Pet Passport ..... have I left it too late?

[Delia Bryce]

Hi

 

I have trawled the net and am still a tad confused ...... My question is we hope to go to France with Murphy late August and I wonder does he have to wait a minimum of 6mths before travel after the rabies vac..... We are going on holiday and he will only hopefully be out of the UK for 8/9 days ...... I hope I have misunderstood what I have read and that he can go sooner .....I will call the vets in the morning but if one of you can advise before then I can either admit defeat or perhaps smile knowing we are off on holibags and I dont need to leave my boy behind.......

 

Thanks

[John Tuer]

Hi Delia, 

My wife is a vet who deals with pet passports regularly.

 

She says the following: - 

 

After you have had your rabies shot you need to have a blood test to ensure he is vaccinated to an appropriate strength. This is usually taken 2-3 weeks after the shot. 

 

Usually they can go abroad at any time but this is subject to local regulations, (For example, Sweden is quite funny with their requirements in that they need the test to be 4 mths after the rabies shot for admittance.) 

 

Assuming he passes, your boy can then re-enter the UK 6 months after the date that the blood was taken assuming it was successful. 

 

Hope this is helpful and the dates work for you!

 

John  & Eva

[Linda Baldry]

You have to wait 6 months from the date of the blood test before you can go to France if you intend to re-enter the UK. So it all depends on when you had the Rabies blood test done. If you were going to stay in France, then you could go any time.

Hope this helps, regards Linda.

[Nicole Wilson]

Yes, you need to wait exactly six months to the day on which you had the blood tested. And for re-entry to the UK after your holidays you need to go to the vet in France 24-48 hours before travel and have Murphy wormed and treated against ticks. This will be rigurously checked both in France and sometimes also back in the UK at customs. I find that leaving the UK is rather easy (practically no checks) but coming back into the UK is much more time-consuming.

[John Tuer]

We take our boys regularly to Sweden.

Since the demise of the Newcastle - Gothenburg ferry we have had to go on the Hull Rotterdam route and drive up.  

To be frank, they couldnt care less in Rotterdam. Last time we came back the microchips werent even scanned and the paperwork barely looked at! 

 

Scary really!

[Nicole Wilson]

We've used the Rosyth-Zeebrugge ferry before and they were indeed less fussy in Zeebrugge but Calais is really quite strict - at least the few times we've gone through there. And we've had double-checks in Dover afterwards to ensure they had done everything properly in Calais!

[Ossian]

I didnt think that Rosyth had a licence for moving dogs Nocile. How did you get yours out? Did you have to come back via Dover?

[Nicole Wilson]

We used to go on the Superfast ferry from Rosyth to Zeebrugge and back. It was an approved PETS route by sea. Superfast has since stopped their service and has been replaced by Norfolkline and as far as I am aware you can still take your dogs on that route but they have to stay in the kennels under deck for 20 hours - as opposed to Superfast who let you take them into your cabin. So we now take the Dover Calais route to avoid that 20 hour ordeal.

[Ossian]

Remember Nicole John is right in that the test has to be at the right strength and you can be several times to and from to get the right result. so although you have to waiut six months its from the time of the acceptable blood test NOT the actual shot.

 

Its March you go in Aug. I think you are too late but check with DEFRA

[Nicole Wilson]

Yes, that is exactly what I said - six months to the day on which the blood was tested. And this is on the assumption that the test was good enough.

I imported two dogs to the UK and we travel to the continent regularly so I am fairly familiar with the procedure.

[Carmel Murphy]

As far as I know, the blood sample has to be taken 30 days after the Rabies vaccination has been given! Then, if the blood test is good, and your dog is protected against rabies, you then cannot re-enter the UK until 6 months after the blood test (if positive!)

I got Laoise vaccinated last Nov., but her blood test was not good, so had to re vaccinate and her 2nd blood test was good, so she can travel to Europe next Nov. with her new owners;o)) She originally was to travel to Europe for 2 weeks in June, but with the negative blood test this was not possible!!

[Delia Bryce]

Thanks everyone...... I blew it I guess but guess ........ :-)

I will do a rethink! Plan B .........