1206 Rabies

Hi
Yes you will need your dogs to have rabies jabs and also to have your dogs microchipped.and your pet cannot enter another EU country until 21 days have passed following the date of your pets first rabies jab, lots of info on the Defra PETS website. [url]www.defra.gov.uk[/url]
Also I think it is a requirement /or advisable in Italy to have a yearly rabies jab.
We hope to move in the next few months and our two cats have had their jabs and are micro chipped.Our vet has given us a pet passport with this info on it ,but in order to return (which we dont plan) they also need to have a blood test re results of rabies jab.
good luck

Cheeres for that Angie and Robert, we have them both chipped and innoculated with records of thier boosters too. Looks like a trip to the vets this week then.

Just a thought, do the Italians have pet insurance and if so can anyone recomend a company in Italy.

One of our dogs bit a local youth.
He went to the hospital and because blood had been drawn a vet visited our house to check yhe dog was innoculated-he was.
If you intend to take your dogs back to the uk be aware that the necessary treatments to get them onto the ferry need to be carried out more than 24 hours before embarking but less than 48 hours.I think the forms that need to be filled in are only written in french.This makes the logistics of a quick dash from Italy very difficult .I would strongly advise checking the current state of play but I would NEVER acccept a blase assurance from a lovely italian vet that all will be ok-it will not be.You may have to stay longer in france and re-schedule your crossing and pay to give the dog a double dose of the required treatments

The only sensible thing to do if you
A) Love your dogs and
B) there is the remotest chance of having to return

is to obtain a pet passport, from defra, it will take around three months to have the full series of innoculations and the test necessary, Once the dogs innoculated, after a few weeks, you can leave the country, however, the passport would not be issued in the UK till after two innoculations made, and an approved lab issues a test result which is acceptable. I have not seen any reference to pet insurance here, however, if your intention is to open an air conditioned Kennel / breeding complex, I would have thought that you might have at least carried out the very basic research... Good Luck.

In order to take a pet animal back into the UK under the Pet Passport scheme the requirements are a bit more strict than those for taking animals into most other European countries.

The main difference is that your animal must be vaccinated against rabies, after first being microchipped if they're not already, and must then have a blood sample taken (approximately 20 days after the rabies vaccine is administered) and the sample must be sent to an approved laboratory (DEFRA website for listing by country) for testing. Assuming a good result, the animal must wait six months from the date of the blood sample being taken before being allowed to enter the UK without a quarantine period.

Getting all this done in Italy is a bit of a hassle - having a good vet who's willing to help and a good deal of patience for dealing with ASL (Italian veterinary authority) is essential. If you can, get it all organised in the UK before you leave - plans are great but you never know if you may have to return to the UK at some point and quarantine isn't cheap :)

Familiarising yourself with the process, making friends with a good vet and having a contact at the local/regional ASL office will be a big help if you're intending to operate a pet care business catering to expats (local business will be slow at best I would think). The British Embassy website has an Italian translation of the EU Pet Passport regulations and requirements, which can be helpful.

You mentioned in another post your intention to breed from your dogs - please breed responsibly! Hip/elbow and eye scores for all breeding dogs and following good breeding practice is as important in Italy as it is in the UK ([url]www.enci.it/en/[/url] for more information). Reputation and word of mouth is much more valuable to an Italian business than it would be back home, however.

Good luck!

Many thanks for the above advice. After a trip to the vets today followed by the necessary Rabies injection my dogs will receive a pet passport after the blood test in 30 days and will be issued by our vet.

We have owned dogs for over 30 years and have always been responsible owners. I am a member of the National Chow Chow Club and also committee member and as such would not condone anything other than responsible breeding, especially with regards to hip displasia and/or entropion, both of which our breed are particularly susceptible to. Although we hope to purchase a property in the mountains (among the cooler air) we consider air conditioned kennels a necessity for the area we are moving to, as those of you who know Chows, will know they have two coats and can be susceptible to heat exhaustion. As I am a computer geek and LOVE my dogs to bits, CCTV or web-cam surveillance will be a pastime that would help especially against injury, fights, whelping and possible theft. These kennels will not be a business venture but a means to an end for my wife and I to live in Italy and continue caring and sharing our life with Chow Chows. As mentioned in an earlier post, if you who wish to utilise our facilities when they are complete please do. If you think they would be left with inexperienced people then don’t.