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Taking your pets to Spain can be a remarkably simple and stress-free process, as expat Tony Roberts finds out.For many Brits, the companionship of man’s best friend is second to one. However, what happens when you decide you want to relocate and take old pooch along with you.

The Pet Travel Scheme was introduced in February 2000 for dogs and cats travelling from certain European countries. This basically states that in order to take your dog or cat abroad, you have to obtain a passport for your pet. This is a great scheme because it does away with the need for quarantine, which can be very distressing for everybody.
Our experience of obtaining passports couldn’t have been simpler. Our local vet knew exactly what was needed and the timescale involved. So it was just a case of turning up with the dogs and paying him.
A pet has to meet certain conditions to be able to enter and re-enter the UK without quarantine. These rules are set to protect human and animal health, and to reduce the risk of importing rabies. Animals not meeting all the rules must be put into quarantine.
For dogs and cats entering or re-entering the UK, the following steps must be carried out: your pet must be micro-chipped; vaccinated against rabies (but not before it is 3 months old); blood tested at an EU-approved laboratory and obtain a satisfactory result; issued with an EU pet passport and teated against ticks and tapeworms.
Pet transport
There are a number of ways to transport your dog, and the best thing about Spain is that animals are allowed to travel to most airports. The DEFRA website has a full listing of transport companies that are happy to carry pets. The company you will be travelling with will need to know that you are bringing your pet and there is normally a cost to cover flight and UK handling charges. Also, you need to notify the airports which you are travelling to prior to your departure. The DEFRA website lists some Spanish phrases that may help you here.
I have just moved with 5 cats to Finland, and the process was indeed much easier than I thought (and very similar to that outlined above). However I used a company to organise the flights and admin, and came unstuck with them due to their extremely unprofessional behaviour. I can't name the company but would warn anyone thinking of moving their animals to be very careful picking a company from a website without checking they are DEFRA recommended and IPATA registered. This company put me through hell, totally unnecessarily. Lukcily, the cats were not affected and have settled well.
Before you head out to explore the new city, make sure your paperwork's all done by referring to our guide.
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