12 May 2025
A charity leader has also hailed the change, which a senior clinician believes will ease the administrative burden on practices.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Allen Parton and ET outside BSAVA Congress in Manchester.
The BVA has welcomed forthcoming changes to the rules controlling pet travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (NI), which it says will ease clinicians’ workloads.
From 4 June, pet owners bringing cats, dogs and ferrets from Britain to Northern Ireland will only require a pet travel document (PTD), which can be obtained free through an online application process.
Travel to Northern Ireland previously mirrored EU requirements, including up-to-date rabies vaccinations, tapeworm treatment no more than 5 days before arrival and an animal health certificate (AHC) signed by an “official veterinarian.”
BVA junior vice-president Rob Williams said: “These certificates were considerably more complex and time-consuming than the previous EU pet passport system, so vet practices had to factor in the extra resource required to complete them.
“The introduction of the new pet travel document for travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a welcome pragmatic solution and will ease the workload for vets, as they will no longer be required to issue AHCs.”
Pet owners will still need to have their animal microchipped to apply for a PTD, which lasts for as long as the owner has the pet, and separate documents are required for each animal.
As part of the application process owners will be asked for microchip details, the pet’s breed, colour and sex, and any unusual identifying features such as a missing eye or leg.
Allen Parton, founder of Hounds for Heroes, a charity connecting assistance dogs with disabled military veterans throughout the UK, is among the first to be issued a PTD for his dog, ET.
He said: “The introduction of new post-Brexit changes and regulations made travel to Northern Ireland not only costly, but also created administrative difficulties.
“This new scheme is going to be a game changer and allow us to be more reactive to applications from NI-based veterans and also requests from service-related organisations and charities for presentations.”
