Changes to the Pet Travel Scheme

cinderellacomplex · 4 November 2011 at 7:11PM

Apologies if this has already been posted, I just wanted to make sure that interested people were aware of the impending changes to the Pet Travel Scheme and of the current petition against these changes. I'm not saying that you should/should not sign this petition, just hoping to increase awareness in case people find out about it too late. You can make up your own minds as to how you feel about it

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/18102

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/

Frugalista · 4 November 2011 at 7:22PM

Hmmm! :think: Not entirely sure yet how I feel about this - there are advantages and disadvantages to the new ruling.

It is worth noting, though, that the creator of the e-petition, Meg Purnell-Carpenter, is the proprietor of a large quarantine kennels and import/export business

.

cinderellacomplex · 4 November 2011 at 7:30PM

Which could mean that she is invested in it for the wrong reasons, indeed :P I wasn't actually aware of that, though without having known I personally decided that I felt that the advantages did not outweigh the disadvantages... I'd rather have a safer system that was slightly more inconvenient than take a risk for the sake of saving a few months of planning, which only matters if an animal needs to be moved at particularly short notice.

Frugalista · 4 November 2011 at 7:54PM

Don't get me wrong, Meg is a lovely, helpful, knowlegeable lady and I have used her quarantine kennels, in the past, to bring new bloodlines into the UK.

However, I do feel she has a vested interest. She was also a vociferous campaigner against the original (very successful) Pet Passport scheme.

cjmumto2 · 5 November 2011 at 10:43PM

I won't be signing and I used to run a quarantine kennels in France. 6 months is a load of rubbish and why the poor dogs are kept in solitary confinement in a horrible kennel is just not on. A blood test and a rabies jab is more than suffcient i am sure the only people who will sign this are those who make money out of the systerm ie vets and kennels.

froggy27_2 · 6 November 2011 at 4:36PM

I certainly won't sign her petition as I indend to take my lovely dog with us on holidays in France... all the requirements will be fulfil and the vaccinations up to date...quarantine always seemed a tough and cruel option for pets.

cinderellacomplex · 6 November 2011 at 6:59PM

Hmm the changes don't really affect quarantine, it is just a change from having to wait 6 months (at home in the original country) after the rabies vaccination to waiting only 21 days (at home) before letting the animal enter the UK. The worry is that the 21 days is not long enough for any symptoms of rabies to become apparent. I believe that animals that had not been vaccinated would still need to be quarantined under either rule.

cjmumto2 · 6 November 2011 at 7:13PM

Therefore it does change the quranantine, as some people need to leave sooner than 6 months, sometimes it was 8 months from start to finish so the pets had to stay behind or be quarantined whilst they wait. Now it means if you decide to move back to your home country you can do so in 3 weeks. Or have I misunderstood?

WillowCat · 7 November 2011 at 8:59AM

My two cats already have their passports/rabies vacs, so the actual changes mentioned won't have any effect on me.

However I'm fuming that DEFRA say :

"These rules will change on 1 January 2012 when the UKbrings its procedures into line with the European Union."

When they still keep the requirement for the pet to only travel on approved routes with approved carriers. As far as I'm aware, only the UK and Eire have this requirement; even Sweden, who has quite stringent requirements regarding ticks/worm treatmentetc do allow travel in your own transport.

I'm not rich, but I do own a modest yacht. My budget for a fortnights holiday in France would be about £500. If I were to take the cats with me (they are quite happy on the boat!) it would cost the same again to put them in a cattery in France, sail home, get the ferry over with a car, pick up cats, take them to the vet for their tick treatment, get the ferry home etc.

So despite their passports, we all now stay in the UK.

Shoshannah · 3 December 2011 at 10:46PM

The changes mean that pets will no longer need to be blood tested after their rabies vaccination before they can go in and out of the country.

Under the current rules, dogs and cats require a blood test after the rabies vaccine to check antibody levels and ensure they have responded properly to the vaccine. Animals that don't are revaccinated and retested, and are only allowed a passport once they pass the blood test.

From 2012, the blood test will no longer be necessary.

Working in the industry, I find these changes a little alarming - I have seen dogs and cats fail the blood test, who under the new system will be allowed to travel into the UK without adequate protection against rabies.

Let's hope rabies isn't introduced back into the country after all these years.

Changes to the Pet Travel Scheme

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