Pets and Animals in Portugal

Pets and Animals in Portugal

If you want to bring your beloved family pet to Portugal you must ensure you've got the correct paperwork to ensure it can be Cats, Dogs and Ferrets travelling within the European Union must travel with a Pet Passport. This is a small blue booklet that all Licensed Veterinarians within the EU can provide. The very minimum needs for most, but not all EU Countries, are a microchip and a current rabies injection that is more than 21 days old. Puppies and kittens are usually eligible to travel between most EU countries at 15 weeks, as they cannot have a rabies injection before they are 12 weeks old with a 21 day wait before travel can take place. It is an offence to take a pet without a pet passport from country to country. To travel to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, all pets must have a pet passport which has the following information entered into it, signed and stamped by the veterinarian.
	Microchip
	Rabies injection – given either same day or after the microchip is implanted, but not before
	BlooBlood Test – blood sample taken and sent for analysis to ‘authorised’ laboratory around 21 – 30 days following the rabies injection.
	Bloo24 – 48 hours before entry to the UK or Rep of Ireland, a licensed veterinarian gives external and internal parasite treatment, enters the exact time in 24 hr clock, dates, stamps and signs that it has been done
· For air travel a pre flight health check is also needed for the pet passport, generally the entry is made at the back of the passport. There are some non EU countries within the pet passport scheme, for instance Switzerland and Norway and there are others. Countries outside the EU all have their own prerequisites for entry and exit, as has Portugal receiving pets from outside the EU. We recommend that all would be travellers check with the Portuguese consulate/embassy in the country they are planning to travel from. There is very good information for would be travellers and vets on the DEFRA website, at www.defra.gov.uk and follow links for ‘wildlife and pets’. The information is regularly updated and all the countries within the Pet Passport scheme can be found there. For particular information not connected to the United Kingdom it is important to refer to the website Information kindly supplied by Julia Baber – Animalcouriers Ltd, www.animalcouriers.com

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