Brit Expat Pet Owners In EU Fear Brexit Loss Of Pet Passports

A Spanish vet is warning British expat pet owners over post-Brexit travel with their pets.

Dependent on which format becomes the ultimate Brexit result, Britons living, retiring or working on Spain may have to allow at least three months in advance of a travel date if they want their furry friends to travel with them. According to the vet, the majority of UK expats in Spain have pets, normally more than one, meaning a considerable number of cats, dogs and other pets are at risk, especially should a no-deal Brexit be the final result.

The EU’s pet passport scheme, in place now for several decades, means that a visit to a local vet to confirm pets' vaccination statuses, get a chip implanted and receive the ‘pet passport’ was all that was needed for travel between the UK and Spain as well as the rest of the EU. Should this end once the UK is just another ‘third country’, blood tests would be needed to prove vaccinations, entry points might well be limited and three months’ quarantine or being sent back may well become the norm.

According to officials, some 250,000 family pets travel in and around Europe with their owners via their ‘pet passports’, with dog and cat rescue shelters in Spain and other EU member states also sending adopted pets overseas using the scheme. Another concern is that complying with pre-pet passport requirements will be far more expensive, especially if three months' quarantine in the destination EU country as well as in the UK becomes mandatory, a likelihood in the case of a no-deal Brexit at the end of next year.