Written question asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour) on Tuesday, 23 February 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 March 2016. It was answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Conservative) on Monday, 7 March 2016 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dogs: Quarantine

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to extend the post-vaccination wait period for puppies entering the UK from three weeks to six months.

Answer: The requirement for vaccination against rabies prior to movement into the UK from other European Union Member States and certain other low risk countries is set out in of Regulation (EU) No 576/2013, the Pet Travel Regulation. The Regulation requires effective rabies vaccination prior to movement. This means that dogs must be a minimum of 12 weeks of age before being vaccinated against rabies as there is a risk that vaccination at a younger age may provide ineffective protection. The requirement for 21 days to elapse between vaccination and movement is to allow rabies immunity to develop. These rules were amended on 29 December 2014 and included an increase in the minimum age at which a dog could be vaccinated. We are not aware of any plans by the Commission to bring forward proposals to further amend the rules and we have no plans to seek an amendment.

Secondary information