Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing the Animal and Plant Health Agency to conduct regulatory checks on animals travelling with refugees from Ukraine immediately upon their arrival in the UK.
The Government wishes to ensure that people fleeing from Ukraine can come here with their pets, in a way which also safeguards our rabies-free status.
The UK has been rabies-free for many years, and we wish to remain so. Ukraine is a high-risk country for rabies and animals coming to the UK from Ukraine need to meet the health preparation requirements before they travel. In practice, this means having a microchip, a rabies vaccination, passing a blood test 30 days later and then waiting for three months before travelling.
However, we recognise that many people fleeing from Ukraine will not have been able to complete all of these requirements. Therefore, people fleeing from Ukraine can bring their pets with them under licence. In cases where their pets need to spend time in quarantine, we are covering the costs of this.
We have streamlined the license application process for people fleeing from Ukraine with their pets. Pets from Ukraine may also be eligible for home isolation in England if they are found to have rabies antibodies, subject to strict criteria.