Pet Passport Spain

bob2oo7

Hi guys

Looking into moving to Spain and taking the madra with us

Booked in for his rabbies shot tomorrow, and he is already micro chipped etc

From what I undrstand, we leave for Spain, he cannot re-enter Ireland until 6 months after his blood tests return

Question... we are going to drive to Spain, Either Ferry to the UK or France, or maybe UK to Spain.. not sure yet, all depends on costs

What way do these countries operate with the passport, is he ok to go from UK, to France/Spain with the passport before the 6 months are up?

Basically is it only on re-entry to Ireland that this 6 month rule applies?

Thanks in advance

ISDW

bob2oo7 wrote: »

Hi guys

Looking into moving to Spain and taking the madra with us

Booked in for his rabbies shot tomorrow, and he is already micro chipped etc

From what I undrstand, we leave for Spain, he cannot re-enter Ireland until 6 months after his blood tests return

Question... we are going to drive to Spain, Either Ferry to the UK or France, or maybe UK to Spain.. not sure yet, all depends on costs

What way do these countries operate with the passport, is he ok to go from UK, to France/Spain with the passport before the 6 months are up?

Basically is it only on re-entry to Ireland that this 6 month rule applies?

Thanks in advance

As far as I'm aware, its re-entry to Ireland or the UK that has the 6 month rule. You can take the dog from here to the UK without a passport, thats not an issue, but to come back its the same as it is here, 6 months from results of blood test.

DoesNotCompute

*edit*

Maybe the Spanish Embajada can help?

http://www.maec.es/subwebs/Embajadas/Dublin/en/home/Paginas/postingHSW.aspx

Wisco

ISDW is correct- you can leave Ireland/UK but cannot re-enter for the 6 months after your blood test (because Ireland and the UK are rabies free). However, you should have no problem traveling to other European countries as maintaining a rabies free status is not an issue there.

murria

Hi just want to mention (as it might affect your dates if you want to come home) you can re-enter six months after the date of vaccination not date of return of blood tests.

We took our dog to Spain for a month last year it was very straightforward and the dog had a great time (so good we are taking him again this year). We travelled from Rosslare to Cherbourg which was the cheapest option at that time of year. I would like to go via UK from Portsmouth to Santander as you are arriving straight into Spain, but it is a lot more expensive.

Happy travels.

Wisco

murria wrote: »

Hi just want to mention (as it might affect your dates if you want to come home) you can re-enter six months after the date of vaccination not date of return of blood tests..

Sorry, but this is incorrect.
From the Dept of Agriculture's website:
"Your pet may enter Ireland only when at least six months has expired since a successful blood-test . This provision is to ensure that your pet is not incubating rabies.
If your pet has had a break in its vaccinations and has had to repeat the blood-test, six months must pass from the date of the most recent test before your pet can enter Ireland."

Murria, if you came back early you may just have gotten lucky as to the person who dealt with your case.

There is usually a difference of one month between these dates because the blood sample is drawn one month after vaccination, so if your travel dates are close, err on the side of caution and don't return before the 6 months are up AFTER BLOOD TESTS.

murria

Sorry, just re-read what I put there. I meant from the date of the blood test, not the date of the "return of the blood test".

ISDW

murria wrote: »

Sorry, just re-read what I put there. I meant from the date of the blood test, not the date of the "return of the blood test".

Sorry, I have always been told it is from the return of the blood test, as in the information from Dept of Ag it says "a successful blood test". It won't be apparent if it is successful or not until the results are back. I would recommend erring on the side of caution.

Alun

From when I did mine from Holland to the UK (Ireland wasn't included in the scheme at the time) it was very definitely 6 months from the date the blood sample was taken, assuming it was successful, of course, which makes the most sense really if you think about it.

The UK DEFRA website, which is much more detailed and less ambiguously written (no surprise there!) says this explicitly, and the rules are, in principle anyway, the same all over the EU.

If your pet’s blood test is satisfactory, you should ask a vet (in Great Britain a Local Veterinary Inspector) to issue you with an EU pet passport. You will not be able to bring your pet into the UK under the Scheme until six calendar months have passed from the date that the blood sample was taken that gave a satisfactory result.

From http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/pet-owners/blood-test/

murria

ISDW wrote: »

Sorry, I have always been told it is from the return of the blood test, as in the information from Dept of Ag it says "a successful blood test". It won't be apparent if it is successful or not until the results are back. I would recommend erring on the side of caution.

No need to be sorry, the wording on the website is slightly ambiguous, I just know from experience. The two vets in the practice I use were in disagreement about the correct date, so they contacted the Department. The answer was that if the result of the blood test was successful then that demonstrated there was a high enough level of rabies antibodies present on the day that the sample was taken. We needed to be certain because we had to be back in Ireland on a certain date and would not have traveled if there had been any doubt.