Brexit: Pet passports needed to cross the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland

British passports for pets will be sold out by the end of the year, complicating travel with cats, dogs and ferrets to the EU. And for the first time, bringing a pet to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK will involve red tape and a rabies vaccination for the animal.

While Northern Ireland animal owners will continue to have access to the EU pet passport program, those from England, Wales and Scotland will be required to obtain an “animal health certificate” before each visit to the European Union and Northern Ireland showing your pet has been vaccinated against rabies.

Furthermore, to enter Northern Ireland and the Republic from Great Britain, as well as Finland and Malta, domestic dogs will need to be treated against Echinococcus multilocularis – a particularly nasty tapeworm.

There are currently no restrictions on bringing animals between any of the four UK nations. But once the Brexit transition phase is over, pet owners in Britain will have to obtain an animal health certificate from an official veterinarian attesting to a rabies vaccine.

Defra says this should take place no more than 10 days before the trip.

Anyone from Great Britain planning to visit Belfast on New Years Day with their pet will need to apply for permission by 21 December.

The certificate is valid for four months, but only for one trip.

Pet owners from the EU and Northern Ireland can continue to use their pet passports to visit Great Britain.

Bill and Dee Swan from Rye in East Sussex will face the new bureaucracy when they take their German short-haired pointer, Bertie, to see his family in Ireland.

Swan said: “This is presumably what ‘sunlit highlands’ or ‘tremendous opportunities’ mean.”

Joe Moran, senior policy advisor to the Eurogroup for Animals, said: “These new rules, while worrying at first glance, should come as a great relief to pet owners and their furry companions alike.

“Yes, it will be a bit more difficult to cross the Irish Sea or the English Channel than it is now, but it could have been worse.

“Without these rules, owners would have had to go through a much more expensive and bureaucratic process, with multiple trips to the vet and blood tests for their pet.

“As long as owners make sure their dogs, cats or ferrets see their vet at least ten days before travel, the process will remain relatively easy.”

A government spokesperson said: “It is vitally important that all pet owners planning to travel know that the rules will change after the transition period.

“As the EU grants ‘Part 2’ third country status for pet travel between Britain and the EU, further guidance on pet travel will be published shortly.”

The rules apply only to people who take their pets with them on short trips and vacations. More complex regulations apply to commercial movements of animals.