I Wonder ?

[BENIDORM]

Yes...
I wonder if the new relaxed quarantine laws in UK will now mean that returning expats will take their pets with them ?
So many pets have been abandoned, either directly on to the streets or handed into pet sanctuaries that are already bursting at the seams with unwanted pets.
I fully understand the situation that many returning expats have been in, I know of several who have found it difficult enough to find money to fund their own travel arrangements, without having to worry about the costs of returning pets.
So hopefully it will now help anyone returning to be able to take their pets 'home' without excessive costs.
Certainly it will also make it much easier to travel with pets when going on holiday etc...

Regards,
Gordon..

[Enrique]

Hi Beni,
The only thing that will change is the 21 days rule so you will be able to come back to UK in a shorter time scale and the 1-5 day window for the worming treatment.

http://tinyurl.com/7pel9aq

I don't think it will make much difference...............

[Donz.]

I have to say I am not convinced. Yes I think it will certainly help some people who genuinely want to take their pets but are stoney broke and can't afford to kennel them for 6-7mths BUT I think for many it is an easier option to leave them behind. I have heard many excuses ranging from money, to landlords not allowing (and of course again, SOME of these are genuine), but as an example, I have heard of one person telling his old customers that he had put his dog to sleep because he was old and ill - he had dumped them on us!!!!! Left them behind and never came back!!!

[BENIDORM]

Hi Enrique,
Well 'every little helps' ..as they say...must be a step in the right direction though.?

Donz,
I aree that there are alot of irresponsible people who just can't be bothered, but I really hope that it goes a little way to helping the genuine people who really just can't afford to take their pets with them.
And of course it's nothing new about abandoning pets, 20 + years ago we had three dogs left tied to our gates by 'disappearing' Brits...they knew that we would help them...
Regards,
Gordon...

[katy]

Would be great if it did but I doubt it would make a difference to that type of person...easy come, easy go I just don't get it when I see posts saying they are moving and the place doesn't take pets If it were I then I would just keep looking for a place that did!

[tjtops]

Me too, Katy. With bells on. I would like to think it WILL make a difference to returning expats tho, as the 6-month wait after the blood test will be a thing of the past, and that's what caught a lot of people out. However, I also agree that some people will just find another escuse.
Sadly, a lot of pundits in the UK are saying it will probably mean that rabies will return to the UK in as little as 5 years, though -- probably not from 'mainstream' Europe but from other, less well-organised EU members.....

[country boy]

I read somewhere, official, that in all the time the UK has operated the quarantine laws, there hasn't been one single case of Rabies in a quarantined animal. How much has that cost? How much inconvenience has it caused?

[tjtops]

Actually, on the BBC news the other day, the government vet was saying there HAD been some cases -- not many, granted, but some.......it doesn't take many, especially if it transmits to wildlife!
Also, I do wonder if maybe when the laws are so much more relaxed, more people will take a chance and bring some dogs back that previously they might have not have risked?
Plus....one of my own dogs tested negative to the rabies jab (before I left England to go to Spain) and had to have another one, so that isn't infallible either!
Just thoughts...(before I get shot down!)...not saying the relaxed laws are necessarily a bad thing...just that there's more to it than meets the eye.....

[Footprint]

Hi - can someone clarify something for me please?

My elderly dog had her rabies booster in August 2011 but my younger had her first rabies jab on 1st October 2010, 2nd on 25th October 2010 and blood test on 15th November 2010 and her passport then issued.

The UK requires rabies to be boostered every 3 years - am I right in thinking Spain requires this every year? If so - as I am going to drive down end Jan and stay for about 5 weeks to continue my search for a rental property - does this mean the youngest needs to have a booster now - even though her passport says October 2013?

[Enrique]

Hi Footprint,
As its an UK dog then you will be ok with 3 years, the UK(Border Control) are the ones that check the Passports.
If the dog stays mainly in Spain and had a Spanish issued Pets Passport then its best to get it done annually as per the Spanish Rules.

See DEFRA site...............

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/p ... -owners/#a

[BENIDORM]

I do fully understand the reasons why the rabies controls were originally instituted and the concerns about the possibility of an outbreak in the UK, however with modern vaccines and methods it would appear that any outbreak would be quickly controlled.
My personal opinion is that it is time to move on from this antiquated control,and a more humane approach be adopted to the movements of pets.
I think that much more serious diseases are being imported by humans,and in my opinion much more control should be taken in medically checking people coming from countries that have known dangerous diseases.

Just my own thoughts....for what they are worth..

Regards,
Gordon.

[anis]

I fully agree with you on both points, Benidorm. It has always amazed me why there haven't been stricter controls about transporting human diseases across the continents.

We were fortunate enough to work in many countries but most of them had very strict disease controls applied at entry vias time.
Both of us were tested for these, even though only one of us was working, and we were fingerprinted in every country we applied to. We would not have been allowed in had we failed any of the tests, which included TB and later in our postings, AIDS.
Had we committed any crimes in these countries, they had an immediate file on all of us expats and we would not have been allowed in with any previous criminal records.
UK didn't have TB when I worked in the hospital labs, plating up infectious diseases, many many years ago but we would always find the odd one that had come in from abroad. TB had been eradicated but I see it is back again - why ?
It is scandalous, after all the trouble our predecessors took to get rid of this awful disease. Our ancestors would turn in their graves and call us all fools to allow TB to take a hold again. Surely everyone has read of the awful death rates caused by TB in our country's history, so why aren't our politicians coping with this problem , not dogs ?
This is far more worrying than the fear of a dog bite, from an animal that is unlikely to be infected.

[tjtops]

Hear hear Anis....totally agree. Being the eternal cynic, though, can you imagine the fuss the Human Rights gang would kick up nowadays if we started barring people because they had something nasty? Much easier to win voters over by focussing on pets.....!

[katy]

The USA has disease control tests for immigrants. Did you know that because of the Human Rights Act that the UK cannot deport anyone with Aids It is the Eastern Europeans who have brought TB back to the UK. Those who came from those marvellous communist countries that had far better health facilities than the UK....or so they used to tell us

I agree with the latest animal law, except if the animals are from high risk areas like Pakistan etc.