relocating a dog

[ssummers]

we may well be relocating to athens for 3 months. what do i need to do with regards to taking our little dog with us?

many thanks

Ok - I used to work for the Pet Passport Scheme within DEFRA so can hopefully fill you in.

Depending on where you live, you'll to firstly need to ring your local Animal Health Office for your county and tell them where you're going and what pet you're taking with you. Can't remember offhand if Greece are doing the Pets scheme but they'll tell you.

They will send you the forms for the Pet Passport (or you could do it online possibly since I left!)and find out what rabies jabs/blood tests/tick and tapeworm treatment (on returning) you might need.

You should contact the AHO as soon as possible though as it takes time for the blood tests to come back negative etc and for you to organise transporting the animal.

I would look at the DEFRA website first (animal health) to check what it says about it all. HTH.

If you want someone to do all the work for you I have a friend who has a company that arranges pet relocations, I can give you her website address if you like. She is lovely and very caring and professional.

Its approx 6m to sort out pet passport stuff including rabies bloods.

Forgot to say, if I remember correctly, you can't bring the animal back into the uk until 6 months after the date of the first blood test.

also look at seeing if the airline will allow you to transport your pet as excess baggage!!! We took our lovely Lab to Cyprus via BA this way and saved a fortune....Good idea to phone airline and see if you can reserve a part of the heated bit of the hold. Good luck with the heat!!

Think very hard about whether this is the right thing to do for the dog? You will only be gone for 3 months after all. Consider the nature of the dog, the climate there compared with here, the costs, the likely time you will have with her there if you are working/stressed about adjusting to a temporary new life etc. She may be happier with a friend over here or maybe a kennels if she is a settled dog in that sort of environment. However, of course the opposite may be true and she may stress for you and be better off with you instead. Only you can know this after taking all the options into consideration.

She will need to be microchipped and vaccinated for rabies and then 30 days later have a sucessful result on a blood test for rabies immunity. Once she has had the blood test done she may not return to the UK from abroad for six months from that date, though she can leave the UK before that time. You will also need to speak to DEFRA about any other local rules and regulations they have about importing dogs. She will also need to meet regulations about travelling - fitness to travel certificates, parasite control before she returns home etc etc. There is a lot to think about. Also consider if she travels through other countries at any time (eg by road rather than flying) she will have to comply with the regulations of every country she goes through too. Whilst most pets travel without problem bear in mind a few do have problems - if the paperwork is somehow not right or the microchip will not read (rare but does happen) then you may still be required to put the dog into quarantine upon return. It is definately the rare rare case that this happens, but better not to pretend it doesn't. Also consider the diseases other than rabies that you may be exposing your dog to. There are different parasites abroad and some nasty diseases. Many are preventable, but getting knowledge in advance for these is important too.