(Tampa, FL—Oct. 28, 2016) – Britain’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs clamped down on pet importation today without notifying other country animal export regulators. DEFRA quarantined six dogs entering Britain from the U.S. through Heathrow.
“We were assisting with one of those moves,” said Walter M. Woolf, veterinarian founder of Air Animal Pet Movers. “This is a very sudden, surprising, and unusual move by DEFRA. We went to bat for our client with DEFRA authorities and will continue assisting her through this unexpected event.”
If pets do not meet the entry requirements, DEFRA requires a 21-day quarantine, a second rabies vaccination, kennel cough vaccination and a repeat internal parasite treatment. Air Animal is picking-up the tab in this particular case. We will also help all Air Animal clients adapt their move preparations to reduce the potential for unnecessary quarantine.
There was no requirement to supply history of two certified rabies vaccinations before today’s quarantine order. Now there is. Based on instructions we received from DEFRA, Air Animal will assure its clients relocating to the United Kingdom follow these steps in this order:
- Microchip the pet for identification purposes with a 15-digit ISO chip
- Certify a current rabies vaccination. If your pet enters the UK with a current 3-year rabies vaccination which is more than one year old, then additional documentation will be required. Please inquire for details.
- At least 21 days after the most recent rabies vaccination, book an appointment with their veterinarian to issue an international pet health certificate. The veterinary appointment for the international health certificate must be within 10 days of flight arrival in the UK.
- The next step is USDA export endorsement.
- Dogs must be treated for internal parasites within 24-120 hours before flight arrival.
- There are no requirements for treating dogs, cats or ferrets for external parasites.
- To protect pets during the upcoming winter months, Air Animal strongly recommends dogs receive a kennel cough vaccine or have an up-to-date vaccine recorded in the pet’s health record or Pet Passport.
“We’re making the kennel cough vaccine recommendation in the unlikely event pets are quarantined during this winter-time UK rule change,” Woolf added.
The European Union often follows DEFRA and aligns their pet import rules. That practice may change with the UK pulling out of the EU under BREXIT. Air Animal will closely monitor the situation and post updates here on the developing situation.
