Pet passports

I gather there's a suggestion that the EU may withdraw the Pet Passport system following Brexit.

This seems odd to me as one doesn't need a Pet Passport to get in or out of the EU, only to get back into the UK.  Perhaps the EU are going to remove the Pet Control areas on their side of the Channel?

Sorry, Ghiro , but EU citizens or residents do need the pet passport to travel within EU countries. What is going to happen with UK pets after Brexit is still a mystery... I guess the UK will have to issue their own passports.

It is still possible even from a non-EU country into the EU so it shoudln't be a problem. I suspect that was a bit of scare-mongering. See here.

The big difference seems to be this bit:

the test must be carried out on a sample collected by an authorised veterinarian at least 30 days after the date of vaccination and not less than three months before the date of movement


the test must measure a level of neutralising antibody to rabies virus in serum equal to or greater than 0,5 IU/ml


the test must be performed in an approved laboratory

That's very helpful, and reassuring, Admin.  Thank you.  Either selling the house in Italy, or putting our dog down, wasn't a choice we wanted to make!

Not sure where you got your information from Ghiro, but I have a friend who works at DeFRA and as far as they are concerned, nothing much will change for Pet movement from the EU to the UK post Brexit. There will still be the same requirements and as the UK is rabies free they don't see a requirement will be needed for Blood Tests for movement to EU countries and vice versa.

Thanks Flip.  As ever very helpful.  However currently, presumably to KEEP the UK rabies free, dogs have to be vaccinated regularly (usually every 3 years) to keep their Pet Passport up to date.

Just rereading this, thought I should comment that if you have your dog vaccinated for rabies in Italy it only lasts for one year.  Exactly the same as the UK vaccine but only licenced in Italy for one year.

Has anyone had the problem of running out of pages in their passport?  We returned to the UK in December and the vet had had to go onto another page for the treatment they give.  At the port we had a lot of fuss and they had to fill in a large form.  We were, however, allowed to travel.  It was 2am in the morning with no-one else around.  I wonder if we would have been allowed to travel at a busy time.  I am assuming we now have to get a new passport.  The original one was issued in Italy but I would prefer to get a new one in the UK - anyone done this?

I'd change your Vet FP, our Vet here vaccinated our Lab in 2016 and it's stamped for renewal in 2019, 3 years. Think you may have come across a Vet that is not using the latest vaccines, as all our friends with dogs in Tuscany have a 3 year renewal.

Thanks, that's good to know.  I've had him done in the UK now but if I have to get a new passport in Italy and it has to be redone, I know to push for a three year vaccine.

Me too - our dog has a three year vaccine.

Flying pigs wrote:I am assuming we now have to get a new passport.  The original one was issued in Italy but I would prefer to get a new one in the UK - anyone done this?

Agreed with Admin - rabies vaccination in the UK lasts for 3 years.

Which page did your vet run out of?  The UK Passport has 12 spaces for Rabies and 15 for Echinococcus.  There are only 5 for 'Clinical Examination' but this is no longer a legal requirement I believe.

But BEWARE!  The last time we got a 'replacement' Pet Passport in the UK (the Clinical Examination bit was full) it cost us over £100 

Ghiro, you were truly ripped off if you paid over £100 for a new PP. These are basically only a record for vaccinations etc given to your Dog/Cat and should be free of charge or at the very most a small administrative charge. Here in Italy our Vet gives them free of charge as they are sponsored by Purina, but for a vet to charge that much is sheer robbery. Change your Vet...
Was he wearing a stripey Jumper and a Mask?

Our passport was an old one. We've finished the fit to travel page and the Ech... one was already complete so the vet went onto the 'other vaccinations' page. This was our 'discrepancy' which led to the large form but at least we were allowed to travel. I'll try to contact the government agency. I need to decide whether to get a replacement in the UK or in Italy.

Where I live, to get an Italian pet passport you would need to have an Italian certificate of ownership for the dog. Might be a bit more relaxed elsewhere...

Flip wrote:Ghiro, you were truly ripped off if you paid over £100 for a new PP. These are basically only a record for vaccinations etc given to your Dog/Cat and should be free of charge or at the very most a small administrative charge. Here in Italy our Vet gives them free of charge as they are sponsored by Purina, but for a vet to charge that much is sheer robbery. Change your Vet...Was he wearing a stripey Jumper and a Mask?

Good question Flip!  

In Italy it costs us €20-30 for the vet to give the pills and fill-in the PP yet I've heard of people being charged €200 in France.  Vets are a law unto themselves.  In the UK most people now have Pet Insurance so vets feel they can charge whatever they want and I would guess that £100 for a new PP is the 'going rate'.

Admin wrote:Where I live, to get an Italian pet passport you would need to have an Italian certificate of ownership for the dog. Might be a bit more relaxed elsewhere...

Admin.  In the UK, unlike your car, there is no 'certificate of ownership' of a dog.  However to obtain a PP the dog has to be microchipped and the owner's details are linked to the microchip.

I know Ghiro. That's why I'm saying that our vet here in Italy wouldn't renew or issue a pet passport to a 'British' dog as you wouldn't have an ownership document. The Italian chip links to regional ownership databases (no national one) so they wouldn't be able to 'see' that you are the owenr of the dog, only that the dog's microship number matches the old passport. As I said, some areas might be more flexible but here they wouldn't do it.

Just like people have to move residency in Italy at the anagrafe - so do dogs!

Perfectly correct Penny, Although our old Lab had his microchip done in the UK many years ago now, he is registered here in Tuscany on the local database even though the chip is a UK one. Here Ghiro, the system is that Vets get an allocation of chips and they allocate there chips to dogs which can then be registered with the local ASL so if lost their database pick it up when scanned. 
All non Residents like yourself have to suck it up and be ripped off by the UK vet system, or have the Good Life, be resident here and have a registered Dog and cheap Vet Bills. (SOD BREXIT)

Our passport is Italian as our dog was born in Italy and we got him at 8 weeks.  I don't think I have a certificate of ownership.  In the vaccination record I have a Denuncia di proprieta e richiesta d'iscrizione all'anagrafe canina' which I assumed was just the registration of the chip into the register.  Is it also certificate of ownership?  For the passport we had to take this to the local ASL office where they issued the passport (they didn't even want to see the dog, although we had him with us).

His Italian chip is also registered in the UK.

I am starting to think I may be best to get a new passport in Italy.  We are in the UK at present and he would still have his existing passport to travel out on (not that we have ever been asked) but would not be able to use it to get back into the country due to lack of free pages.

Is the Denuncia di proprieta e richiesta d'iscrizione all'anagrafe canina  in your name and stamped etc by the canine anagrafe office (usually part of ASL)? Or is it just the thing that the original owner gave you?

If the former then that's all fine and definitely renew the passport here as it seems a LOT cheaper. 

If the latter then you were supposed to go to the canine anagrafe office and get them to put the dog in your name otherwise the micrichip is registered to the original owner still

The Denuncia is in my husband's name but is only stamped by our vet, not the anagrafe office.  It is stapled into the vaccination record which is what we took to the local ASL Servizio Veterinario to get the original passport.

We have no other paperwork for Ugo.  We got him at 8 weeks from another English family who had the whole litter.  They were not breeders but their choc lab 'escaped' and the litter was the result.  We actually got him through either this forum or the Italymag forum.

My only worry getting him the passport in Italy is that his current rabies was done in the UK and I wonder if they will recognise it.  I suppose he could always get it done again if not.  I'll make enquiries of the vet here to see how much and ask a friend to enquire in Italy, as in theory in Italy we should just need to go straight to the ASL office.

Just a quick update.  Decided to go with a new passport issued in the UK.  Then we have one as soon as we are on foreign soil should we have to return in a hurry.

Issue by my vet - cost £65 but no problems.  Will carry both passports with me, but all the information, including rabies inoculation has been transferred to the new one.

Another thing crossed of the list!