Importing a dog to the UK is one of the harder import processes. The UK have a regulation that states that dogs can only fly into the UK in cargo. This means that they can’t even fly in the hold with you as excess baggage in the hold on a passenger flight. You must fly as cargo which usually means flying on a separate flight to your humans.
Not only does this mean that you will be separated from your humans, it also is extremely expensive. It can cost thousands depending where you are coming from!
My pawrents had managed to get approval for me to fly in cabin on Singapore Airlines. They therefore did not want to then put me in cargo when they had approval for me to fly in cabin. So they began to look at alternative options.
Importing a dog to the UK from France
One option is to fly into France, usually Paris, and then go across the Channel. This is a reasonable option if you wish to arrive to the South. However, it is still a bit difficult to get across the channel without your own car. The Eurostar does not allow pets to travel on the train.
There is only 1 ferry that allows people on it without a car. This is the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe with DFDS. However, they can’t stay with you, they must be put in a kennel on the car deck for the duration of the ferry.
If you have a car, then you can go on most of the other ferry options between France and the UK. But pets must remain in the car at all times or in kennels on the car deck as well. Of course, during summer when the temperatures are high, it’s not really a good idea to be leaving your dog in the car. So again, it’s not really so pet friendly.
The best option would be to take your car on the Eurotunnel. This way your dog stays in the car with the humans. It only takes about 35 minutes and costs £22 per pet. Another variation on this route would be to use a driver service.
A couple of options to take a look at are Folkestone Taxi’s and Pet Moves which will both take you from France to the UK on the Eurotunnel.
Importing a dog to the UK from Netherlands (Amsterdam)
Another option to choose is to take the ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle. This is a great option if your final destination is in the North of England or Scotland. This is the route that we took as we were heading back to my pawrents home town of Newcastle. The DFDS ferry has pet friendly cabins. As the journey is 17 hours, it’s definitely much needed to have a cabin of your own. The cost to add a pet to the booking is £32.
You can also book to put your dog in the kennel area on the ferry. This would mean leaving them alone. I’m not really sure who would choose to do this as there’s also a cost for this. So you might as well have them with you in the cabin. I’m not sure why you would choose to be separated from each other when you have the option to be together. Especially when it’s only £32.
You can book online if you are taking your car. If you are travelling as a foot passenger (which we were) you need to book over the phone for some reason. Check out my experience on this ferry on the blog and my Youtube.
Documents Required
We were travelling from Thailand which is classed as a high risk country. This means we had the strictest requirements. The UK Gov website has all of the details on it as to how to bring your dog to the UK with you. As with all of my other imports and exports, you will know by now that I have all my jabs, rabies vaccines and titer test up to date at all times. This makes things a lot easier.
The basics are required even if you are coming from a rabies free country;
- Microchip
- Rabies vaccine (dog must be at least 12 weeks old)
- Tapeworm treatment (at least 24 hours, at most 120 hours before arrival into the UK)
- Standard annual vaccinations which are up to date
- Veterinary Health Certificate from an approved vet in the country of departure. (We travelled from Thailand via Singapore and stopped in Amsterdam for 3 days. The certificate had to be done in the coutnry of origin ie Thailand).
If you are coming from a low risk country, you will need to wait 21 days after the rabies vaccine before your dog can enter the UK. If you are coming from a higher risk country (any country not listed) then you will also need a rabies titer test.
Rabies Titer Test
- Must be done at least 30 days after the rabies vaccine.
- Must be carried out in an EU approved laboratory.
- The result must have rabies antibody level of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
- You must then wait at least 3 months before you can travel to the UK.
Document Check
All of the above documents were checked by the check in agent at the ferry terminal in Amsterdam. When we arrived into the UK they were not checked at all. We simply went through immigration for the humans. There was no-one at the customs desk or anyone to ask. Other dogs in front of us also just walked through with no checks. We assume that the UK accept the checks done by the check in agent in Amsterdam. However, this may be different on other days or if arriving another way.
My humans did all the paperwork themselves. They did not use an agent which they felt was costly and not required. If you follow the government website, everything should be very straight forward. You can also e-mail the APHA on PetTravel@apha.gov.uk if you have any questions or are unsure of anything.
I hope this helps if you are planning to travel with your dog to the UK. Please let me know in the comments if you have your own personal experience.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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