Travelling with a Dog and Cat – A Guide to Animal Health Certificates
Authored by Hollie Furey
Travelling to an EU country or Northern Ireland?
Your pet needs:
a microchip
a valid rabies vaccination. If your pet has not been vaccinated against rabies before then it needs to be vaccinated at least 21 days before you are due to travel. You will need a document showing proof of the rabies vaccination. The rabies vaccine that we use at Horner Vets is valid for up to 3 years, so your pet won’t need a repeat rabies vaccine if you are wanting to travel next year!
an Animal Health Certificate (AHC), or a valid pet passport that’s accepted in the country you’re travelling to. We can produce an AHC at Horner vets.
The purpose of an AHC is the same as the pet passport system. We aim to prevent the spread of two key diseases, rabies and the parasite Echinococcus Multilocularis. Rabies vaccinations prevent the development of the disease should your pet be unfortunate enough to be infected by the lyssavirus responsible for rabies, whilst E. Multilocularis is controlled with good worming programs.
Important Conditions with your Animal Health Certificates:
An Animal Health Certificate (AHC) is a document that is required to take a dog, cat or ferret from the UK to the EU. The AHC needs to be issued by an Official Veterinarian (OV) no more than 10 days before your departure date, and it is valid for one trip to the EU only.
Up to 5 pets can go on the same AHC, and the pets must not be travelling for commercial reasons.
From the day the Animal Health Certificate is issued, you have 10 days to depart for your trip. The Animal Health Certificate is valid for 4 months of onward travel within the EU.
If you have a dog, you will need a tapeworm treatment if you’re travelling directly to Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway or Malta. You will need to take your dog to a vet in the UK between 1 and 5 days (24 and 120 hours) before you are due to arrive in that country for the vet to administer tapeworm treatment and record this in the AHC.
We advise that you check the government website for requirements of the country you’re travelling to before you travel.
The routine annual vaccinations are not required to travel to the EU, however we would advise to keep these up to date anyway.
You cannot use a pet passport issued in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). To travel from the UK you need an Animal Health Certificate (which we can issue at Horner vets).
If you are not travelling with your pet you can still be issued an Animal Health Certificate provided you are due to be reunited with your pet within 5 days of their travel date.
If your pet is travelling alone with a pet transport company, you will need to provide details of the transport company before the AHC appointment takes place. It is compulsory that you will be reunited with your pet within 5 days of their departure date, and the pet transport company will need to carry documentation that proves this.
If your pet is travelling with a named friend or family member, then you will need to provide the vet issuing the AHC with a written declaration that you are happy for the named person to travel with your pet. Again, it is compulsory that you will be reunited with your pet within 5 days of their departure date, and the named person travelling with your pet must carry documentation that proves this.
Coming home
A lot of attention is spent on leaving the country, but coming back is equally important!
Returning requirements are set to prevent the spread of E. Multilocularis. To confirm this has been done a veterinarian will need to treat your pet for Echinococcus Multilocularis. between 24 and 120 hours before entering Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).
This must be certified by a Veterinarian. Therefore, a Vet visit, in the country where you are, is needed to complete the AHC before your return.
You do not need to treat your dog for tapeworm if you’re coming directly to Great Britain from Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malta or Norway.