Pet Travel Expert

The Pet Passport! We receive inquiries on the pet passport almost daily, and although we wish the US would follow the same Pet Passport system - they do not. However, all of you in the EU and UK will have the benefit of a nice clean and documented travel system for your pets. The Pet Passport acts just like our human passport - allowing all information and records to be kept in one need little book!



For more information on moving your pets to the UK, please view our other posts.

In theory, pets require a passport when they travel from one country to another. The passport has official information about the pet with a nice photo showing who they are. Pet Travel Scheme or PETS, is a scheme which allows the easy obtainment of the pet passport with out going through quarantine. The animal can easily travel between member countries - please look up which countries these are. Some of the member countries are countries of the European Union along with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has been famous for rabies control in the past and that is the reason why they require six month quarantine period for imported animals. PETS scheme was introduced on October 1st, 2001.

The pet passport has multiple forms, such as a pink A4 sheet and the most popular - little blue book! The passport contains the tattoo number of the animal or it's microchip number. A certification of health is also included, which has information about the rabies vaccination and other health requirements that is signed by a veterinary surgeon, officially approved by it's country.

Some countries accept this passport alone and others ask for supporting documentations relating to the procedure that needs to be followed. All the documents are checked at the time of boarding and upon arrival, too. Because of this, it is essential to research not only your destination country's import rules, but also your country's export rules!

Some countries demand that the pet should be treated for fleas, tapeworms, and ticks. It should be done within forty eight hours. The government certifications are documents which have information about the export of the animal. A letter should also be taken from the vet from whom they confirm the petҒs fitness for traveling. Each individual carrier also has their set of regulations about the export and import of the animal - so make sure you check with every company and country that will see your pet - as they each have a variation of rules that they want met.

The owner can apply for the pets passport soon after it gets the vaccination certificate. If the rabies vaccination is out of date, the new vaccination must be given, but this will delay the passport procedure. In some cases, a booster vaccination may also be given to your pet.

Please note that not all ports in the UK are approved for the import of pets - here is a breakdown of what ports are accepted when shipping pets to the UK, with your pet passport and the PETS program:

Ports / Airports of entry:

Animals entering rabies quarantine in the UK may only be landed at the following ports or airports:

Ports

* Coquelles Eurotunnel
* Dover Eastern Docks
* Harwich, Parkeston Quay
* Hull
* Portsmouth

Airports

* Belfast, Northern Ireland
* Edinburgh, Scotland
* Glasgow, Scotland
* Leeds
* London Gatwick
* London Heathrow
* Manchester
* Prestwick, Scotland

It is an offense to land an animal at any other port or airport unless in an emergency, e.g. a diversion because of bad weather. In these circumstances, your animal should only be removed from the vessel or aircraft with the prior permission of the local authority animal health inspector.