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Pet
Passports now to be extended
to America & Canada
MINISTERS are preparing to extend the PETS Travel Scheme to
allow dogs and cats from the United States and Canada to enter
without needing to enter quarantine for the statutory six month
period.
They believe it is possible to extend the two-year-old “pet
passport” scheme, which operates for animals travelling
from most of Western Europe, Australia, Japan and Hawaii, to
North America from next year. The move will delight thousands
of American diplomatic and service families, as well as show
business stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and
Michael Jackson, who like to travel with their pets.
President George W Bush, who is frequently seen leaving planes
with his Scottish terrier, Barney, or his springer spaniel,
Spot, is among the high-profile figures who might benefit from
a relaxation in the quarantine law.
When Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton visited Britain during
the 1960s they were forced to keep their four beloved dogs aboard
a yacht moored on the Thames. If the dogs had ever set foot
on British soil, they would have been impounded and taken into
quarantine.
Two years ago, when the actress was due to meet the Queen at
Buckingham Palace for her investiture as a Dame, she was upset
to learn that Sugar, her Maltese, would have to stay at home
in spite of her best efforts to lobby Downing Street.
Elliot Morley, the Animal Health Minister, hopes to make a formal
statement on the extension of the PETS scheme in June. Any new
system, however, must be foolproof and is likely to be stricter
than that approved under the present scheme. If the extended
scheme was approved, it is hoped to be in place by the end of
next year.
The new plans follow two new studies of the threat to Britain
of rabies and other diseases if the draconian anti-rabies laws
are removed for pets from the US and Canada. Animals travelling
from North America would be subject to the most stringent checks
and identity controls. A history of recent travel movements
might also be required.
Regular checks
Scientific
experts believe that it is possible to relax the quarantine
rules for pets, provided they have been micro-chipped, vaccinated
against rabies, and blood-tested to ensure that the vaccine
is effective. Pets must also be subject to delousing and de-worming
treatments and a full veterinary inspection. North American
pets will also be obliged to register with a vet in Britain
to ensure that regular checks are made after arrival.
There is particular concern to ensure that pets from North
America do not carry diseases that can be passed to human
beings as well as other animals.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed that the issue was being examined,
though he stressed that no decisions had been taken yet.
He said ministers were considering two reports from universities
which examine veterinary risk assessments relating to rabies
and other diseases found in places such as North America.
Joe Brownlie, Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the Royal
Veterinary College, said yesterday: “There would have
be a full veterinary check on every animal coming into the
UK from North America and rules insisting that owners register
their pets with a vet on arrival in the country.”
He added that rabies was rampant in the United States, especially
on the East Coast, and that every effort had to be made to
protect British wildlife from the disease.
The main threat to human beings was an animal with ringworm,
he said, but this skin infection was easily spotted in a veterinary
check. He was anxious, however, that pets from North America
could spread heartworm, which is a parasite that lives in
the blood and causes heart congestion, and brucella, a severe
infection that causes high fever and can trigger arthritis,
though these conditions, too, would be identified by a veterinary
check.
These issues are now being discussed by Whitehall’s Advisory
Committee on Dangerous Pathogens.
The Government has been under pressure to reform the quarantine
laws by the US Administration because many people are now
refusing British postings because of the anti-rabies laws.
Peter Kurz, agriculture counsellor at the US Embassy in London,
said that diplomats were turning down the chance to work in
Britain because
Mr Kurz said that the risks of relaxing the rules would be
acceptable. “The people who want to bring in dogs are
responsible pet owners. We are not talking about stray dogs.
These animals are looked after and it can be quite an expensive
proposition.”
Mr Kurz is a fan of the pet travel scheme for he was able
to bring in his dog, Claire, a Bichon Frisé, from his
last posting in Germany. “We were very glad because in
the six months when she would have been in quarantine she
became ill with cancer. She was able to spend the last part
of her life with us,” he said.
Anxious
Last
year, when William Farish was appointed US Ambassador to Britain,
he had to send his four-year-old Maltese, Cotton, on holiday
to France for six months to qualify for the pet passport scheme.
Lady Fretwell, founder of Passport for Pets, the campaign
against quarantine laws, said that she was “anxious for
an early decision”.
The move, if approved, is likely to sound the death knell
for the quarantine industry in the UK. Already many businesses
have been forced to close due to the marked reduction in business
since the introduction of the PETS scheme. The Government
has slavishly opposed the issue of compensation for those
businesses affected by the PETS scheme, although compensation
was never an issue when mink fur farms were forced to close
due to Government legislation aimed at ending the UK fur trade
on animal welfare grounds.
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