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Taking a dog to Font / EU (Read 4841 times)

jshaw

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Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 09, 2022, 03:05:36 pm
We'll be taking our dog to Font with us this year. I've been informed by our vet that before we return we need to visit a vet and ensure we have a certified worming tablet.

Bit of a long shot, but before I head to google and drag out my GCSE textbooks, does anyone have the beta for a vet clinic in Font that we could use?

More broadly, does anyone have advice for how they've sorted this out w trips to other European countries?

JamieG

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#1 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 09, 2022, 04:07:15 pm
We've taken the dogs many times to font, albeit before Brexit. You need to get a health check and worming tablet a couple days before your ferry. Not sure if anything has changed post brexit or not. I presume your dog will have had all the boosters and rabies shots before going?

Used this vet in Nemour several times. https://www.cliniqueveterinairebompypilorge.fr/default.aspx Really nice, easy, and not too pricey. Speaks good English, which is useful because our French is appalling.

https://www.cliniqueveterinairebompypilorge.fr/default.aspx

Sarnian

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#2 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 09, 2022, 07:08:17 pm
As JamieG said you need to get a health certificate before going, Mine cost over £100 and I think this lasts up to 3 months. A good option if you plan to go to Europe a lot is to get a pet passport issued whilst in the EU. I got one in Spain for 70 euros and saves me having to get a health certificate each time. You'll need an EU address for this. He had a pre brexit EU passport and it looks identical but in Spanish, typical stupid pointless brexit S***! Now my dog has dual citizenship and a whole load more rights than me.

For deworming I've used Uryvet twice near L'elephant and they've been excellent. They were happy to put a later date and give me the tablet to feed to my dog later on, so you could go on any rest day rather than having to stress just before leaving. Plus they charged under 5 euros! Every other vet I've been to has been over 50.

I've always wondered if they actually care or check on this but recently I forgot to get him dewormed before a ferry to Guernsey. They refused to let me on and the next ferry was in a week!

J_duds

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#3 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 09, 2022, 09:47:07 pm
As stated above a UK dog needs a health certificate from a UK vet to travel to EU. Shop around and book in early.

Before Christmas vets in Leeds were charging between £80 to £200, and the vet we've used we have had to book well in advance (about 4 or 6 weeks, so plan ahead).

Travelling back you need a EU vet to fill out / stamp the forms, again shop around if you can, as we've had some vets (in rural France and Spain) charge about €10 to €15 and others vets in French alpine towns charge about €50.

It's alot of paper work for the UK vets, and more faff for all, and more costs for you.

Also the health certificate lasts 3 months, but I thought I read that it's only for one visit, I.e. if you go back and forth in 3 months you might need a new certificate for each visit. But do your own check that if that's the case.

James Malloch

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#4 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 09, 2022, 10:08:30 pm

Also the health certificate lasts 3 months, but I thought I read that it's only for one visit, I.e. if you go back and forth in 3 months you might need a new certificate for each visit. But do your own check that if that's the case.

I think it lasts for 4 months, but must be issued within 10 days of leaving the U.K.

You’re also right that if you come back to the U.K. you need to get another certificate, no matter how long you’ve been out there for.

jshaw

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#5 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 10, 2022, 08:33:55 am
Fantastic, thank you for the advice and comments.

Our dog will be fully vaccinated, we have a health pass / form thingy but it was the 'worming tablet before returning to UK' that was confusing as the .gov website didn't have clear advice on that (that I could find...).

@Sarnian: Great knowledge about the using a Spanish address to gain an EU passport, we might be able to wangle that one. Thank you.

tc

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#6 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 10, 2022, 10:39:45 am
Using a French or Spanish address to get the EU dog passport works but this might mean that you'd have to return to the EU for the rabies boosters. I have been told that UK vets can't make entries on EU pet passports. This is anecdotal, not from personal experience, so worth checking first.

J_duds

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#7 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 10, 2022, 03:36:58 pm
Using a French or Spanish address to get the EU dog passport works but this might mean that you'd have to return to the EU for the rabies boosters. I have been told that UK vets can't make entries on EU pet passports. This is anecdotal, not from personal experience, so worth checking first.

Yes, we were told for an EU pet passport our dog would have to a rabbies vaccination from an EU country.

As our dog recently had a rabbies jab in the UK, we decided not to get him jabbed again, and in quick succession after his last jab.

jshaw

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#8 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 11, 2022, 06:18:59 am
Brill, thanks again for the clarification and extra detail. That could still work in our case.

James Malloch

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#9 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 23, 2022, 11:26:05 am
Was just looking at dog food stockists for our trip and it sounds like you can’t take meat-based dog food with you to the EU any more (possibly some exceptions for small amounts of special health-related foods).

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Evil

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#10 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 25, 2022, 12:05:19 pm
Was just looking at dog food stockists for our trip and it sounds like you can’t take meat-based dog food with you to the EU any more (possibly some exceptions for small amounts of special health-related foods).

Does anyone know if this is correct?

I think it is correct, but the likelihood of being searched and having it confiscated is very low, they have not been searching our van since Brexit (which they used to do all the time!). I took dog food over in December no problem. I guess if they found it, I would say that it would cause a medical issue to change food suddenly so I thought it was covered by the medical issue thing (it says you can take up to 2kgs which is quite a bit no?), and if not, then they could confiscate it and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I don't think anything would really happen if you tried taking it, so it's worth a try.

Evil

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#11 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 25, 2022, 12:10:18 pm
I used this vets in Milly last time, they were a lot cheaper than one we used actually in Font itself which charged about 90 Euros once  :o, but not as cheap as the Spanish one I used most recently which charged 9 Euros  :devangel:

https://goo.gl/maps/omdGkf6nvMKrTFQG8

James Malloch

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#12 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 25, 2022, 12:28:43 pm
Was just looking at dog food stockists for our trip and it sounds like you can’t take meat-based dog food with you to the EU any more (possibly some exceptions for small amounts of special health-related foods).

Does anyone know if this is correct?

I think it is correct, but the likelihood of being searched and having it confiscated is very low, they have not been searching our van since Brexit (which they used to do all the time!). I took dog food over in December no problem. I guess if they found it, I would say that it would cause a medical issue to change food suddenly so I thought it was covered by the medical issue thing (it says you can take up to 2kgs which is quite a bit no?), and if not, then they could confiscate it and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I don't think anything would really happen if you tried taking it, so it's worth a try.

Cheers - I imagine we’ll take some, but it’s balancing the risk of getting it taken. We’re heading on a long trip so would probably take a big (10-15kg) bag, and the stuff we get is pretty expensive. Probably take a few kg and then find a stockist in the EU to get a big bag from whilst there.

Sarnian

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#13 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
February 25, 2022, 01:11:47 pm
I usually take 1 or 2 15kg bags and also haven’t had any problems being stopped. They always stop my van to have a quick look but never check the fridge or any cupboards. In the stores I checked, dog food was more expensive in Germany and Spain so seems worth the risk bringing with you.

Sarnian

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#14 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
March 03, 2022, 01:22:23 pm
I went to get my dog his Rabies booster today and the vet said she can’t sign either of his passports. I’m surprised by this and maybe a different vet wouldn’t care. Fortunately his current one doesn’t run out till June and I’m heading to Europe anyway so can get it done there.

Evil

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#15 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
March 04, 2022, 12:03:35 pm
I went to get my dog his Rabies booster today and the vet said she can’t sign either of his passports. I’m surprised by this and maybe a different vet wouldn’t care. Fortunately his current one doesn’t run out till June and I’m heading to Europe anyway so can get it done there.

Oh damn, another problem. Thanks for posting this. I really hope they can get to renegotiating this soon, but I don't imagine it's very high on anyone's priorities right now, so I'm not holding my breath.

jshaw

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#16 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 01, 2022, 12:54:00 pm
Just got back from our trip and wanted to say thanks for the advice to those who posted here. Had a great time and dog-based faffery was kept to a minimum.

For future reference, UryVet were extremely helpful. Helped to speak a bit of French, but their English was excellent. Booked an appointment in advance via email, ~25euro in total and they knew what to do with all the paperwork. Only took 20 mins and there's a good boulangerie/patisserie just down the road :D.

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#17 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 01, 2022, 02:05:39 pm
That’s great news, glad you had a successful trip. We gave up on the idea of talking our dog this year (didn’t realise the process before going would take so long), but we’re definitely talking him next year.

James Malloch

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#18 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 01, 2022, 07:11:49 pm
Has anyone got experience of getting their dog an EU passport post Brexit?

Think it’s work trying to get one whilst we’re out to make things easier for future trips…

Any advice appreciated!

Evil

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#19 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 03, 2022, 09:15:03 am
Just got back from our trip and wanted to say thanks for the advice to those who posted here. Had a great time and dog-based faffery was kept to a minimum.

For future reference, UryVet were extremely helpful. Helped to speak a bit of French, but their English was excellent. Booked an appointment in advance via email, ~25euro in total and they knew what to do with all the paperwork. Only took 20 mins and there's a good boulangerie/patisserie just down the road :D.

Oh interesting, I saw this thread and thought I should update it because I found a great vet in Ury who gave me a wormer and a stamp for the return journey for 6 Euros! I just dropped in when they opened one morning with the idea that I could book an appointment for later on (or next day etc) if they were busy then, but they were quiet and did it right away.

James Malloch

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#20 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 13, 2022, 08:11:24 am
Has anyone got experience of getting their dog an EU passport post Brexit?

Think it’s work trying to get one whilst we’re out to make things easier for future trips…

Any advice appreciated!

For anyone interested, we booked an appointment at a vet in Les Bourges Del Camp (a friend used this before) which is close to Margalef/Siurana.

We had to register our dogs microchip in the EU, get an EU passport and re-do the rabies vaccine. Each part was €40.

The vet had to call to check a few things but it took a few hours (over 2 days as she was a vet down and very busy).

We had to have an address in the EU so we used some family in Germany. They were happy for it to be the campsite though if we needed.

Dog is now European and we won’t need to pay £150+ every time we go on holiday! And no time limit now.

The only thing is we need to get the rabies vaccine done in the EU each time, and Spain's is only valid for 1 year rather than 3.

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#21 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 10:01:53 am
No dog but anyone have first hand experience travelling Dover - Calais by Ferry recently?

Heading to Font soon and just wondering what additional checks to expect post Brexit/Covid?. 

James Malloch

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#22 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 10:23:42 am
No dog but anyone have first hand experience travelling Dover - Calais by Ferry recently?

Heading to Font soon and just wondering what additional checks to expect post Brexit/Covid?.

Don’t think we had any additional checks (other than getting a stamp in my passport). This was 6 weeks ago but was Easter week and not busy at all.

The only advice I got was to make sure the date stamped is correct. No Covid stuff at all (though some countries might want you to do a passenger locator form still).

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#23 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 10:37:50 am
did font on eurostar (back by car/chunnel) a couple of weeks ago

No PLF for france via train or car anymore, no additional checks I noticed, just make sure they stamp your passport with the right date (tbh this hasn't been an issue for me so far, and I've been to Greece, Spain, and France in the last year)

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#24 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 10:39:15 am
Thanks for the replies, my vaccine cert will be expired so not sure whether to risk it with a LFT test or get boosted - also our first trip post brexit and hoping it's relatively the same experience...   

Evil

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#25 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 12:38:56 pm
did font on eurostar (back by car/chunnel) a couple of weeks ago

No PLF for france via train or car anymore, no additional checks I noticed, just make sure they stamp your passport with the right date (tbh this hasn't been an issue for me so far, and I've been to Greece, Spain, and France in the last year)

The channel tunnel does currently require you to upload a vaccine passport before you travel (I didn't fully check what is required if you are not). France sort of requires you to have had the booster - here is the relevant part
"For travellers aged 18 and over, France will recognise you as ‘vaccinated’ for entry purposes if you completed your initial vaccine course within the last 9 months. If more than 9 months have elapsed since your initial course, and you have not since received a booster, you will be considered unvaccinated and must follow the rules detailed below."
From here - https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements

Basically they want you to have received the third (booster) within 9 months of the 2nd dose. Otherwise you'd have to start the whole thing again. When I checked previously, the requirement was to be "fully vaccinated" and to have had all 3, but it seems like there is some leeway if your first two were completed within the last 9 months.

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#26 Re: Taking a dog to Font / EU
May 26, 2022, 02:06:53 pm
Sorry, yes agreed, and my vaccine status was checked at passport control for the eurostar. I meant for brexit.

 

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