How to get round the UK quarantine law

birds

People who want to bring their animals from India to UK are faced with the 6 month quarantine law. For many the cost to leave the pet in a quarantine kennel is so prohibitive (between UK pounds 350 and 650 per month!) that they may decide to leave their animals behind.

However there is a solution. It is not an easy one nor exactly legal but it is cheaper and better than putting the animal in a kennel for six months.

Basically, the dog or cat needs to be placed somewhere in continental Europe (the Netherlands or Germany are easiest) for a while and in the meantime a pet passport needs to be arranged. To get a pet passport costs about Euro 15 to 25 and it can be provided by most vets.

To enter the UK or Ireland, it is necessary to show that the pet has anti-bodies against rabies in its blood, so a blood test will need to be done. The cost depend on the country and vet but should be between Euro 35 and 100. From 1st July 2010 this requirement will cease to exist which will make things even easier and cheaper.

The passport also needs to show that the pet has been treated against ticks and tapeworm but this is a routine thing that any vet can do for a normal consultancy fee.

The pet also need to get a chip something which all vets in Europe can provide and nowadays some vets in India can do it too.

In the pet passport the pet will be described as coming from the European country where it is at that moment, so no mentioning of India will be made. With that passport it can travel to the UK without having to go into quarantine.

It is easiest if you have some friends in continental Europe who could look after your pets for the time but otherwise it is possible to help arranging for a foster home somewhere were good people look after them.

Of course this is somewhat bending the rules and it is up to the people how they feel about it. I personally have no problem with it as long as you know the dogs have been vaccinated properly.

For more information see:
http://europa.eu/abc/travel/pets/index_en.htm



P.S. I hope the moderators will not ban me for advising on how to sail around legal requirements.

__________________
Of the estimated 500 million dogs in the world, approximately 75% are strays, of which about 25 million live in India.

Nick-H

Hmmm... UK quarantine laws have successfully kept the country free of rabies. I'd like to see it stay that way.

birds

Everybody likes to keep the UK free of rabies and that is why pets get vaccinated in India and Europe. Europe accepts Indian rabies certification while the UK does not and there is no good reason for it.

European countries that do accept the Indian rabies certification have remained rabies free for many years now (Finland (1991), The Netherlands (1991), Italy (1997), Switzerland (1998), France (2000), Belgium, Luxembourg (2001) and the Czech Republic (2004) have been declared as being officially free of rabies by the WHO.)

I really believe that the UK runs virtually no risk with the method I recommend. Firstly all pets leaving India are all vaccinated against rabies as this is a requirement to export the animal. Secondly the blood will be tested again for rabies anti-bodies once in Europe.

You can be sure that a pet lover who goes through the trouble and expense of bringing over his/her pet will have made certain that the pet is properly vaccinated, especially since the cost of rabies vaccination is totally insignificant at INR 50. In any case most will have had their pet for longer than 6 months so have been able to observe the animal.

The UK runs a much larger rabies risk by the puppies they import from East European puppy mills for their puppy trade.

Nick, with all due respect, I believe the argument of keeping the UK free of rabies is a bit old hat by now and especially in this context.

Nick-H

Birds, what you say makes sense, and I would never claim a fraction of your knowledge on this subject. I was just concerned that it might allow animals that had not been inoculated into UK, but, if it is really certain that the animal is inoculated before leaving India, I am happy to defer to you on this.

birds

Thanks Nick :-).

If it prevents some animals ending up in the pound in India (and thus dead) and people can stay united with their pets, I am happy :-).

edwardseco

Where did India get the idea of "red tape" from.?

gweilo

I'm happy to read about this creative solution as I was worried about the prospect of moving to the UK from India with our 3 dogs.

birds

Let me know if you need help with foster families.

gweilo

wow, will do! thx!

anar

my dog had to go into quarantine in the uk for six months when i took her from greece to the uk (this was in the mid-80s, when the uk did not allow animals from anywhere to enter the country without undergoing quarantine for six months). apart from the heartache and trauma involved, the cost involved was prohibitive. i was told by those who knew that there were those with vested interests who did not want to see the quarantine laws to be changed although studies had proved a dog did not need to be in quarantine for longer than three months to be declared rabies-free. it's good to know laws have been changed to make it less painful for (some) pet-owners.

i wonder if a normal street dog from india would pass off as a dog from europe...

gweilo

I could try putting them in berets or lederhosen and teaching them sundry European accents

birds

I am in France at the moment and just saw a mongrel that could come strait from the gutters in Delhi .

Anyway, I doubt that UK government officials are well versed with this special temple breed that comes from Central France or this little Greek Island or from the Northern coast of Portugal .

Afterall, nobody knew what a Portuguese water dog was before Obama had one.

I am sure we can slip in the occasional Indian dog.

JyotiM

Dear "Birds" ---
I am epecially interested in your suggestions on how to enter UK via an EU country.
Recently, however, I was planning to go to Spain and found out that a rabies blood titre test was required for entering any EU country from India. And it takes 90 days
Are you then suggesting that one should get that done, wait the 90 days, enter EU, then go on to UK?
Where in India is there an EU approved vet clinic to administer the rabies blood titre test? It can't be just any vet so I am told.
Thanks a lot.

birds

Hi Jyoti,

The regulations are slightly different per EU country. For France they even require the blood to be tested in France! But for the Netherlands and Germany these rules are less strict. For those countries you can use a laboratory in Tamil Nadu. Possibly the lab in Tamil Nadu might also be sufficient for Spain, you would have to check. For your reference I have attached a scanned version of the document from the TN lab that I got for a dog last year.

The reason why they say 90 days is that after a rabies vaccination it takes 90 days to see whether the vaccine has indeed resulted in anti-rabies-bodies in the blood. It always has. I think only 1 in a 300,000 does not result in sufficient anti-bodies. So officially the test should be done only after 90 days.

Basically if you have little time you are best off to bring the through the Netherlands. If you would do that you can ask for assistance at Foundation AAI (www.stichtingaai.nl). Of course it is all easier if you can plan ahead while you are still in India and get it all done.

Hope this helps!

Attached Thumbnails

 

JyotiM

"Birds," thank you for the latest info. Where can I find the EU approved labs located in India? You mentioned Tamil Nadu and Pune, how do I find a listing of all approved labs?
One more item to clarify: are you saying that a rabies 90 day blood titre test is not required to enter the Netherlands from India? I didn't know this. When I researched, I thought ALL EU countries required this test. If so, then what exactly is needed to enter the Netherlands - just a rabies cert and a microchip? My dog has traveled from India (Indian born) to the US and back again - so still has the official US APHIS form (was a 3 yr rabies vaccination, still valid)
Jyoti