bringing dog to spain

[jantaz]

We are hoping to move to Spain {andalucia} in early 2006 do I need to have my dog insured to bring into the country? could you also tell me which insurance companies I need to contact for cover . I am having trouble most companies are on valid while living in uk.

[Andy1]

No you don`t need to insure your dog to bring it into the country, if you want insurance I would wait until you got here and check out the schemes with your local vet.

[foremarion]

We bought our labrador over from England last year, my husband drove down with dog in car, stayed at dog friendly hotel on the way - no problem. You do need dog passport which you get from vets, they need vaccinating and rabies jabs. But no one looked at any papers on the drive down - I think it is more important when taking dog back into England, then they are very strict.
You do not need any pet insurance out here - in fact it does not exist - Ive tried. You can get public liability cover for your dog but there is no cover for illnes or vets fees. Pet insurance in england does not cover your animal in Spain. Hope this helps

[jane grant]

On the subject of pet passports, a salutory tale - some friends returned to the UK this spring for an extended break taking their dog with them. They had a pet passport for said animal, but on arrival at Santander found the UK govt had changed the passport and the one they had was superceded by a newer version. The vet at Santander said they only way they could get a new one was from the consulate in Malaga (as that was where they lived) and refused to accept the dog for travel on the ferry. It took them 10 days of wrangling and the reluctant help of their vet in the UK to resolve the situation!

[hillybilly]

Pet insurance is most certainly available in Spain, in fact it's compulsory in some parts of Spain (such as Madrid) and also for some breeds of dogs throughout Spain.
MAPFRE, Caja Madrid and probably most banks etc all offer pet insurance. A Google for seguro mascota will turn up loads.