Pre-exposure rabies vaccines for travellers are made available to the public through private travel health services, including general practices, pharmacies, and specialist travel clinics. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not centrally procure rabies vaccines for routine travel purposes.

However, UKHSA currently holds a contract awarded in January 2026, for the provision of rabies vaccine to support post-exposure and urgent treatment. This ensures that vaccines are available to protect individuals who may have been exposed to rabies, where timely access is critical. Details of the contract can be found via the notices at the following two links:

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085071-2025

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004936-2026

There has been no availability issue raised by the UKHSA supplier of rabies vaccines.

The Government supports the Private Members’ Bill, Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP on restricting the importation and non-commercial movement of pets. The Bill will contain powers that will enable future regulations for commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into the United Kingdom including prohibiting the import of puppies under six months old.

There are already strict legal controls on the entry of animals into Great Britain aimed at preventing the introduction of rabies. All dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain must be vaccinated against rabies. We are not currently proposing any changes to the animal health requirements for dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain. The Government monitors disease risk carefully. If the disease risk changes, or an immediate public health risk is identified, appropriate action will be taken.

Rabipur is currently available but due to increased demand the manufacturer is capping orders to help widen access to supply.

The Department has well established processes to manage and mitigate the small number of supply problems that may arise at any one time due to manufacturing or distribution issues.

Rabipur (rabies vaccine) is currently available but due to increased demand, the manufacturer is capping orders to help widen access to supply.

We are processing Ukrainian pet import applications as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining our biosecurity standards. The UK has been rabies-free for many years, and we wish to remain so.

The current requirements for a cat, dog or ferret to enter the United Kingdom from Ukraine are as follows:

• they have been identified by a microchip or a clearly readable tattoo applied before 03 July 2011 prior to vaccination;
• after 12 weeks of age, have been vaccinated against rabies;
• at least 30 days after the preceding primary vaccination within a current valid vaccination series (or the last of the primary course of vaccinations) a blood sample must be drawn and sent to a European Union (EU) approved laboratory for testing;
• a satisfactory blood test result must show the rabies antibody titre was equal to or greater than 0.5 IU/ml;
• the animal must complete a waiting period of 3 calendar months after the date that the sample was drawn;
• in the case of dogs be treated for Echinococcus multilocularis (tapeworm) with an approved product not less than 24 hours and not more than 120 hours prior to arrival in UK.

However, the Government recognises that people fleeing Ukraine with their pets may not have been able to complete this process, or may not have paperwork verifying their pet’s health status. We have therefore put in place new emergency support for those fleeing Ukraine with their pets. Using an emergency licence, people fleeing Ukraine can bring their non-compliant pets to the UK with any quarantine costs met by the Government.

The maximum stay in quarantine for a pet which has received no rabies vaccination is four months. England, Wales and Scotland have introduced a new rabies ELISA blood test that confirms rabies vaccination through detection of rabies antibodies. This will help in instances where refugees have travelled without vaccination paperwork.

Results can be turned around in a minimum of 3 days with some animals then moving to isolation if they pass the test. This will help maintain our strict biosecurity measures and allow people to be reunited more quickly with their pets when possible. This test is not available in Northern Ireland which remains aligned with the EU.

These new arrangements are only in place for people fleeing Ukraine with their pets. It is not available to rescue animals, commercial movements or to pets travelling apart from their owners, all of whom must continue to meet the full health requirements before entering the UK.

England and Scotland have temporarily suspended the commercial import of dogs, cats and ferrets if they originate from or have been dispatched from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland or Romania, until 14 May 2022.

There are no other differences to the rabies import requirements of pets between the Devolved Administrations.

The Government launched a consultation on 21 August on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets (cats, dogs and ferrets) into Great Britain, including our proposal to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement of puppies under the age of six months into Great Britain. We will take into account the views of the public and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that our final measures are well considered and are guided by the latest evidence.

Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements in relation to rabies for pets entering Great Britain. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation carefully and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

The Government launched a consultation on 21 August on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets (cats, dogs and ferrets) into Great Britain, including our proposal to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement of puppies under the age of six months into Great Britain. We will take into account the views of the public and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that our final measures are well considered and are guided by the latest evidence.

Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements in relation to rabies for pets entering Great Britain. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation carefully and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.

The Government launched a consultation on 21 August on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain, including our proposal to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement of puppies under the age of six months into Great Britain. We will take into account the views of the public and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that our final measures are well considered and are guided by the latest evidence.

Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements in relation to rabies for pets entering Great Britain. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation carefully and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

The Government takes the risks of disease seriously and we remain alert to concerns relating to ticks, tick-borne diseases, tapeworm diseases and other diseases. The rabies risk assessment referred to in response to the Answer of 29 June 2020 to Question 63200 on Dogs: Imports has been completed and signed off and shows that despite an increase in the number of dogs entering the UK under both the commercial and non-commercial rules, the declining number of rabies cases in EU Member States has meant that the annual probability of rabies entering the UK from EU Member States is currently very low. The Echinococcus (tapeworm) risk assessment has been completed and is currently at review stage. We are unable to share results at this time. The risk assessment into ticks and tick-borne diseases is ongoing.

The Pet Travel and Illegal import clauses of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill focus on measures to improve welfare of pets entering GB. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation.

The Government takes the issue of puppy smuggling and other illegal importations of pets very seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals and puts the health of pets and people in the United Kingdom at risk.

On 12 May 2021 the Government published its Action Plan for Animal Welfare (APAW). This is a wide-reaching and ambitious plan to set out our current and future work on animal welfare and conservation.

The Government has a manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling and one of our key reforms in the plan is to end the abhorrent, cruel practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports.

We are planning to bring in powers which enable us to that will allow us to prohibit the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices. This could include increasing the minimum age that dogs can be non-commercially moved or commercially imported into Great Britain.

The UK fully harmonised with the EU Pet Travel Scheme on 1 January 2012. Since that date (up to the end of 2019), there have been 1,960,766 pet movements into Great Britain under the scheme.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not record how many of these pets were re-entering Great Britain. APHA does not hold details of pet movements into Northern Ireland.

There have been no confirmed cases of rabies in dogs and other mammals since 2012.

The Ministry of Justice has published data up to December 2018. The number of prosecutions for offences under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 for 2014 to 2018 can be found in the accompanying table for the last five years for which data have been published.

The Police Force Area in which the offences were dealt with have been provided in the table. Information for where offences were committed is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice has published data up to December 2018. The number of prosecutions for offences under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 for 2014 to 2018 can be found in the accompanying table for the last five years for which data have been published.

Data for offences under the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011 are not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice. This information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales and as such it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost

Data for the year ending December 2019 will be published in May 2020.