Thinking of moving a pet to the UK?
Moving abroad with pets to UK can be scary. Here at Pets on the Move, we have over 25 years’ experience in helping our customers move a pet to the UK caring for pets of all shapes and sizes through our family run boarding facilities and well-established pet relocation services. We understand that pets are well loved parts of the family and are here to make their moves as easy and stress free as we possibly can.
Pet Travel guide for the UK
Our Animal reception centres based at both Glasgow International Airport and Newcastle International airport are approved by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to carry out the necessary health paperwork checks for clearance when your pet arrives from their destination country.
We will help you travel to the UK with pets
The whole process from the flight arriving to releasing your pet back to yourself can take around 2 hours, subject to paperwork being correct and originals being present at the time of import. This time includes the pet being brought over to our animal reception centre from the aircraft, all necessary health paperwork checks being carried out and clearance time.
On arrival at our animal reception centres pets are let out their travel kennels into a large kennel run with access to clean water. Both our animal reception centres are equipped with numerous large kennels to accommodate your pets so they are comfortable and can stretch their legs after their travels. Whilst we are waiting on customs clearance, the inside of your pet’s travel kennel will be wiped down & cleaned with disinfectant, all bedding that travelled with your pet will be bagged which we can bin on your request.
UK Pet travel scheme & pet import requirements for the UK
Importing pets to Glasgow or Newcastle can be done without quarantine, regulations differ depending on the departure country.
Requirements for moving with pets to the UK
Your pet must travel as manifested cargo meaning they will be travelling as a registered shipment and not part of your luggage allowance.
Your pet must travel with a pet approved carrier and route.
You or someone you have nominated on your behalf must travel within 5 days of your pet
You cannot import any more than 5 pets per person unless you are attending a competition or show, in which you must complete a declaration to confirm this.
Your pet must be microchipped and scanned prior to their rabies vaccination and any import veterinary work. These dates must be recorded on your pet’s travel documentation.
Your pet must be vaccinated against rabies. They must be at least 12 weeks old at the time of the vaccination and must wait 21 days prior to arrival in the case of the primary rabies vaccination or most recent booster if there has been a vaccination break. If your pet has continuously kept up to date with their rabies vaccine and no dates have lapsed, then the 21-day rule does not apply.
If travelling from an unlisted third country, your pet must have a rabies serology blood test carried out. Blood must be drawn at least 30 days after the relevant rabies vaccination and sent to an approved rabies serology laboratory. Pets must have a result greater than or equal to 0.5 IU/ml and can only travel 3 calendar months from the sample date.
Dogs entering the UK must be treated for tapeworms between 24 and 120 hours prior to arrival. The treatment must be a licensed product containing praziquantel (not required for pets travelling directly from Finland, Norway, Malta & Ireland).
Documentation for moving your pet to the UK
Pets entering the UK from the EU must travel with a valid EU pet passport where the rabies vaccination was administered in the EU. The passport must be fully completed, it must contain; owner’s details and signature, pets details, vet details including date of issue & stamp (if a new style passport), microchip details including date of implant/scanning which must be prior to the rabies vaccination and rabies vaccination dates and batch information.
Pets entering the UK from a listed or unlisted 3rd country can either travel on an EU passport (only if the current valid rabies vaccine was administered in the EU) or an Annex IV health certificate. The health certificate must be endorsed by the relevant government veterinary authority and is valid 10 days from endorsement.
All pets travelling on the Pet travel scheme must also have a non-commercial declaration completed stating that the pets travelling is not subject to sale or transfer of ownership.
Pet Quarantine when importing a pet to the UK
If the above rules are not followed then your pet can potentially be sent to quarantine for up to 4 months, Pets on the Move can legally hold pets at our animal reception centres for a maximum of 48 hours. We require all documentation to be sent to us prior to arrival so we can check for any errors and avoid quarantine at all costs. Pre alerts for arrivals should be sent to us no later than 48 hours prior to arrival.
Useful links
https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad
https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement/approved-labs_en
