The UK Ministry responsible for animal welfare is called DEFRA
(Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs)
Dogs and cats from some parts of the world are allowed into the UK without quarantine, if they meet the following conditions:
1. Your pet must be microchipped with an ISO chip.
2. Rabies vaccination after the chip is inserted. The chip number must by shown on the certificate.
3. Blood test for rabies antibodies 30 days later, sent to a DEFRA approved laboratory.
4. If the result is satisfactory, your pet may enter the UK without going into quarantine (six months after the blood sample was taken).
(It is vital that the above steps are carried out in this order, otherwise your pet will not qualify to enter the UK under PETS).
During the six months prior to arrival in the UK your pet must have remained in a qualifying PETS country.
You may bring your pet into the UK from any one of the approved countries even if the qualifying date has not yet been reached, but s/he will have to go into quarantine for the "balance" of the six months period after the blood sample was taken. So, for example, if the blood sample was taken on 24th June, but you need to bring/send your pet into the UK in September, s/he would have to go into quarantine for about 3 months (until 24th December).
At St Andrews, we accept pets in quarantine for any period from 24 hours to the full six months.
In order to ensure a trouble-free entry to the UK and Early Release for your pet we can:
Your pet might have qualified for PETS but there is no "approved" airline route, (ie. your chosen airline is not able to accept your pet because they are not participating in the scheme). In this case we can collect your pet from the UK airport of arrival, and arrange for his/her "Early Release" from quarantine within 24-48 hours. We will carefully check all documentation before you send your pet and also arrange for tick and tapeworm treatments to be administered (if these have not been carried out before your pet's departure).
Broadly speaking the following countries are participants:
For a comprehensive list of approved countries, and other relevant information on PETS and quarantine, please contact DEFRA
Pet Travel Scheme - "PETS" Helpline: + 44 (0) 870 241 1710
DEFRA has announced that there are no plans to extend the PETS scheme to any more countries/regions. For all these areas the quarantine period remains at six months.
Please feel free to contact St Andrews Kennels for help and advice
Telephone 01403 741248