ZuidWester
Member
Can I bring my dog to the UK (sailing from Holland to Thames area)? He has a passport and all the jabs. I heard that entry is only through Dover or Heathrow.
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Sailing with a dog to UK
- Thread starter ZuidWester
- Start date
Birdseye
Well-known member
As I understand the rules - no. The dog has to come by a licensed carrier, and cannot just come on your boat. Silly, I know. But bureaucrats make silly rules. Thats what they do.
<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.
l'escargot
New member
More info <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/index.htm>here</A>
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ZuidWester
Member
We must change this law.
Thanks for the advice. We must change this law.
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Thanks for the advice. We must change this law.
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l'escargot
New member
Re: We must change this law.
Good luck - it has taken 100 years to get this far! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
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Good luck - it has taken 100 years to get this far! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
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Jools_of_Top_Cat
New member
Re: We must change this law.
I agree, we always sail with our pooch, makes investigating beyond the harbour towns more fun. Also easier to go ahore sometimes if you 'have' to.
I really fancy a sail down to the CI and then maybe France, but the rules stop this.
The French must hate it too, they seem more chien friendly than us Brits.
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
</A>
I agree, we always sail with our pooch, makes investigating beyond the harbour towns more fun. Also easier to go ahore sometimes if you 'have' to.
I really fancy a sail down to the CI and then maybe France, but the rules stop this.
The French must hate it too, they seem more chien friendly than us Brits.
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
l'escargot
New member
Re: We must change this law.
The Channel Islands are classed as England for pets. You have always been allowed to take animals there (the same as Ireland) without restriction, from England. They operate the same restrictions on the rest of the world as us so have always been classed as "rabies free".
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The Channel Islands are classed as England for pets. You have always been allowed to take animals there (the same as Ireland) without restriction, from England. They operate the same restrictions on the rest of the world as us so have always been classed as "rabies free".
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Jools_of_Top_Cat
New member
Re: We must change this law.
Now that I did not know.
Is there ever any problem, or do C&E generally take the skippers word for things, i.e. what would stop me calling at the channel Isles on the way home from France and lying about my last port, i.e. tell them I had sailed from Falmouth, and then head back to Blighty saying quite honestly I had come from the CI.
Not saying I would do this, but how stringent are UK ports on the channel in real life about pets when you enter in a British yacht. If I sail around Lands End from home, and stop in Falmouth etc. I would not expect to be approached having the dog on board.
Has anyone been caught and how do they know?
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
</A>
Now that I did not know.
Is there ever any problem, or do C&E generally take the skippers word for things, i.e. what would stop me calling at the channel Isles on the way home from France and lying about my last port, i.e. tell them I had sailed from Falmouth, and then head back to Blighty saying quite honestly I had come from the CI.
Not saying I would do this, but how stringent are UK ports on the channel in real life about pets when you enter in a British yacht. If I sail around Lands End from home, and stop in Falmouth etc. I would not expect to be approached having the dog on board.
Has anyone been caught and how do they know?
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
l'escargot
New member
Re: We must change this law.
I wouldn't like to guess. We sail around The Solent with 2 dogs and the number of sailing dogs seems to increase each year. I would be very surprised if anyone is actually checking.
Probably a Harbourmaster would report a blatantly obvious foreign boat with a dog on board (but who to I don't know - there are no C&E permanently based on the IW anymore) but how you would prove anything ? Routine customs checks on private boats have long since disappeared and the odds of getting away with it would seem high.
Any Cussies out there who can enlighten us?
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I wouldn't like to guess. We sail around The Solent with 2 dogs and the number of sailing dogs seems to increase each year. I would be very surprised if anyone is actually checking.
Probably a Harbourmaster would report a blatantly obvious foreign boat with a dog on board (but who to I don't know - there are no C&E permanently based on the IW anymore) but how you would prove anything ? Routine customs checks on private boats have long since disappeared and the odds of getting away with it would seem high.
Any Cussies out there who can enlighten us?
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snowleopard
Active member
Re: We must change this law.
a few words of caution. in theory any dog coming ashore off a boat could be quarantined and the owner fined. in practice it doesn't happen but a stroppy customs man would be within his rights!
if you come in across the channel you may have to work hard to prove you've only been to the CI.
all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin.
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a few words of caution. in theory any dog coming ashore off a boat could be quarantined and the owner fined. in practice it doesn't happen but a stroppy customs man would be within his rights!
if you come in across the channel you may have to work hard to prove you've only been to the CI.
all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin.
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oldharry
Well-known member
I'm not sure you would think it so silly if you had seen someone dying of rabies. Not nice at all.
Beaurocratic overkill maybe, but so far, succesful in preventing rabies reaching the UK. And if you ARE caught - and a foreign boat with a pet aboard would likely attract attention - the consequences are as heavy handed as the laws.
<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by oldharry on 09/08/2004 10:11 (server time).</FONT></P>
Beaurocratic overkill maybe, but so far, succesful in preventing rabies reaching the UK. And if you ARE caught - and a foreign boat with a pet aboard would likely attract attention - the consequences are as heavy handed as the laws.
<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by oldharry on 09/08/2004 10:11 (server time).</FONT></P>
Gunfleet
New member
Re: We must change this law.
<<all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin. >>
Ditto St Helier and St Peter Port
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<<all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin. >>
Ditto St Helier and St Peter Port
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pragmatist
Well-known member
And how many rabid animals have you seen in mainland Europe ? This ludicrous regluation is hugely out-dated and the kludge implemented is intended to save the govt money while still making it very difficult for the animal-owner. Any idea what a big business dog kennels and catteries are in the UK ?
<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK
<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK
ZuidWester
Member
Rabid animals in Europe
My girlfriend makes me mad sometimes, but not rabid! I travel around Holland, Belgium and sometimes Germany in my boat and have had no problems wherever I go. The UK remains a nightmare even after quarantine was rescinded. It was a concession after alot of pressure, but it is still bloody awkward if you are sailing.
Bugger.
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My girlfriend makes me mad sometimes, but not rabid! I travel around Holland, Belgium and sometimes Germany in my boat and have had no problems wherever I go. The UK remains a nightmare even after quarantine was rescinded. It was a concession after alot of pressure, but it is still bloody awkward if you are sailing.
Bugger.
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oldharry
Well-known member
My point was not so much the bland assumption in Whitehall that any foreign animal must ipso facto be a carrier of what is genuinely a truly terrible disease, as the fact that the penalties for smuggling animals in to the UK are as heavy handed as the regulations from which they stem. In other words if you're caught importing these dreadfully infectious pooches and pussies, dont expect any mercy either for you, your bank account or your pet.
And the fact remains, cases of rabies continue to be reported on the continent, but not in the UK. Whitehall is very determined to keep it that way - and I have no problem with that.
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And the fact remains, cases of rabies continue to be reported on the continent, but not in the UK. Whitehall is very determined to keep it that way - and I have no problem with that.
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Jools_of_Top_Cat
New member
Actually a man was infected a couple of years ago on mainland britain when bitten by a bat, I don't remember the full details though.
Can I just ask about snowleopards statement about Dover. If I decided to sail around the UK in my vessel with my dog, would I have to avoid sailing in to Dover marina.
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
</A>
Can I just ask about snowleopards statement about Dover. If I decided to sail around the UK in my vessel with my dog, would I have to avoid sailing in to Dover marina.
<hr width=100% size=1>Julian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>
snowleopard
Active member
in a word, yes. if you turn up in dover with a dog on board they will be down on you like the proverbial ton of bricks. probably confiscate a hull while they're at it!.
incidentally there has never been a single case of a domestic pet developing rabies during the quarrantine period so its value has to be questioned.
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incidentally there has never been a single case of a domestic pet developing rabies during the quarrantine period so its value has to be questioned.
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AndrewB
Well-known member
Re: We must change this law.
>>all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin<<
No longer true. And foreign yachts are allowed to bring in dogs, certainly to Dover. In theory they are supposed to be kept below decks at all times. In practice they aren't, I've seen a number of dogs on the pontoons this season, even noticed one from a Dutch yacht being taken 'walkies' ashore a couple of weeks ago. So vigilance isn't that high. Noticeably, the rabies/no pets notices that used to be plastered all over the marina have disappeared.
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>>all animals are forbidden on board in dover & ramsgate regardless of nationality or origin<<
No longer true. And foreign yachts are allowed to bring in dogs, certainly to Dover. In theory they are supposed to be kept below decks at all times. In practice they aren't, I've seen a number of dogs on the pontoons this season, even noticed one from a Dutch yacht being taken 'walkies' ashore a couple of weeks ago. So vigilance isn't that high. Noticeably, the rabies/no pets notices that used to be plastered all over the marina have disappeared.
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l'escargot
New member
Re: We must change this law.
Technically there has not been any restriction on having a dog on board, providing it was contained there. It was not unusual for foreign ships to have their own pets. The restriction has always been on landing. Customs however have always used their own liberal interpretations
It looks as if the responsibility for enforcement has moved away from C & E to DEFRA and now operates under EU rule with changes coming into effect as recently as 3 July this year.
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Technically there has not been any restriction on having a dog on board, providing it was contained there. It was not unusual for foreign ships to have their own pets. The restriction has always been on landing. Customs however have always used their own liberal interpretations
It looks as if the responsibility for enforcement has moved away from C & E to DEFRA and now operates under EU rule with changes coming into effect as recently as 3 July this year.
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oldharry
Well-known member
I know. Thats what makes nonsense of Whutehalls attempts - all those d*** seagulls and cormorants crossing the borders daily chasing the fishing fleet, then sitting on my boom cover....
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