Many pet owners like to travel abroad on vacations. Some even have a second home in another country. These pet owners can travel with their pets to their preferred destination easily because of the ‘pet passport’ scheme.
The pet scheme allowed pet owners to take their pets to various places in the European Union with minimal bureaucracy and without requiring them to follow stressful quarantine rules.
However, the advent of Brexit forced Britons to adjust to a lot of changes.
What were the UK pet passport scheme rules before Brexit?
The UK was a part of the European Union until the start of 2021. During that time, the EU Pet Travel Scheme allowed pet owners to travel with their pets to and from any EU country if they had a valid EU passport for their pets that showed that they were up to date with vaccinations and were microchipped.
How did things change after Brexit?
Old pet passports became invalid in the EU from 1st January 2021. Since we left the European Union, it kept the UK’s Pet Travel Scheme out of its ‘Part One listed’ status, meaning you cannot enter any EU country with a pet that had a passport issued in the UK.
We are now under the ‘Part Two listed’ status. Although there is still no requirement for quarantine rules, we now have to follow tons of regulations if we want to take our pet abroad.
Under the new rules, you need to bring an Animal Health Certificate for pet travel to the EU or Northern Ireland from the UK.
What is an Animal Health Certificate?
An Animal Health Certificate is a document of proof that your pet has a microchip and has been vaccinated against rabies. Its paperwork involves many details like your pet’s breed, size, and age, information about its microchip, updated vaccination records, and details of tapeworm treatment if your pet previously had a problem with it.
Moreover, you need to keep in mind that your pet must be vaccinated at least 21 days before you travel. Therefore, you should start with the process early instead of hurrying at the last moment.
You must also remember that the Animal Health Certificate should be in the language of the destination where you are planning to travel.
How to obtain an Animal Health Certificate?
You need to obtain an Animal Health Certificate from a vet at least 10 days before traveling to the EU. This means you need to plan the appointment with a vet carefully if you want to abide by the guidelines. What if your local vet doesn’t issue Animal Health Certificates? In that case, you should ask for references and meet another vet to get the certificate as soon as possible.
