DOG: Bringing a dog from India to the UK can be a challenging process but if you follow the procedures correctly it can be done fairly smoothly. However there are certain things you need to know before bringing your dog to the UK.
You cannot own certain breeds of dogs in the UK therefore if you have any of the below breeds you cannot bring them to the UK even for a short visit. If you bring a banned breed of dog into Great Britain it can be taken away from you by the police or local authorities and could be destroyed. These breeds are:
- Pit Bull Terrier
- Japanese Tosa
- Dogo Argentino
- Fila Brasileiro
- Whether your dog is a banned type depends on what it looks like, rather than its breed or name. Example If your dog matches many of the characteristics of a Pit Bull Terrier, it may be a banned type.
BRINGING YOUR DOG TO THE UK
If you have an approved breed then you can enter or return to Great Britain with your pet dog if you follow the below rules:
- MICROCHIP – Make sure your vet puts the microchip number in your pet’s health certificate. The date must be before your pet’s vaccinations.
- PASSPORT – Since India is not in UK’s listed countries from where they accept pet passports, the following rules need to be followed.
- Your pet must be vaccinated for rabies.
- Your pet must have a blood sample taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.
- Your vet must send the blood sample to an EU-approved blood testing laboratory from either inside the EUor outside the EU. If you are travelling to the UK in between you can carry the samples yourself and get them tested at an approved lab.
- The results of the blood test must show that the vaccination was successful (rabies antibody level of at least 0.5 IU/ml).
- You must wait 3 months from the date the blood sample was taken before you travel.
- The vet must give you a copy of the test results and enter the day the blood sample was taken in a health certificate.
- TAPE WORM TREATMENT – A vet must treat your dog for tapeworm and record it in the health certificate every time you want to bring it to Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).
- The treatment must have been given no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours (5 days) before you enter Great Britain. Your dog can be refused entry or put into quarantineif you do not follow this rule.
- The treatment must be approved for use in the country it’s being given in.
- Must contain praziquantel or an equivalent proven to be effective against the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm
- Check the vet has put the following details in the ‘Echinococcus treatment’ section of your dog’s pet passport or health certificate.
- The name and manufacturer of the product
- The date and time they treated your dog
- Their stamp and signature
- HEALTH CERTIFICATE – Click here to download the health certificate form
- A British pet health certificate need to be filled signed and stamped by the pet’s vet in India.
- Pet should travel to the UK within 10 days of the pet health certificate being issued.
- DECLARATION – You need to fill in a declaration confirming that you are not going to sell or transfer the ownership of your pet.
- Your pet can travel with someone else if you’ve authorised it in writing.
- TRAVEL – Check if the Airline you’re travelling with:
- Will accept your pet for travel – and how many they’ll accept if you have more than one
- Needs any proof that your pet is fit and healthy to travel, for example a letter from a vet.
- Check if you’ll need to quarantine because of COVID-19 when you arrive in the UK – you’ll need to arrange care of your pet while you quarantine if so.
- Entering Great Britain from outside the EU
- You can only collect your pet after it’s been taken through customs. You can usually pay an agent, travel company or airline to do this for you.
- If you cannot get someone to do this for you, you should either:
- contact customs where you’re arriving before you travel
- ask the National Clearance Hub at nch@hmrc.gov.ukfor more information
