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Small Animal Care

PET PASSPORTS

The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) now enables dogs, cats and ferrets to return to the UK without quarantine, after travelling to an increasing number of destinations . If you are wanting to travel abroad with your companion we can guide you through the process, but be sure to allow enough time to complete all the stages detailed below - at the very least it takes 7 months from starting the scheme before your pet can re-enter the UK.

These are the stages that you must complete (in the stated order) to qualify for your pet to enter (or return to) the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS), avoiding quarantine:

  1. The animal must be microchipped
  2. Then vaccinated against rabies
  3. 3-4 weeks later a blood sample must be taken and sent to a European Union (EU) approved laboratory for testing. If the required level of antibodies is reached, the animal may enter (or return to) the UK 6 calendar months after the date that the blood test was taken, assuming all other rules of the Scheme are met.

If you then travel with your pet before returning to the UK, it must be treated by an authorised vet against ticks and tapeworm not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours before checking in with a PETS authorised carrier (on a PETS authorised route), for the journey that brings the pet into the UK. For more details see the Defra PETS page and feel free to enquire with one of our vets.