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Michael Leidig, a British expatriate living and working in Vienna, has travelled easily across most of Western Europe and Hungary with his Spanish-born canine companion, Carlos.

Now, however, the correspondent for the UK's Daily Telegraph finds himself going to great lengths to bring Carlos home.

"Because of the rabies law in England I've had to have Carlos taken to the vets over here and have him undergo a series of blood tests and also complete a multitude of complicated paperwork," Leidig says. "As one blood test went wrong, we now have to wait ages before I can restart from scratch."

And when Carlos is finally allowed to enter the UK, Leidig has to ensure the dog will be locked in a cage - a situation that would make any creature unhappy. "The whole process is terribly bureaucratic in my view and it costs an absolute fortune," he remarks.

Scores of expatriate workers like Leidig insist their pets accompany them. For the most part, those within mainland Europe have traditionally been able to pass freely with their pets from one country to another since few EU countries actively enforce their pet relocation laws.

However, certain countries, including Sweden and Ireland and especially the UK, still operate laws that bear little relation to their EU counterparts.

In fact, the UK's laws on pet mobility are widely viewed as the strictest and most bureaucratic in Europe. Although the UK abolished quarantine for pets from 22 countries in Western Europe in 2000, the owners must show documents that prove the animal has been vaccinated against rabies and have been inserted with a microchip.

Ed van Bodegrafen is the managing director of Netherlands-based Voerman International, which includes pet transportation as part of its relocation package. "Pet transportation is definitely something which is popular with expatriates," he says, noting that shipping pets depends largely on whether the expat's company is willing to pay for it.

But the UK's laws give him headaches as well.

"Really, the only problems we face at the moment is when we have pets that are to enter the UK," says van Bodegrafen. "Here things are made really tricky, and many expatriates have complained to us about the criteria they had to comply [with]. Some even said the rules were so rigid that they have chosen not to relocate to the UK."

Voerman, like many companies that offer pet relocation services, arranges for animals to be picked up, kennelled, and shipped or flown and then picked up at the destination. Before beloved Fido takes off, owners are informed of local pet regulations. In most cases, the pet will need certification from a veterinarian that the animal is rabies-free and/or has had recently been vaccinated for rabies (see specific requirements below).

Leidig, for instance, has to have Carlos fitted with a chip before he can take him home.

"I accept that there has to be some element of control, also I would certainly be the last person to enjoy being bitten by a rabid dog when strolling on the Brighton seafront," Leidig says. "However, at the moment the UK laws are far too bureaucratic. Why not just ensure the pets are vaccinated regularly and have blood tests?"

Charlotte Usher, secretary of the UK-based Pet Passports group, shares the view that the laws remain too strict and cumbersome. The organisation has campaigned since 1994 for UK quarantine reform.

"What's the point of stopping pets coming into the country? Providing the animals comply with the necessary laws, then we believe animals should be able to come from wherever," Usher says.

Help may be on the way. The EU is currently formulating new legislation governing pet mobility throughout the 15 member states. Jaques Fevrier, who works within the European Commission's Animal Health and Welfare Unit, says it will "harmonise" existing laws for EU member states.

"It will be nothing new, more a rendering official of things which already exist, and will include points such as a European document, which is a mixture of a passport and a vaccination record and an identification card," explains Fevrier.

"It will be a classification of countries - 'safe' and 'risky if you like. The 'safe' ones will be rabies free or at least have a level of rabies which is equivalent to other European countries. Conditions will by and large apply here throughout these countries. The 'risky' countries will require three months' quarantine and the same system will be applied as for animals entering the UK, with a period of three months' quarantine, and criteria regarding vaccination."

Despite the apparent support for EU legislation, which would ease existing regulations on pet mobility, not everyone believes it will make European pet owners happy.

Colin Silver is managing director and founder of UK-based travel firm Dogs Away, which specialises in people taking trips with their dogs, including visits abroad to mainland Europe.

He says at the moment, mainland Europeans have very little border-control when transporting pets through member states, and that a new law which supposedly maintains this may end up actually lowering levels of pet mobility.

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