Importing Pets and Horses

If you are bringing your pets and horses into the UK you will need to be aware of the rules and procedures for dogs and cats, horses, and other animals. In addition to the information on this web site, the DEFRA web site has an extensive section on Bringing Pets into Britain that you will find useful. 

Smuggling of an animal into Britain is a criminal offence and carries severe penalties which may include any work permit or residence permit being revoked. Don't be tempted!!
 
Britain has very strict quarantine rules to ensure that Rabies is kept out and animals from countries not approved for the Pet Travel Scheme must enter under the quarantine rules.

A quick overview is provided for each category of animal below with links to other pages that provide the detailed information. 

Please contact The Relocation Bureau if you need advice and assistance or if you have an unusual pet. Click here to contact us.

    Dogs and Cats 

There are 2 schemes for bringing dogs and cats into the UK:-

        The Pet Travel Scheme and Quarantine

Please refer to our pages on the PETS Scheme Imports and Quarantine Imports.

The Pet Travel Scheme only applies to Cats and Dogs from certain countries and they must arrive at an approved port or airport via an approved route.

Quarantine rules will apply to dogs and cats from areas that are not approved for the Pet Travel Scheme. 

Any breeds of dog bred for fighting will not under any circumstances be allowed into Britain. These include Pit Bull Terriers, Japanese Tosas, Gogo Argentinos, Fila Brazilieros and any other dog which appears to have been bred for fighting.

    Horses

Bringing your horse into the UK has completely different rules to those that are applied to cats and dogs.

The best piece of news has to be that horses are not subject to the six month quarantine rules and can be moved to stabling straight from the place of arrival.

An Import Licence is not required.

Click here to link to our Bringing your Horse to the UK page

Other Animals

Rabies-susceptible mammals that are brought into the UK will have to go into quarantine for six months. This still applies even though the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) has come into operation. 

PETS may be extended in the future to include some of the species listed below.

In all these cases an Import Licence will be required.

Transporting your Pet by Air

The crate in which your pet is travelling must meet International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards. 

This means it must be large enough to allow your pet to stand in a natural position, turn around and lie down. The airline will advise you or your agents on the correct size of crate. 

Your pet must travel in the freight compartment as ‘manifest cargo’ and not as excess or passenger baggage. 

Your pet will not be allowed to travel with you in the passenger cabin under any circumstances. It is your responsibility to ensure that this condition is met. 

British Airways has an excellent reputation for carrying animals with the care and attention that you would expect and is often used by clients of The Relocation Bureau.

They will ensure that your animal is in an appropriate crate and will replace inappropriate crates if necessary.  Their FLY TOGETHER service allows owners and pets to travel together on the same service and their UNACCOMPANIED service is for pets travelling under the supervision of their experienced cargo staff.

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