Grove Vets in Ballymena help lots of pet owners to secure passports for their pets. Legislation has changed over the past few months and information about the pet travel scheme has been updated. Grove Vets explain the changes on their blog, and we have copied this below for any pet owners who are planning to travel with their pets in the future.
Photo Credit: Lace + Bobble; Creative Commons
Grove Vets Ballymena – Pet Passports
In the past few months the pet travel scheme has changed. The pet travel scheme allows people to take their dog, cat or ferret in and out of the UK without needed to place their pet in quarantine. Some changes have recently been made in order to make it more secure for owners and officials.
The changes include:
- a new minimum age of 12 weeks before a pet can be vaccinated against rabies
- new pet passports will include laminated strips and a requirement for more contact details to be provided by the vet issuing the document and certifying the veterinary treatments
- a new requirement for all member states in the EU to carry out checks on their borders (the UK already checks all pets coming into the country through approved routes)
- a tighter definition of non-commercial movement which will mean owners who cannot travel with a pet when they enter the EU, must do so within 5 days; owners can still authorise another person to travel with their pet, but again the pet and authorised person must travel within 5 days of each other
- All pets are still required to have a microchip which confirms the animal’s identity. Existing passports will remain valid for the lifetime of the pet or until all treatment spaces have been filled on the document. All pet passports issued by vets from 29 December 2014 will be in the new format.
If you are wishing to travel with your pet this summer then get in touch with Grove Vets in Ballymena who will give you all the information necessary to help you to arrange a passport for your pet.
