Ten Years Of Safe Pet Travel

After a decade of driving dogs, caravanning cats and ferrying ferrets, in which 660,000 pet journeys were made using pet passports, the UK’s Pet Travel Scheme is celebrating its 10th birthday. It was 28 February 2000 when owners were first able to travel to and from the UK without placing their pets in quarantine, as long as they fulfilled certain important disease control criteria. A pug called Frodo Baggins was the first animal to travel with a pet passport and since then the UK has shown itself to be animal friendly with around 60 per cent of the pets travelling under the scheme belonging to UK owners. Animals from Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands make up about another 20 per cent. The scheme was set up in response to growing demand from owners to travel with their pets and the declining risk of disease allowed these changes to be made. In 2004 the European Union followed the UK’s lead and introduced a similar system for all Member States which has also proved very successful. The success of the scheme is fully demonstrated by the fact that it has not been associated with a single case of rabies. Animal Welfare Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: “The Pet Travel Scheme was set up to enable British animal owners to enjoy travelling with their pets when they need to. “The success of the scheme shows that responsible pet ownership makes a large contribution to managing disease risks effectively.” As rabies in Europe steadily reduces, and with EU harmonised rules continuing to successfully control rabies, Defra is monitoring developments in vaccination and disease management in the EU and round the world to ensure that the UK has the most effective and proportionate controls possible as circumstances continue to change.

1. The Pet Travel Scheme was based on recommendations in the Kennedy Report, produced in 1998, which noted that rabies incidence in European States and many other countries had reduced to very low levels. In fact many countries had worked hard to successfully eradicate the disease altogether. Just as importantly, improvements in rabies vaccinations meant it was now a highly effective alternative to our traditional disease control method of quarantine.
2. Rabies incidence across Europe has continued to reduce significantly in recent years, in large part due to EU-sponsored vaccination programmes. For example, across EU Member States there were 2,679 recorded cases in domestic animals in 1990, and 251 in 2008. Apart from isolated incidents, rabies is now confined to a few Member States in the east of the EU, largely Romania and Latvia (Source: WHO Rabies Bulletin Europe).
3. Guidance on the Pet Movements System and on the best way to travel responsibly with pets is available at: www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/index.htm

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