Pet owners have bone to pick with post-Brexit rules

Pet owners in mainland Britain will now have to get an animal health certificate (AHC) no more than 10 days before travel to the EU and Northern Ireland.

London: Vets, pet owners and others in Britain are bracing for new and potentially costly bureaucracy from Friday, when the UK ends participation in the EU passport scheme for cats and dogs.

Britain will be in a new category — known as Part 2 listed status — under European Union pet travel rules, and no longer able to utilise passports which had permitted seamless continental feline and canine journeys.

Pet owners in mainland Britain will now have to get an animal health certificate (AHC) no more than 10 days before travel to the EU and Northern Ireland.

“This health certificate is a new thing and obviously added bureaucracy,” said Stuart Pearson, who with his wife Carole has eight dogs — five Dalmatians and three Bracco Italianos — that regularly compete in shows in Europe.

“That is going to add to the expense of going abroad… pet travel’s not the cheapest anyway,” added the 42-year-old, from Gateshead, northeast England.

Pearson, who voted against Brexit in 2016, is irked the rules will change for British-based pet owners, but that the UK government opted to maintain the status quo for Europeans bringing in their pets.

Vets have also greeted the new criteria warily, according to representative bodies.They noted an AHC will be required every time owners travel with their pets from Britain, and expect an overall increase in hassle and costs for all concerned.

“These new certificates and requirements are more onerous than the current pet passports and so there will need to be more forward planning… more trips to the vet,” said Daniella Dos Santos, senior vice-president at the British Veterinary Association (BVA).