Edinburgh West

Retired and wanting to spend these years travelling around Europe. This might sound completely selfish, but the costs of taking my dog to Europe is prohibitive. It's over £200 in vets fees for every single trip. First the paperwork needs to be issued in the language of the inbound port , no earlier than ten days before departure by our vet. Then worming tablets need to be issued and the paperwork updated by a european vet on the return leg of the journey. Last year I paid over £1,000 to have the same small (microchipped) animal certified over three trips. Quite apart from the cost, there is the needless worry that I won't be able to see a vet abroad within the short time windows necessary. On a return trip from europe worming treatment has to be administered no earlier than five days from date of landing in the UK. With weekend hours, and some ferry trips being over 18 hours, we might have only a two day window to get treatment. It's a totally unnecessary worry. And its a farce. Our vet in Germany postdated the paperwork to ensure that we were covered in the event of a ferry delay.

L. M.

8 November 2026