. Dogs microchipped
2. Dogs must be vaccinated against rabies at least 21 days before you leave but to be on safe side I would have it done ASAP incase the rules change again, you then at least have your pet passport in your hands!

When returning from abroad it is still unclear on what the rules will be but it looks like there will need to be some kind of treatment against tapeworms but this is still undecided by the EU . The final information should be available in a few weeks and we will post it here once we know.

One final thing not linked to the pet passport, is make sure you have overseas cover on your pet insurance

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post calitess

Nov 12, 2011, 8:49am, Martin wrote:

One final thing not linked to the pet passport, is make sure you have overseas cover on your pet insurance.

Thanks for that. We have just checked our Direct Line Pet Insurance for Tess & Overseas Travel is an optional extra which we do not yet have.

We have been advised by our vet to wait until January 2012 before passporting & will review the insurance then.

The following link is interesting reading.

http://www.defaqto.com/news/your-insura ... t-overseas

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post alf170

Which seems to suggest that one should look after the hounds passport as you do your own. Lose it and pup stays in europe until sorted which I would guess would be 21 day after a new rabies jab - that'll be cheap then.

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post Martin

They have finally come to a decision on the Pet Passport for 2012.

Dogs will just need Tapeworm treatment before entering the UK, all pet dogs (including assistance dogs) must be treated for tapeworm. The treatment must be administered by a vet not less than 24 hours and not more than 120 hours (1-5 days) before its scheduled arrival time in the UK.

This is not what everyone hoped for but makes travelling back to the UK much easier as you can see the vet upto five days before you leave France rather than the 24/48 rule which was in place before.

This starts on January 1st 2012

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post alf170

Thanks Martin as just about to 'export' the hounds. And the further away from the ferry ports the cheaper it gets! 5 days is a long way away from Calais. Is it hte same for cats? One would assume so but .........

John · Dec 13, 2011

Original post Martin

Hi Alf, by the sounds of it cats don't need anything done at all as it says 'dogs only' so I am assuming you can just go straight to the port with them without seeing a vet. Also like you say the 5 days is brilliant news as gives you much more flexibilty when heading home.

Anonymous · Jan 23, 2012

We went to France for New Year and came back on the 6th January with the Pog (pongy dog). The Vet was all spammed up about the changes, as were the Eurotunnel check in staff.

No problems whatsoever.

Luke

Martin · Jan 23, 2012

Luke, how much did the vet In France charge? In theory it should be a few euro less?

Anonymous · Jan 23, 2012

Our vet charged €32, which was £27.33 on the bank statement when it came through.
This was for the visit / check-up as well as the anti-worm treatment.
This is the same price as before, but his is because when I first went I bought a 6 pack of Frontline pipettes, so that cost was already 'in the bag'.

The extension up to 5 days prior to teavelling back gives a bit more flexibility too.

I always find it a bit disheartening when I try to talk in my best French to the French vet in France, and they reply in English.

Martin · Jan 23, 2012

it is such a shame we still have to see the vet , but as you say though the five days will make life much easier. do you have the details of the vet as i am going to start creating a list of good English speaking vets on the forum?