Free movement after Brexit... but just for pets
IT WAS a warning shot in the Brexit stand-off that caused concern for animal-lovers across the UK.
But now the Government has pledged that the ‘Passport for Pets’ scheme which allows vaccinated cats, dogs – and even ferrets – free movement across the Continent will be preserved after Britain leaves the EU.
Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier sparked fears that British travellers might not be able to take their pets with them on European holidays when he warned in November that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would have consequences ‘including the ability of dogs and cats to cross the Channel’.
But Michael Gove’s Environment Department has reassured animallovers that there would be no return to the quarantine restrictions phased out 18 years ago. A spokesman told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Plans will be in place from day one to make sure pet-owners can travel to and from the UK with their pets. We will take the opportunity of leaving the EU to make sure this process is as simple as possible yet robust enough to protect us from disease.’
The pet passports prove that an animal has been microchipped, vaccinated against rabies, blood-tested to check the inoculation has worked, and dewormed.
Mr Gove is a dog-lover, owning Snowy, a bichon frise, and Muffin, a Lhasa Apso/wire-haired dachshund cross.
Lady Fretwell, founder of Passport for Pets, said: ‘It is fantastic that so many families have been able to have the choice of taking their pets on holiday and that this is to continue.’ But she added that she expected new rules to ‘strengthen controls against rabies’.