Pet Passports Information Homepage
This is the Parkvets microsite dedicated to pet passports. In this section you'll find all the latest information you need to get you pet's passport with the minimum of fuss.
There are four main sections of the site:
- Getting Your passport - The mechanics of obtaining a passport
- Going Away - Where you can go, how to get there.
- Coming Home - Making re-entry into the UK easy.
- Protecting Your Pet - Preventing exotic diseases in your pet.
Simply Click on the relevant links above to learn more about how to go about getting and using your pet passport with the minimum hassle and fuss.
Background to the Pet Passport Scheme (PETS)
In September 1998 the government published a report called Quarantine and rabies: a reappraisal. It set out recommendations for reform of the U.K. quarantine regulations.
At the time all animals entering the UK were required to spend six months in quarantine before being released back to their owners.
The purpose of quarantine was to stop rabies from entering the UK. Rabies is a fatal viral disease that can be spread from animal to man, usually by a bite.
In 1999 an alternative to quarantine was piloted, the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS). The aims of the scheme are to allow pets to move more freely between the UK and approved countries without the need for quarantine but maintain the rabies free status of the British Isles. In addition, the scheme seeks to prevent the introduction of two other parasites both of which cause fatal disease in humans:
- The tapeworm called Eccinococcus multilocularis
- Ticks of the Dermcentor species.
Today, PETS allows almost 8,000 animals the luxury of traveling abroad each month!
Standard government bureaucracy means obtaining and using your pet passport can be confusing and stressful so we've created this PETS microsite to help.
