MPs want to ease rabies quarantine
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Your support makes all the difference.MPs called for an end to Britain's strict anti-rabies quarantine yesterday, raising the hopes of people who want to travel with their pets.
The idea got a cool reception from the Agriculture Minister, William Waldegrave, and was attacked by British vets.
The 11 MPs on the Commons Agriculture Select Committee said the requirement for six months' quarantine should be ended for pet cats and dogs brought into Britain from European Union states and rabies-free nations. But they should be tattooed with a number or have a microchip inserted under their skin so they can always be identified.
They would also have to be vaccinated, and later have a blood test to prove their immunity to rabies before being allowed entry to the UK. The pet owner would have to obtain an import licence from the Ministry of Agriculture stating when and where the animal would be entering the UK, and the pet would have to have a ``passport'' with vaccination details.
Pets from countries which are both outside the EU and have rabies would still face six months' quarantine. This ``is emphatically not a relaxation of Britain's defences against rabies'', the committee said.
Mr Waldegrave said he would study the report, but added: ``Anybody recommending changes to the quarantine controls would have to demonstrate that the alternative would be as effective and offer at least as much protection as the present system.''
Paul DeVile, president of the British Veterinary Association, said: ``We see no reason why a tried and tested policy should be abandoned prematurely in favour of one clearly fraught with difficulties.''
The committee recommends no relaxation on the quarantine for pet hamsters, mice and rats. ``Nobody would suggest that the lifelong quarantine on vampire bats imported into this country should be lifted.''
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