Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require (a) dogs and (b) cats to be treated for ticks before entering the UK after the UK has left the EU.

Defra is concerned about the risks of non-native tick species entering the UK, and in particular, the diseases that ticks can carry. Tick surveillance has shown that tick distribution and abundance is changing throughout the UK for many reasons, including habitat and climate change. Small numbers of localised infestations with non-native tick species have been reported in recent years, and imported rescue dogs have been demonstrated to be a higher risk for carrying ticks or being infected with tick-borne diseases. For these reasons, Defra strongly encourages pet owners to treat their pets to safeguard their animals against ticks and tick transmitted diseases when travelling abroad. Further advice can be obtained from their local vet, and via the Public Health England (PHE) leaflet available on GOV.UK.

Whilst Defra has no immediate plans to amend the tick controls for pet animals entering the United Kingdom, we remain concerned about the threat of ticks and tick-borne disease. As such, a risk assessment is being planned to guide future policy. Defra also continues to monitor the disease situation through the Tick Surveillance Scheme and encourages members of the public, health practitioners, veterinary practitioners, wildlife groups and others to submit ticks to the scheme, run by PHE.