Bringing Your Dogs to Portugal

After you have spoken to the man at DEFRA about your plans, speak to your vet. I found that many vets were not very knowledgeable about the requirements and it was helpful to be certain of my facts before speaking to them.

Also their charges varied tremendously from practice to practice, if this is important to you then shop around!

If you are planning to bring your dog back to the UK  you will have to visit your vet  with your dog 7 months before you plan to leave the UK., to start the procedures.

However if you are absolutely certain that you will not return to the UK within 6 months, then the options are certainly cheaper and all you need to do is have your dog micro-chipped, and checked that it is still in  place before having a single anti-rabies vaccination. You are then free to leave the UK with your dog just 21 days later.

At the moment the requirements for the full Pets Passport are that your dog is micro-chipped and vaccinated against rabies, with a test to prove that the vaccine has been successful, you then have to wait a full 6 months before travelling.

Before Pet Travel Scheme was introduced it was perfectly easy to drive your animal out of the UK without any paperwork at all. I believe you can still do this, the scheme exists to abolish the 6 months quarantine regulations that existed in the UK, pre- PETS.

I have never heard of anyone being asked to show their pet’s passport on any outward journey by car, even if you take this risk you must of course have proof of the anti-rabies vaccinations and the micro-chipping.

 Of course you will need  the complete Pets Passport if you are planning to fly your dog.

If you travel without the Passport and need to return to the UK you can get the necessary papers from your Portuguese vet. They will show that your pet has the correct micro-chip in place, that it has a current anti-rabies vaccination and that the blood test proving the vaccination was successful was taken at least 6 months prior to travelling.

A Scalibor collar eliminates fleas for 4 months, ticks for 6 months and helps to protect against mosquitoes for 6 months. The cost is about 25 euros.

The worst  problem time for mosquitoes is May to October (or when the temperature reaches a steady 16c). They can carry the deadly Leishmaniose Canina. The mosquitoes are active after dusk and I would recommend that you always plug in an electric anti-mosquito deterrent in any rooms where your dogs are likely to be in the house and don’t leave them lying out of doors at these times.

There are flea and tick related illnesses that are not present in the UK but are prevalent in the Mediterranean countries. It is very important that you protect your dog fully as these illnesses can be caught by humans too.

If you live near pine trees or take your dogs to walk in any place with pine trees then you must be vigilant for the processionary caterpillars of the moth Thaumetopoea Pityocampa. These build large nests in pine trees in January – they look like thickly spun spiders webs  and  are large enough to be visible in pine trees when driving past in a car.

The caterpillars leave these nests each night to feed on the pine leaves and leave the nest altogether in April in order to pupate. It is wise to familiarise yourself with the look of these caterpillars, although their habit of following each other nose to tail makes them different from other species. They can cause an allergic reaction to any person or animal who touches them, like any allergic reaction, this can, in the case of anaphylactic shock, be fatal.