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> Spain, a Guide > Pets, the
eurotunnel |
Taking pets through the Eurotunnel You will already have a valid pet's passport and export certificate for your pet, but haven't taken it abroad before. On the English side of the Eurotunnel there are no special facilities for pet-carrying cars and you drive onto the train just like everyone else, although your pet will have to stay in the car throughout the journey. There are some dog exercise areas once inside the Eurotunnel compound, but they only are only just adequate. More than likely the MAFF export certificate will not even be asked for, much less looked at by French customs officials; even less so by any-custom official from any of the other Schengen treaty countries. After all, generally you just drive across the various borders without stopping or any checks. The return journey is the more complicated part: before you return to the UK, you will have to let your pet undergo a prescribed treatment against fleas and ticks, and also a required prescribed treatment against worms, which comes in the form of tablets, and obtain a certificate verifying that your pet has been so treated. This certificate differs in form from country to country, and should be supplied by the vet overseas who administers the treatments. The vet will also fill in this certificate and must then sign and/or stamp it, confirming the date, time and place that the treatments took place. You, of course, will have to pay the vet for the certificate, the consultation and the treatments... Please note that both treatments need to be administered not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours before you check in to travel at the Eurotunnel Terminal in France. Any time less and you will have to wait until 24 hours has elapsed before you can travel. Any time more and your pet will have to undergo the treatments again, and you will then have to wait a further 24 hours from the subsequent treatments. Your pet is now ready to return to the UK. Thus you will need to work out where you are going to be in the relevant 24 hour period in order to get your pet treated, and you really ought to find a vet abroad before you leave the UK who can treat your pet. However, it does not have to be a vet in the French Eurotunnel area it can be anywhere within the area where Passports For Pets certificates are issued and you can travel across borders, as you are not restricted from travelling after the treatment has been applied (1 have my dog treated in the Netherlands the day before we cross two borders)! All you have to ensure is that you travel back to the UK not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours after the treatments are administered. Once you arrive at Calais you will be asked to pay a £30 fee for your pet's passage onboard. You are then given a sticker to hang from your screen mirror, which indicates that you have a pet in your car. You will be directed to the special gated Passport For Pets enclosure, which has a huge pet paw print on a yellow shield and is situated to the left of the customs area. Having entered the enclosure, you will be asked to scan for the microchip in your pet. The official will check the scan read-out to ensure that it conforms to the microchip number stated on your pet's Pet Passport and the flea and worm treatment certificate, and will ensure that you are travelling within the prescribed 24 hour period after the flea and worm treatments are administered. Assuming that all is okay, you will then have to sign a form declaring that your pet has not been outside the Passport for Pets area within the last six months. From there, you are free to clear customs and to board the Eurotunnel train and return to the UK with your pet. Eurosettlers Limited, The Laithe, Middop, Clitheroe, Lancs BB7 4JR T: 01200 445045 F: 01200 445845 E : enquiries@eurosettlers.com |
