In the light of the current Covid Crisis you will be forgiven if the impending Brexit deadline has been overlooked. However, on the 1st January 2021 the UK will have come out of the EU, deal or no deal. Unfortunately, despite there only being a few months left we still do not have a clear outline of what to expect with regards to many things, including pet travel. Up until now the travel of pets between PETs countries has continued to be straight forward - microchip, vaccinate and travel after 21+ days. If the UK comes out of the EU with no deal we, in the worst case scenario, would become an 'Unlisted Country', whereby pets wishing to travel will need to be microchipped, rabies vaccinated, rabies blood tested 30+days after their vaccine AND, assuming an appropriate antibody response is mounted, wait 3 months before being able to travel on an export health certificate EHC (a new EHC required each time you travel with your pet).
With the potential preparation for travelling with your pet becoming more time consuming and costly, we would advise that, unless you have no choice but to travel with your pet at the beginning of 2021, you postpone plans to take your pet away until details of what is required are confirmed. If you have no choice but to travel during this time, and you haven't already done so, you need to think about making the necessary arrangements to travel NOW. For further information about the possible scenarios the UKs travelling pets and their owners may face please look at our PET travel client information page. For advice regarding your own personal situation please not hesitate to call the surgery to speak to one of our vets.