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Guidance

Pet travel: checks on pets by transport carriers

How sea, rail and air transport companies check that dogs, cats and ferrets travelling to Great Britain are following the pet travel requirements.

Updates to this page

From:
Animal and Plant Health Agency
Published:
1 June 2014
Last updated:
1 October 2026
Show all updates

  1. Information has been added about electronically signed health certificates issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

  2. A new animal health certificate (AHC) has been introduced. The old AHC template can be issued by an official veterinarian in Great Britain, until 30 September 2026. From 1 October 2026, the new AHC template must be used. Electronically signed certificates are not acceptable. However, certificates issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are permitted to be electronically signed as long as certain requirements are met.

  3. Vets can get the current animal health certificate from the Improve International website.

  4. Updated the guidance on how to check rabies vaccination information in 2013 passports.

  5. Updated guidance in the following sections: 1) Pet travel documents: Pets travelling from part 2 listed countries, and unlisted countries, must be accompanied by a GB pet health certificate. Pet carriers or checkers must complete the ‘Official at point of entry in GB’ section of the health certificate, including where official checks are completed before physical entry into GB. 2) Rabies vaccinations and blood tests: Updated guidance under 'Post rabies vaccination waiting time from a listed country' and 'Checking blood test results'. 3) Owner checks and declaration: The owner or authorised person must complete and sign a declaration to confirm that the pet will not be sold or transferred to a new owner in the UK. 4) Assistance dogs: Added link to guidance for sea carriers.

  6. Carriers are now responsible for deciding whether an animal is a recognised assistance dog, informed by guidance from government and regulators.

  7. Added details about requirements for Canvac R and Canvac DHPPiL + R vaccine vaccinations.

  8. Published new guidance.

  9. Updated PT44

  10. Updated document

  11. AHVLA documents have been re-assigned to the new Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

  12. First published.

Documents

Pet travel: checks on pets by transport carriers

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Details

This guidance provides information for sea, rail and air carriers on how to check pets entering Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).  

Pet carriers and checkers are responsible for checking that the rules for bringing a pet into Great Britain are met, and dealing with: 

  • passengers with pets that do not meet the requirements 
  • suspected certification fraud 
  • suspect cases of disguised commercial activity 
  • suspect cases of smuggling, identified anytime between check-in and disembarking 
  • recording data of all pets that have travelled on their routes and any that are found to be non-compliant 

Transport companies checking pets coming into Great Britain must be authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). 

Contact APHA to apply for authorisation as a transport carrier for pets.

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