Issued today by the U.K. government, suggesting that, in the case of a no deal the efficacy of the rabies vaccination of pets will have to be proven with a titre blood test.
If you are taking your pet and driving through Europe it will apply.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-trav...e-after-brexit
We go back and forth with the dog all the time from CH to UK- and daughter 2 too, from UK to CH
This was recently discussed with our (Dutch) vet and she raised the spectre of the return of quarantine between the UK and the rest of Europe. I was stunned. I do most sincerely hope that isn't where we end up, no mention of it in the linked documents but who knows what horrors await......
To be on the safe side, as we plan a visit to the U.K. in April, our oldest has this afternoon had her booster early (was due in March next year) so we can have the titre test in 30 days. The baby had her rabies vacc in October. Appt booked for blood test in December which means we will be OK to travel in April. If they actually agree a deal all this is unnecessary but we dare not take the chance as Mum will only be 85 once.
Bloody Politicians need to pull their fingers out and get this mess sorted!
[QUOTE
Bloody Politicians need to pull their fingers out and get this mess sorted! [/QUOTE]
Couldn't agree with you more!!! They haven't got a clue!!!
Hope you have a great party when your mother celebrates her 85th birthday!
Well with all your family moving to Europe, it won't be an issue for you.
I find the GOV document a little ambiguous in the area of "UK nationals living abroad".
I (UK national) have a Swiss dog, with a Swiss-issued pet passport & I am "living in Europe" (but not in the EU). Do I have a pet passport issued by an *EU member* state"? I would have said not, but... Mmmm If I flew with my dog from CH, I would not be travelling through EU technically, though today, I travel by car/Tunnel with the dog regularly.
" UK nationals living abroad
If you’re living in Europe and are planning to travel with your pet using a UK-issued pet passport, you should speak to your local vet. They’ll be able to help you understand the impact of Brexit and ensure you’re compliant with EU Pet Travel Regulations.
If you have a pet passport issued by an EU member state, you can use it to bring your pet to the UK.
To return your pet to an EU country from the UK, you’ll need to ensure it has a successful rabies antibody blood test.
If your pet has a successful blood test before leaving the EU you will not need to wait the 3 months before travelling . "
Okay, in the "EU Pet travel Regulations" referenced in the GOV document ( https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement_en ) it states
"For movement between EU countries or from non-EU countries vaccination against rabies documented in the pet passport or the animal health certificate is the sole requirement for dogs, cats and ferrets to travel across EU borders"
So my current conclusion is that the the GOV document wording, though limited and focused on UK and EU pet passports, is applicable to non-EU countries (such as CH pet passports). Clear now.
Horrors indeed.
The only reason we are in Switzerland is that we could not get the mutts into the UK due to quarantine back in 1998. The company moved the job to the first country willing to take our mutts.
Back when we were debating the UK move I looked into many quarantine facilities - there is no way in hell I would have allowed any pet of mine to be subject to that inhumane treatment.
Colleagues in UK rescues have stories of working to rehabilitate dogs who were put through quarantine - the emotional damage was in some cases life long.
I hope that those dark days do not return - and should whispers of bring quarantine back arise I would urge any of you living in the UK to do whatever you can to spread that message to your MPs and other decision makers. Of course there needs to be protection against rabies, but quarantine - 6 months isolation is a cold concrete cell - has been shown to be completely unnecessary if an animal is properly vaccinated and an appropriate waiting time is followed.
I too, moved to CH with my first dog (only) as soon as quarantine laws changed in '98. I needed to be sure I could return (with my pet) if I had to, without the Victorian quarantine laws that were still in place. The ironic thing for me, the quarantine law changed/was expedited, when it the UK gave Hong Kong back to the Chinese. The then Governor of HK, Chris Patten, wanted to bring his 2 dogs back to the UK... so he helped change the law....
Sigh.
Of course for us dog owners in Switzerland who go to the UK and back regularly, we still don't know what the rules will be, to re-enter Switzerland from y 3rd country - or do we?
Mmmm not sure (yet) why your oldest (after a booster) needs (another) Titre Test - assuming the pet had one originally? Our pet had a (Swiss) Titre Test (with stamped Certificate) in 2008 and has (documented, Swiss Pet Passport) boosters ever since. She has travelled to the UK multiple times every year, since 2008. So my reading of the situation, is that she doesn't need another Titre test, and nothing for my pets circumstances, has changed for post 29 March 2019.
I will be checking with my Vet for sure, but happy to receive feedback with rationale if anyone disagrees!
I think we do for those with a Swiss-pet passport (but I will still check with my vet).
If travelling by car, then the GOV.UK document is reasonably" clear, as it addresses "crossing EU borders" typically UK-France, or UK-Holland. Once in EU, then the EU Regulations (for CH) apply https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement_en
and when entering CH, the CH-Pet passport speaks for itself!
If flying with the pet, a CH-pet passport meets UK departure regulations (as of today, as well as CH entry regulations. So for my understanding, also no problem.
However if flying, with a UK-pet passport, then I am not sure, and would need to find the appropriate CH pet entry regulation.
Oldest has never had a titre test as it was not a requirement for travel to the U.K. in recent times and our Swiss vet advised, not a requirement in CH, hence arranging one now. We brought forward her rabies vaccination just to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
The old girl in my avatar had the titre test in Belgium as she was born at a time when the U.K. did require it, along with the 3 month wait. From the notice issued yesterday, the wording suggests to me that they are going back to that requirement. I also received yesterday an email from Eurotunnel warning me of the same.
Well yes, I hope so. However we don't know for sure at the moment- as it would mean travelling to a 3rd country, and not within EU/CH. Our dog as a Danish Pet Passport, with Swiss and French vaccinations and stamps.
Slight tangent...
Whisky and Soda! I remember that well...
(They actually had to stay in the family's holiday house in France for some time, until the law was changed.)
In a somewhat round-about way the inhumane British quarantine law was the impetus that got me into rescue work.
I was living in Hong Kong in the 90s. In the years before the Handover a shocking number of pets were given up (and far too many simply dumped) by their British owners who had to go back to the UK and could not/would not bring the animals with them.
On my first visit to the HK vet, with the one dog who accompanied me from the US, the vet immediately said "Wait - you have only one dog? And you have no plans to go to the UK? Hold on a moment..." She left the room and came back with Psychocollie, who had been scheduled to die that day. And thereby hangs a tale...
(Every non-Brit pet owner I knew who arrived with one pet ended up with two or three, but there were still not enough homes for all the pets who could not return to the UK with their owners due to that heartless quarantine law. It was a horrible time to be a vet in Hong Kong. Apparently some days it was almost factory line euthanasia.)
/trip down (a not always pleasant) memory lane.
And now back to hoping for/working for sanity around pet travel regulations post Brexit.
Yes - and people too
I booked the eurotunnel for my parents to come visit - and was sent an email saying that in preparation for brexit, I should speak to my vet to see what the impacts were.
Called the vet, and it was suggested that it would be safest to just get the anti-rabies test done and be covered...
My guess is that getting into the UK could well be the same as it is today, however getting to an EU country from the UK may well require the titre test (as it did originally for entry to the UK). Either way the same result.
Anyone thinking of going over would be well advised to just get the test done.
PS: If the UK and EU governments can't offer clear advice then there's no way a Swiss vet will have a clue on this topic, i wouldn't trust anything they say - no disrespect to them but they are vets and not animal travel advisors.
Bumping this thread as this latest guidance was published yesterday.