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Pet Travel

Travelling abroad with your pet

As of January 1st 2021, the rules for pets travelling to the EU have changed. UK Pet Passports are NO longer accepted for animals travelling from the UK to EU countries.

A Pet Passport that was issued previous to 1st January 2021 can still be used to:

  • Return back to the UK if you are abroad in the EU after January 1st 2021
  • To travel onwards from current EU member states to other EU member states after January 1st 2021. This does NOT include the UK.

Travelling from the UK To an EU Member State or Northern Ireland

After January 1st 2021, pet passports issued in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) can NO longer be used to travel to the rest of the EU or Northern Ireland.

If you want to travel abroad with your pet, you will now require an Animal Health Certificate (AHC). An AHC will now be required every time you want to take your pet abroad.

Please note that a pet passport that has been issued in an EU country or Northern Ireland can still be used.

The Animal Health Certificate process

  • Your pet needs to be microchipped – this needs to be checked/inserted prior to the rabies vaccination
  • Your pet needs to have a valid rabies vaccination - he or she must be at least 12 weeks of age and the rabies vaccination cannot be given within 2 weeks of any other vaccine
  • You do NOT need a blood test to be taken
  • Tapeworm treatment may need to be given
  • Your pet will be unable to travel until 21 days after the rabies vaccination (unless it is given as a booster rabies to previous rabies vaccinations, and before the previous rabies vaccination has expired)
  • You need to let us know where you will be entering the EU - this is because we need to obtain the Animal Health Certificate in dual languages (i.e English and the language of the country you ENTER into the EU. (This does not have to be the country of your final destination)
  • You will need to see a UK vet within 10 days of travelling, who will issue an AHC for your pet - the AHC is only valid for 10 days once it has been issued. Please plan well ahead so that we can book an appointment with you within the correct period for your planned entry to the EU.

The appointment to issue your pet’s AHC will be up to 1.5 hours in length. This is because the AHC is a new process and we anticipate it to be a very time consuming process initially, due to the complexity of the paperwork required. Your vet will need plenty of time to examine your pet, complete and check the documents and to certify all the paperwork to ensure your pet’s journey is smooth.

How much does an AHC cost?

The process is more costly than the old Pet Passport scheme due to the complexity of all the documentation and the time taken to complete and finalise all the documents.

The current price is £240 for your first pet and £190 for an additional pet (inc VAT).

Where can I get more information?

As always, we would like to refer you to the Government website for up to date details on travelling with your pet:

 

https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/travelling-to-an-eu-country-or-northern-ireland

 

Travelling to a non-EU country

 

You will need to complete an export application and obtain an Export Health Certificate. Please see the Government website for more details regarding this:

 

https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/travelling-to-a-noneu-country

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