A Personal Experience.........

by John & Viv Walker

Taking dogs to France

Lots of us like to take our dogs on holiday but balk at taking them abroad. Provided you plan ahead, the experience may not be as bad as you fear.

France in particular seems to be more dog friendly than the UK with a great number of hotels, restaurants and holiday cottages accepting pets.

Health matters

Information can be downloaded from http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/

Before you go

You need to decide whether to take your dogs at least seven months before you intend to come back from abroad. This is because of the procedures followed to ensure that rabies stays outside the country.

First, you must have your dog microchipped. A tattoo is not sufficient identification for the Pet Passport scheme.

Next you need to get your dog vaccinated against rabies. A month later, a blood test confirms whether your dog has produced antibodies. If it has, you get a certificate to that extent (in the pet passport) and 6 months later your dog can re-enter the country without having to spend 6 months in quarantine

Coming back

Pets have to be checked by a vet before you return home. An approved tic treatment, such as Frontline, has to be applied and an approved worm treatment, such as Drontal or Milbemax, taken at least 24 hours and not more than 48 hours before your check in.

The Pet Passport must be signed dated AND timed when the treatments are given. Say you are booked in to take the noon ferry on Sunday, so you have to check in at 11, the treatment has to have been done between 11 on Friday and 11 on Saturday or the Pet Passport control won't issue your boarding pass. Currently the cost is £30 per dog.

You would do well to make an appointment with a vet in France before you leave. Companies such as Dogs Away http://www.dogsaway.co.uk/ will make the arrangements and provide a map for a fee. That way you don't have to worry about getting a vet's appointment on the Friday afternoon before your Sunday ferry, and unless you're touring, you've got a week or two to find the vets. We look for the vets on our first day, just in case we need him or her in an emergency.

Travel arrangements

We have always used the Channel Tunnel, so we do not know the arrangements for ferries. We understand that on the shorter sea crossings, dogs stay in the car on the car deck. Imagining the carnage that could take place if there was a rough crossing, or if the dog found your supplies for the self catering holiday, we have preferred the 35 minute crossing travelling in the car with the dogs.

There can be disadvantages, such as when the train broke down in the tunnel and people were stranded for a number of hours in unventilated conditions.

If you take advantage of a scheme like Tesco vouchers, the cost of the passport check is excluded from the voucher scheme.

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