Hi all,

A good family friend has a lovely dog, Luma, that she adopted when she was living in Tanzania (Luma was a street dog).

My friend is an Australian citizen, but currently lives in France, and has French residency.

She has imported Luma to France, which involved getting the pet passport, vaccinations, registering herself as Luma’s owner, and registering her to my friends verified address in France (she owns the property).

My friend is now about to be moved to Syria (she works for the UN) for 12-18 months, so is looking for someone who could look after Luma for that period, and I have offered. I live in the UK.

We are trying to understand what complexities there might be around this.

Firstly, does the owner of the dog (my friend) have to be with her when the dog enters the UK, or could I go to France and bring Luma to the UK? Does flying or driving make any difference?

Will there be issues regarding bringing a dog into the UK whose owner is not from the UK nor has an address in the UK?

Do we have to register Luma once she is in the UK? Do I have to become her official owner or anything like that, for her to be allowed to stay in the UK for an extended period?

And if I do have to become her registered owner, when we return the dog to France, will it raise questions when my friend becomes the registered owner again?

Thanks!
Duane

All the info you need here.

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad

Your freind doesn’t need to travel with it. Company that tranports pets.

https://jalsauk.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAk7TuBRDQARIsAMRrfUbjjtlhQFofqiOnpNbriwLKzhHMeG77aWgt4YDC6r4XZEY5VJOneNEaAkKkEALw_wcB

We bring our dogs to and from France on dover to Calais and chunnel about 8 times a year. You need to get a valid pet passport for the UK, French vet will sort that.
Pat passport is not ‘passport’ as such, it is just a collection of documents that prove the dog has a chip, and vaccinations that can be related to the chip. UK vets put it in a nice blue booklet called a pet passport, but a load of bits of paper with the right things on them are valid.
There isn’t an official dog register of owners in the Uk that I know of, as long as you are on the pet passport as the owner then it is all good.

Note coming into the Uk from France you have to have had a specific type of wormer between 24hrs and 5 days before travel, less than 24 hrs or more than 5 days, you can’t bring the dog in. We have seen people get turned away.

The ferry was a lot less hassle than the chunnel too. Dog smiles through window of car at passport guy, he is generally happy with that.

Crossed post with taxi -I was going to mention pet transporters – all you need is a letter form the owner I think – but as I have no experience of this, I can’t comment on what works…

Thanks for the replies.

So to bring the dog into the country, it either needs to be with the owner, or with an official pet transport country? Which means we wouldn’t be able to (easily) go on holiday out of the UK with Luma?

Another Q – if my friend enters the UK with Luma, leaves her with us, and then leaves the UK without Luma, will that be flagged on any system/look suspicious? I’m assuming that UK systems are not that well connected…

I don’t think it matters who bring the dog in as long as the dog has correct documents.
When we did it, the woman at the tunnel couldn’t be bothered to get out of her cabin and gave me the scanner to scan the chip.

As above if the dog has the right paperwork, anyone can take her anywhere. What would be a useful thing to do, would be to have the dogs micro-chip updated with your details while with you, so if she’s lost & recovered they won’t be trying to contact the your friend in Syria, or where-ever the current details have her as.

The dog will need the pet passport and that includes proof of date of micro chipping, vaccinations for rabies and blood testing. It will then need to be treated for tapeworm in the 1-5 day period before entering the UK.

The owner doesn’t have to travel with it and it doesn’t have to be a travel company transporting the dog either. You could for peace of mind have a letter from the owner stating you are the foster owner.

When you get the dog to the uk then register with a vet and get them to check chip and give details of how to register it in the UK with your details ( again may need letter from owner for this)

I’d insure it in your name and have an agreement drawn up with the owner as to who has responsibility for routine vaccinations, worming and any vet treatment it may require. This would include what to do in an emergency where the owner can’t be contacted and ideally have that in writing to provide to the vet.

Been there when the foster owner can’t make a decision and the owner isn’t contactable in an emergency and it’s not great for the dog.

Thanks for all the help. It all sounds a fair bit simpler than I was thinking. Very good point regarding getting letters from owner.

The gov.uk site says “Your pet must arrive in the UK no more than 5 days before or after you, or you’ll have to follow different rules.”

Who is the “you” it refers to – the owner of the dog according to the paperwork, or anyone who is bringing the dog into the UK?

Just another question after reading the replies above.

5plusn8 said ” as long as you are on the pet passport as the owner then it is all good.”

That’s the thing though right, I won’t be on the passport, it will be my friend’s name. Will that be an issue then?

Uk passports and from memory most EU passports have the owners name and address on the inside pages. There is usually a space for adding a further name and address eg if you move. I’d suggest putting your name there if you are worried but I don’t think that is a big issue honestly if you have letter from owner stating you are fostering the dog for x period of time.

Too many dogs in UK – mobile shitting machines.
Don’t take TOO personally.

I had a rescue dog in from Spain delivered,tbh it’s like doggy mail order.

https://fortheloveofdogsandcatstransport.com/

You get tracking and can see the doggy walking being done.

Was also amazed how clean an non doggy smelling the van was when it turned up.

Using a specialist pet mover does away with all the worry over vet inspections etc and may be more practical.