CHANGES TO PETS SCHEME

Good question--I don't know. I never thought about it until it became an issue that I might need someone else to "courier my cat!"


Agghh my brain hurts!

The requirements - as listed on the website are that your pet travel on an approved route. No mention is made of you accompanying your pet, except in the leaflet/PDF about the changes being put in place in 2012 (however, the website lists those steps as well, and makes no mention of it, which makes me think it's a typo).

That makes sense--thanks for putting me at ease.

This would be so much easier if the QM2 didn't completely bollox up their scheme for transporting cats last year. Original plan was to move all my worldly posessions (which ain't that much) and my cat on the boat...

but now they've upped the price for a cat to $1,000 and no availability until November 2012.

I've posted a new thread detailing the PETS Process as it will be in 2012.

I also called DEFRA (just 'cause I'm bored and it's Friday ). Per their advice:
- You do not have to accompany your pet, nor will you have to in 2012
- If your pet does end up in quarantine, it would just be for the 21 days maximum

Two words:

YOU

ROCK!


Thanks!

(OK 3 words)

Thanks, equestrianerd.  I was about to have an unexpected freak out moment.

Me too...I just found this site hoping my questions would be answered with this PETS thing because I just can't make sense out any government websites, no matter what the country!!

Just to add that I am in the middle of the process and won't be moving until next year but the state USDA vet (Georgia) for me won't even think about the new process until it becomes official.  So if you are planning to move right after Jan 1 - you might not be able to get them to sign off on the forms with the new standards until a bit after that. 

Would it be correct to assume then that for animals already here (and up to date on rabies vax), that they could go to another EU country and re-enter the UK without having to bother with tick/tapeworm before re-entry?

Would it be correct to assume then that for animals already here (and up to date on rabies vax), that they could go to another EU country and re-enter the UK without having to bother with tick/tapeworm before re-entry?

DEFRA's site says:

Under the new rules there is no requirement for pets to be treated for ticks before their arrival in the UK.

The UK is currently in discussion with the European Commission about continued controls on tapeworm for dogs entering the UK.

Qualitative risk assessments have been carried out on the risk of incursion of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis and various tick borne diseases.

So it looks like you'd still need to do tapeworm for dogs (doesn't say anything about cats ) until the rules get changed with the European Commission, but post-Jan 1 you wouldn't need to do the tick treatment.

Be aware....DEFRA may not require that you accompany your pet, but the airline might, and during the summer months, even the origination airport may be restricted. I ended up driving my husband and a cat from Richmond VA to Atlanta in June to fly on Delta....because we had to 'originate' in a gateway city, and hubby and cat had to be on the same flight.

Further - certain UK airports do NOT accept unaccompanied animals. That isn't DEFRA...it's the airport. So double and triple check before you plan to go.

Be aware....DEFRA may not require that you accompany your pet, but the airline might, and during the summer months, even the origination airport may be restricted. I ended up driving my husband and a cat from Richmond VA to Atlanta in June to fly on Delta....because we had to 'originate' in a gateway city, and hubby and cat had to be on the same flight.

Further - certain UK airports do NOT accept unaccompanied animals. That isn't DEFRA...it's the airport. So double and triple check before you plan to go.

Thank you for that additional info vadio--certainly important. Thank god they changed the law to 21 days and I can worry about this next year...just too much to do right now.

I'm hoping I would be able to get my father to accompany my cat on a flight when he comes to visit. My only other option would be to fly back myself then get and Icelandair one-way ticket back (it's approved route from JFK-LHR) and escort the cat...

I really don't understand this "approved route" nonsense. Why in the world does DEFRA/UK care how you get to the airport? This whole specific airline but only from this city-to this city seem ridiculous.

Can anybody explain the logic behind it? Thanks.

I really don't understand this "approved route" nonsense. Why in the world does DEFRA/UK care how you get to the airport? This whole specific airline but only from this city-to this city seem ridiculous.

Can anybody explain the logic behind it? Thanks.

My guess is that it's thanks to airlines lobbying for it. Some airlines allow pets as excess baggage (which is significantly cheaper than cargo), but because of the approved routes, you have to pay more to do cargo. The pets are in the same area of the plane whether they fly as excess baggage or cargo, so the difference is just $$$$.

You can get around it (Icelandair is approved and only charges excess baggage fees; some people have flown in to France and traveled via a non-air route into the UK; QM2; etc), but it's a lot of hassle.

You can get around it (Icelandair is approved and only charges excess baggage fees; some people have flown in to France and traveled via a non-air route into the UK; QM2; etc), but it's a lot of hassle.

Well my mom's boyfriend lives in France and she goes there regularly, so it's not a problem at all for her to take my cat to France, then from there (can you chunnel a cat? I wonder--I'm going to look that up) take him to the U.K.

My original plan was QM2, and I'm still taking the QM2 (for luggage/shipping reasons, no limit on what you can take as long as it fits in your room), but now they charge $1,000 per cat and the first available kennel space is November, 2012.

Hence I will have to have the cat flown on a separate trip no matter what.

Well my mom's boyfriend lives in France and she goes there regularly, so it's not a problem at all for her to take my cat to France, then from there (can you chunnel a cat? I wonder--I'm going to look that up) take him to the U.K.

You can use the Eurotunnel, or there are a handful of ferry companies/routes that you can use (though I think I remember hearing that that's not the best plan as your cat would have to stay in your car, which ends up on a separate level of the ferry from you, which would probably suck for the cat).