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New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Old Feb 23rd 2012, 1:28 am
  #91  
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by Back2UK
You see my dog has had her up to date injections including the 3 yr rabies but isn't microchipped so that is why I think I will have to have it again. They are quiet specific about the rabies after microchipped so I can see $$$$ ching ching
Yes, we are just going through this now and the rabies shot definitely has to be after the chip.
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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 11:26 am
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Back2UK, I am in the same position with my three dogs - they already have had rabies vaccines - my undestanding is that if they are up to date that should be fine.

I am using a pet carrier (Worldwide Animal Services) so will be asking this question and can glady pass on the information to you. They will have the documentation countersigned by the second vet for me as well.
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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 11:30 am
  #93  
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

The whole point of having a dog microchipped first and then the rabies shots is so they can document that that particular dog has received the shots. If the shots are done first...where is the proof that the dog micro chipped actually received the shots?
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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 1:51 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by Moggiemiss
Back2UK, I am in the same position with my three dogs - they already have had rabies vaccines - my undestanding is that if they are up to date that should be fine.
No, it's not. The rabies shot has to be done after the chip for the reason Jerseygirl explained.

Things like this are why people have their pets confiscated at the airport so please, please do it the right way round.
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Old May 3rd 2012, 10:23 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

I've lived here for 12 years but am sending my lovely dog to the UK to be with my parents. She just had to be re-vaccinated against rabies because, even though she has been microchipped for 4 years, her regular vet didn't follow the steps as laid out by DEFRA when doing the vaccine (I didn't know for sure I would send her at that point). So on Monday she went to the local APHIS approved vet, had her chip read and then had another vaccine. Felt terrible for doing that to her.

Is there anyone on here who knows about HomeAgain microchips and if they can still be read at the ARC at Heathrow? Also, who can tell me what you do about the dog's lead and collar when they are in the crate... do I keep her collar on? Do I just pop her lead in there with her? I can't seem to find a site that gives me the little details like that....

Thanks.
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Old May 3rd 2012, 11:35 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Hi stelly
I am shipping my three dogs in 2 weeks.

I am sorry that you had to put your puppy through the rabies vaccine again.

I was told by the pet transportation company and James cargo animal reception centre at heathrow that they have several types of scanners. Contact James cargo as they are so helpful.

I was told that the leads are to be zap strapped to the outside of the crate on the side and that they can wear their collars in the crate.

When I brought my cat to Canada in 2008 as Excess Baggage, I had to remove her collar.

Hope this info helps
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Old May 4th 2012, 2:13 am
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Thanks, Moggiemiss. I couldn't seem to find a pet transportation company and since I live only 45 mins from Newark it didn't seem worth it. My parents will collect her from Heathrow so I thought we could do it alone. But all the details are what I'm trying to work out. Still trying to decide between using Virgin or Continental to send her. She's 7 and I'm worried about her being too stressed on the journey, she's not overly impressed by the crate that I bought and has been reluctant to go into it...
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Old May 4th 2012, 1:59 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by Stelly
I've lived here for 12 years but am sending my lovely dog to the UK to be with my parents. She just had to be re-vaccinated against rabies because, even though she has been microchipped for 4 years, her regular vet didn't follow the steps as laid out by DEFRA when doing the vaccine (I didn't know for sure I would send her at that point). So on Monday she went to the local APHIS approved vet, had her chip read and then had another vaccine. Felt terrible for doing that to her.

Is there anyone on here who knows about HomeAgain microchips and if they can still be read at the ARC at Heathrow? Also, who can tell me what you do about the dog's lead and collar when they are in the crate... do I keep her collar on? Do I just pop her lead in there with her? I can't seem to find a site that gives me the little details like that....

Thanks.
Just brought my dog back from India and strapped the lead and collar on the outside of the crate on the top attached it in a zip lock bag with thick tape. My issue was the water container, it leaked due to turbulence.. If I did it again I would teach the dog how to use a hamster/bunny bottle as I think that would have been better.

Most definitely chip vaccination and in our case blood test and wait 3 months!!
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Old May 4th 2012, 3:29 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by pennylessinindia
Just brought my dog back from India and strapped the lead and collar on the outside of the crate on the top attached it in a zip lock bag with thick tape. My issue was the water container, it leaked due to turbulence.. If I did it again I would teach the dog how to use a hamster/bunny bottle as I think that would have been better.

Most definitely chip vaccination and in our case blood test and wait 3 months!!

Members have posted in past threads that they recommend getting your pet used to the crate they are going to be travelling in and also attach a drinking bottle to the side so they can get used to getting water using the bottle.

Good idea using a ziplock bag for the lead and collar.

It's worth noting that you travelled from India (thus the 3 mths)...the DEFRA restrictions depend on the country you are travelling from.
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Old May 27th 2012, 1:36 am
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Just thought I'd update the thread with my experience sending Josie to England last week (am still a bit )

We sent her Continental/United from EWR-LHR on a night flight.

-Our original crate (from Craigslist) wasn't tall enough - she needed 3" above her head and she had about 2", luckily we had double checked and just bought a new one which was much nicer anyway.

-We added zip ties to the corners of the crate, and the airline zip tied her door just before she was taken away.

-Put two water bowls on the door, United won't allow you to use water bottles.

-There must be absorbent material at the bottom of the crate so we bought puppy pads and then put an old (semi-flattened) comforter of hers in there to line the crate. My parents tell me she did not pee in there.

-Continental sold us on their PetSafe program. They said there was a dedicated facility at Newark where she would go in her crate before the flight, all quiet and air conditioned. Nope. Not true, it's closed. They wanted me to leave her in her crate on the scales of the QuikPak office while people bustled by and she was terrified. Very annoyed.

-Their handler at LHR, PBS Freight, told me they would clear her from the plane to ARC in half the time of British Airways and Virgin. On the day that was doubled "because they are very busy", I wonder if I was misled a bit.

-At no point did anyone at the airline check the crate or its contents to make sure they met standards, I don't think they even knew what breed of dog she was.

-When making the booking they told me that she would have to be crated before going into the airport, and that there was no way to park outside. So I had a friend come with me to drive the car from the drop off to parking while I took the dog and crate inside. They have no carts that would fit a dog crate that you can get hold of. Instead I was forced to pay $5 for a luggage cart/trolley and the crate actually tipped off it . If doing it again I'd just walk the dog in on her lead and have someone else wheel the crate in for me empty.

-The paperwork they gave me to sign at the airport did not have any of my father's information on it - the entire recipient bit was blank. Thank goodness I noticed this.

-The dog's paperwork when finished (vet stuff, USDA/APHIS stuff, airline stuff, letter from vet, customs form) was all put into a pouch and stuck to the top of the crate. I took a big ziplock bag and taped that to the front top of the crate with her lead and collar in it (not the best ones since I was told they could get lost).

-The counter staff bought over a cooler of ice and put that into her water bowls. They all seemed terrified of being bitten by her (even though I was talking about my kids so presumably my dog had never savaged them..?!) so not sure how they would have put the ice in had I not been present to undo the crate.

-They are nice to you when you cry because your dog is your favourite family member.

-When she got to the ARC they fed her, even though I'd phoned DEFRA and asked them this (at $40 a second on an 0870 number) and they'd told me they wouldn't.

-She has a Home Again chip and apparently they read it just fine.

-PBS were spot on when they told me it would be 4 hours until she was released. Pretty much exactly 4 hours after her flight landed (it was 45 mins late), they released her to my father. She was happy and didn't seem bothered. He said they had her blankets folded up and asked him IF he wanted the crate back. Haha! The $130 crate?!? YES PLEASE. Cheeky so they brought it around for him.

Notes on DEFRA rules/regs:
-The vet we used is supposedly very good at this process, but had NO idea what she was doing. Fortunately she was very nice and so were her office staff so we could fix the problems easily. I had to explain repeatedly how the rules had changed in Jan 2012, to no avail. She called the APHIS office and they told her I still needed to do the tick/flea treatment. I couldn't be bothered to argue so brought in a dose I had left. She admitted afterwards that it wasn't needed.

-The local APHIS office (1.5 hours away) was really nice, the man there let me email him the forms in advance to check what the vet had done because she and I thought there might be mistakes (there were).

-PBS told me that we needed a letter in addition to the other paperwork, on letterhead, saying that the rabies vaccine was administered AFTER the microchip. This drove me nuts since the microchip was installed in 2009!! The vet didn't want to do this as she said the certificate and forms should prove this, but she did it anyway and faxed it to me. Apparently there was someone at the ARC waiting for her US vet to fax something similar over, so save yourself the trouble and make sure you have that letter. It has to state that the microchip (with #) was read before vaccine x was administered.

-We had the rabies vaccine given on April 30th, the tapeworm on May 21st and she flew on May 23rd. I drove the paperwork down to APHIS myself and waited 35 mins for them to approve it. You must have an appointment for that though.

-Double check everything. On the letter my vet wrote that the rabies vaccine was administered on April 31st, so I had to get her to correct that. She also wrote the date in the wrong format in one place.

My dog seems very happy in England with my parents and none the worse for her ordeal (she was not happy when she got in the crate at the airport).

I hope this helps anyone else with questions about the process. If it needs to be posted elsewhere, please let me know.

Last edited by Stelly; May 27th 2012 at 1:40 am.
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Old May 27th 2012, 1:19 pm
  #101  
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Thanks for the update.

I am going to be going through this in about 3 months and it has suddenly hit me and I am kind of going into a mini-meltdown about it!

I know I saved a link somewhere about the guidelines for crates, but now I cannot find it. Is there a link on the DEFRA website about the regs for crates, or does it depend on the airline? I'm now seriously thinking about getting a pet moving company to coordinate this for me.
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Old May 27th 2012, 4:35 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Thank you for the feedback and it's also reassuring that your pet is ok.
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Old May 27th 2012, 6:37 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Juswus, I was going on the DEFRA regs to begin with, which I'm sure said 1" above head, and then Continental said 3". I'd check both and go with the most generous.

I don't know what I was thinking really, sending her over. It seemed a win-win for everyone (dog gets more attention, we get to sell our house without a slobbering maniac tramping through it every day, my parents get a lovely dog whose background they know) but in reality it's been horrible. I miss her terribly. Fortunately the process itself was really good to her, so if you were following your dog (or going ahead of them) rather than sending them alone like I did, you'd be fine.
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Old May 28th 2012, 12:47 pm
  #104  
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by Stelly
Juswus, I was going on the DEFRA regs to begin with, which I'm sure said 1" above head, and then Continental said 3". I'd check both and go with the most generous.

I don't know what I was thinking really, sending her over. It seemed a win-win for everyone (dog gets more attention, we get to sell our house without a slobbering maniac tramping through it every day, my parents get a lovely dog whose background they know) but in reality it's been horrible. I miss her terribly. Fortunately the process itself was really good to her, so if you were following your dog (or going ahead of them) rather than sending them alone like I did, you'd be fine.
Thanks for the reply
Ridiculous isn't it how stressed we get over this.
Hope you get to see yours soon
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Old May 30th 2012, 5:31 pm
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Default Re: New DEFRA Regs from January 2012

Originally Posted by Stelly
......

-PBS told me that we needed a letter in addition to the other paperwork, on letterhead, saying that the rabies vaccine was administered AFTER the microchip. This drove me nuts since the microchip was installed in 2009!! The vet didn't want to do this as she said the certificate and forms should prove this, but she did it anyway and faxed it to me. Apparently there was someone at the ARC waiting for her US vet to fax something similar over, so save yourself the trouble and make sure you have that letter. It has to state that the microchip (with #) was read before vaccine x was administered.
Stelly, Thanks for posting this, its great to use as a checklist; Can I ask if the Vets letter for the Rabies/chip conf had to follow any set formatt or just letterhead and dates?
Thanks again
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