A couple of years ago I wrote about the impact of Brexit on owners travelling overseas with their pets on a pet passport.

At the time the subject was not hugely relevant as we were all in lockdown and no one was going anywhere, however now that people are on the move again the reality of trying to travel overseas with your pet is starting to hit home.

Pet passports became a thing of the past when Brexit happened and now, in order to travel to Europe your pet needs an Animal Health Certificate (AHC). This is a lengthy document prepared and signed by a vet. Not all vets can sign AHCs – only vets that are Official Veterinarians (OVs) are able to do so – these vets have taken further qualifications in certification through DEFRA.

To travel to the continent your cat or dog still needs to be microchipped and vaccinated against Rabies and they still need to be wormed by a vet in continental Europe before travelling back to the UK, but they do all this with an AHC and not a passport.

The rabies vaccination must be given at least 30 days before you travel but you need to get your AHC from a vet less than ten days before you travel.

Most annoyingly for regular travellers, you need a new AHC every single time you travel overseas. As you can imagine these new regulations are an absolute pain for people that have been used to the simplicity of travelling overseas with their pet on a passport.

Believe me, they are a pain for vets in practice as well – more of this next week.

Alice Moore is a vet at Castle Veterinary Clinic, Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083