Pet Passports?

[stirfry]

Does anybody know how pet passports work?

We want to travel to france next summer with our dog but have no idea how to go about obtaining a passport for her and what this entails

Has anyone else taken their dog abroad on a pet passport?

You will need to get him vacinated against rabies. The vet will then need to take a 2nd blood sample several months later. It is only after the second blood sample that a paasport will be issued. Whole thing takes about 6 months and costs ( I think) about £140 quid.

Oh, and he will also have to be checked by a vet in France 24 hours before he is allowed to return.

I have just brought my cat back from Cyprus. I had to get him rabies jabbed back in the summer. 6 weeks later he had a blood test and from the day the blood results got back to the vets to say he was immune he was allowed to travel to the UK 6 months later (IYSWIM). He also had to be chipped. The whole thing cost about £120. The journey home cost alot more but you will not have to do that as you are takinghim with you.

They aren't designed for just taking your dog on holiday. They are meant for residents abroad returning to the UK.

we take our dog on hols and it works no problem, why do you think it is just for returning brits scienceteacher? The initial bit takes a while so you need to get going for this summer. Do a web search for official guidance, plus your vet should be up to speed on what's necessary. You will need to be able to access a vet at "other" end. We take our dog to FILs in France and use his local vet there. They are well used to it all. Once you've done all the original set-up it is really very straightforward.

Hi Stirfry - the whole process takes a good 7 months before a pet can re-enter the UK from the start of things.

1. Microchip
2. Rabies Vaccine(s) - nos depend on brand used
3. Rabies blood test approx 28-30days after vaccines finished - must be positive or vaccines need to be repeated and bloods retested. It is rare but occasionally this does happen.
4. 6 months from the date of the blood test the pet is allowed to re-enter the UK without needing quarantine in the UK. You can take the pet out at any time before this however (Subject to any other rules for the countries you are visiting and their requirements)
5. When you travel back the the UK you will need to get proof from vets abroad re parasite treatments within a set period of time before re-entry to the UK.

Hope that clarifies things for you. There is no problem using it for holidays with a pet - or for longer term travel/moves. The most important thing to remember longer term is to renew the rabies vaccine ON TIME! If not you have to start the whole process again if that lapses by even a day.

We used pet passport to take dog with us on holiday in Europe last summer, all went fine.

The only thing I'd add to all the great info here already is that you have to take the dog to a local vet 24 hours before you return to UK. As we had a long car journey and ferry to catch that was a bit tricky to organise, but we managed to find a local vet who opened up specially for us on a Sunday to give the dog worming treatment, frontline and sign the passport.

My vet's advice has always been to keep the dog's vaccinations up to date anyway so that if you need to take dog abroad at short notice, you can.

Go for it.