Earlier this year (2019) we were speaking about the future of pet travel after EU exit an the UK leaves the EU.
On Thursday 6th juni 2019 we will relaunch our EU Exit pet travel communications campaign, reminding pet owners and businesses to revisit our official advice [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit] on how to prepare for travelling with pets between the UK and the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Pet travel after 31 october 2019
This is because pet owners planning to travel on or immediately after 31 October 2019 would need to contact their vet at least four months in advance of their travel date in order to prepare for all scenarios. Therefore, those wishing to travel to the EU on 1 November 2019 would need to visit their vet by the end of June at the latest.
Ahead of the launch of our customer-facing campaign, we would like to share our plans for the upcoming communications activity and recap on the health and documentation regulations that may occur if the UK leaves and becomes an unlisted third country under the Pet Travel Scheme.
How to Prepare
As our guidance details, if the UK leaves the EU on 31 October 2019 with no agreement in place, pet owners would need to ensure their pet has a microchip, an up-to-date rabies vaccination and a blood test to demonstrate sufficient levels of rabies antibody. The blood test needs to be carried out a minimum of 30 days after its last rabies vaccination (whether that’s a booster or initial vaccination) and a minimum of three calendar months before travel. A current EU pet passport issued in the UK will not be valid for travel to the EU. Instead, pet owners would need to apply an Animal Health Certificate no more than 10 days before travel.
Until the UK leaves the EU, pets can continue to travel to the EU under the current pet travel rules using the current EU pet passport.
Pet Travel EU Exit Communications Relaunch
Our campaign is targeted through media, social media and stakeholder engagement, such as this, and we would greatly appreciate your ongoing support in helping us share this information with your customers in order to ensure they are fully prepared for when the UK leaves the EU. Pet travel after EU exit is different and we would like to have everybody informed.
To help us amplify these messages, I am including this Dropbox Showcase: https://shwca.se/PetTravel so that you can access relevant digital assets, including an animation, social media statics, a poster and flyer as well as recommended social media posts and hashtags. This link will open in recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Please feel free to use these through your own channels to reach pet owners. We would also welcome any retweets or sharing of our content on social media.