Dogs, France and vets ??

[Mel B]

You can read up about it here:

 

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/

 

We've been doing it since 2005 so if you've go any specific questions just ask. In a nutshell you need to:

 

First - get your dog vaccinated & micro-chipped. It must be at least 6 months old I believe and after the initial rabies vaccination you have to wait a couple of weeks for the blood test to be done. Upon receipt of the results hopefully your dog has got sufficient antibodies in it's system to be 'passed'. You then have to wait 6 months from the date of the blood test before you can bring your dog back into the UK - you can take it out before this time but can't bring it back. Cost around £130-£150 which includes the passport paperwork itself. It is also a good idea to check on here about any other things you should have your dog vaccinated for or watch out for, depending on where you intend to go, just to be safe.

 

Second - book your ferry/chunnel and pay the cost of taking your dog abroad and bringing it back, usually around £30.00 return.

 

Third - when you've had your holiday abroad and want to come back you need to go to see a vet between 24 and 48 hours before your return to the UK to get it checked and tick/flea treatment carried out. Cost is around 30-40 euros - could be more if you have a very large dog. In additoin to the standard requirements, we generally get some heart worm tablets from our own vet (it's more prolific in some European countries) to give to the dogs to make sure they don't get anything nasty.

 

Fourth - upon going to get your ferry/chunnel back, you will have to show the dog's passport and scan the micro-chip to ensure the dog you are bringing back is the correct one and has been correctly checked/treated by a vet.

 

Fifth - make sure that you keep your dog vaccinated within the allotted timescale each year/2 years or whatever (check with your vet which vaccine they've used) - missing this by 1 day means you would have to start the whole costly process again.

 

Sixth - stop worrying! Lots of people do this and it is only a very small miniscule number of people who have problems with it.

 

Just one thing though, if you've not had a dog before think long and hard - a dog is lovely company but can take up a fair bit of time and you won't be able to just go out for the day into town and leave it for hours on end. I love ours to bits but there are occasional times when I would like to have the 'freedom' to just do as I please.