Pet Travel - A pet is for life
- Written by Pia Cross
After living in the Algarve for 11 years we have made the decision to return to live in the UK. During our time here I've rescued and re homed many dogs and cats and helped them achieve a better life than they started off with.
Our own 'personal collection' of pets, consist of 10 dogs and 4 cats ......... and YES we are taking them with us to the UK!! They are a huge part of our family and we would be heart broken if we couldn't include them in our new adventure.
As from January 1st 2012 the facilities for entering the UK with pets is going to be a lot easier. All pets have to have full up to date annual vaccinations, Rabies, a micro-chip and a pet Passport. There is no longer a requirement for a blood test for Rabies that would have to be done 6 months prior to travelling!Therefore, if people have to make plans to move, they can include their beloved pets.
We are going to use a UK based company that specializes in transporting animals to and from the UK and they cover all of Europe.The transport will arrive with 3 drivers - all dogs and cats are made comfortable in pens - and the whole procedure will take 48 hours door to door.
All the required Vet checks are performed on each animal before departing Northern Spain. The animals will arrive into the UK via The Euro Tunnel - NO planes or boats which means a lot less stress for them.
The cost of this whole journey works out a lot cheaper than any other form of transport as well. If you love your pets as much as I do and you have to leave Portugal, please take them with you - so many are already abandoned and a lot of ex-pats have done exactly the same.
A pet is for life - their life as well as yours - if you have helped to improve their life, then don't put them back to where they came from. If your situation means you can't include them, then go to the rescue associations here and ask for help - they will support you as much as possible as they don't want to see more abandoned animals on the roads.
Our pets will have a new life - lovely countryside to explore and run around in without the threats of poison and hunters who show no feelings for them. With responsible owners spaying/neutering their pets here in Portugal, the endless reproduction/killing and abandoning of animals will begin to diminish. Let's look forward to seeing more happy animals here than sad ones.
