Many pet owners in Great Britain who want to take their animal to the Continent – or the island of Ireland – now face extra red tape.
Until now tens of thousands of people who live in England, Scotland or Wales have obtained an EU pet passport for their cat, dog or ferret – making it much easier and cheaper to travel to the European Union. But Brussels has tightened up the rules, ferreting out pet owners who live in Great Britain and have previously been using an EU pet passport.
The UK government is telling pet owners: “EU pet passports may only be issued to owners whose main residence is within the European Union.”
British residents travelling to the EU with a pet dog, cat or ferret will henceforth need to obtain an Animal Health Certificate (AHC).
Some pet owners say they were not given enough notice of the change.
How did British pets get to have European Union passports in the first place?
Up to 2021, when the UK made its final exit from the EU, every pet could have an European Union passport. The Brexit agreement made it more difficult to take pets outside Great Britain. Northern Ireland pets face no such problems – they follow the easier EU rules.
But some British pet owners, particular those with second homes in France, Spain and Italy, found that the could persuade a local vet to issue an EU pet passport. That made the process cheaper and simpler.
The new European law says: “Pet passports are not intended to be issued to pet dogs, pet cats or pet ferrets which are kept by pet owners who have their main residence outside the Union and reside only temporarily or seasonally in the Union.
“The pet passport is only intended to be issued to pet dogs, pet cats or pet ferrets kept in the member state where their pet owners reside habitually and have their main residence. Such information is to be furnished by the pet owner to allow the issuing veterinarian to duly and accurately complete the pet passport.”
What are the rules now for taking a pet to the European Union?
You must get your pet microchipped. Assuming the animal is 12 weeks or older, it must then be given a rabies vaccination. At least three weeks must elapse between the rabies jab and travelling.
For each journey, the pet must have an EU animal health certificate (AHC) confirming the microchipping and the vaccination.
The certificate must be issued within 10 days of entry to the EU or Northern Ireland. Vets charge around £200 for the certificate. A new one is required for each journey.
The maximum validity for re-entry to Great Britain is four months – but in any event humans with UK passports are limited to 90 days, so that is not relevant for most people.
For dogs going to Ireland, Malta, Norway and Finland, and for dogs returning to the UK, tapeworm treatment must be administered between one and five days before travel.
What do vets say?
Guy Smith of the specialist firm PassPets told The Independent: “We’ve seen a significant increase in enquiries over the past few days, particularly from people due to travel imminently who weren’t aware of the change. We’re doing our best to accommodate these last-minute AHC appointments.”
“The short notice of these changes feels unfair on pet owners – I’d expect some disruption at the border as a result.”
My pet and I live in Northern Ireland. Has anything changed?
No. Northern Ireland has special status, and is treated as being within the European Union for many purposes, Travel from Northern Ireland to anywhere in the EU remains the same “light touch” – a pet passport and rabies vaccination. This applies whether or not you transit through non-EU Great Britain along the way.
For travel solely to Great Britain, the only requirement is that the pet is microchipped.
People who live in Great Britain travelling to Northern Ireland with a cat, dog or ferret need a special Northern Ireland pet travel document (PTD). The pet must be microchipped, but does not need rabies vaccinations or tapeworm treatment. But the owner cannot take the animal into the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
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