Animal Plant Health Agency
If you are from Ukraine and are seeking refuge in the UK, you can bring your pet dog, cat or ferret without it going into quarantine or isolation if it has:
- been microchipped
- been vaccinated against rabies and had a blood test 30 days later to confirm the vaccine worked, and waited 3 months after the blood test to travel to the UK
- a GB pet health certificate
- had tapeworm treatment (dogs only) between 24 hours (one day) and 120 hours (5 days) before travel
If your pet does not have a GB pet health certificate but does have an EU pet passport, call the Animal and Plant Health Agency on +44 3000 200 301 for advice.
You will need a licence to bring your pet to the UK if your pet:
- does not meet all these requirements
- meets these requirements, but you do not have proof that it does
You can get a single licence covering up to 5 of your own pets that are travelling with you.
You cannot bring more than 5 pets with you to England, Scotland and Wales. This would be classed as a commercial import which is currently banned for pets from Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Romania.
You cannot get a licence to import pets commercially, including rescue animals, or to bring pets to the UK using a third party or courier.
Do not travel to the UK with your pet before you have a licence and you have arranged with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) when to travel.
Your pet may have to quarantine or isolate for up to 4 months. You will not have to pay to quarantine or isolate your pet in kennels.
Your pet may be able to isolate at home on arrival in England and Scotland if it has been:
- microchipped
- vaccinated against rabies and had a blood test 30 days later by an approved laboratory to confirm the vaccine worked
Find an approved laboratory inside the EU, outside the EU or an APHA laboratory in the UK.
APHA will tell you if your pet may be able to isolate at home or if it needs to go into quarantine for up to 4 months.
Your pet cannot isolate at home if you are travelling to Wales. Your pet must isolate in an authorised quarantine facility. Read the pet travel rules for Wales.
There are different rules for pet birds, rodents, rabbits and other small mammals.
Before you travel to the UK
You must have a visa to enter the UK.
Follow these steps to get a licence to bring your pet with you to the UK from Ukraine.
Before you travel to the UK, call the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on +44 3000 200 301 (option 2) or email ukrainepettravel@apha.gov.uk
APHA will email you a form for a licence for up to 5 pets. Fill in the form and email it back to APHA. You can ask for a Ukrainian version of the form.
APHA will review your licence application form and the vaccines and healthcare your pet has had.
If you are travelling to England or Scotland, APHA may send you a form to ask you about the home where you will be staying. This is to find out if your pet could isolate at home. This will depend on the vaccines and healthcare your pet has had. You and your host in the UK must fill this in and send it back to APHA.
APHA will email you to tell you if your pet needs to go into quarantine or home isolation when it arrives in the UK.
APHA will email you a licence.
Agree a date, time and entry point into the UK with APHA. You must book your travel to arrive on the date and time agreed with APHA.
If APHA has given you a licence for your pet to isolate at home and you are travelling to Dover or on Eurotunnel, you must book an appointment at the Pet Vet Check Centre for when you arrive in the UK. To book, email petvetcheck@apha.gov.uk. They will respond within 24 hours and send you the date, time and directions for your appointment. If youre travelling by another route, agree with APHA how you will travel to the home where you will be staying.
Where to arrive in the UK
You must arrive at an approved port or airport and follow your carriers rules for travelling with pets. Your pet must travel with you.
If possible, you should arrive at one of the UKs main entry points for animals:
- Eurotunnel (Calais to Folkestone)
- Port of Dover (Eastern Docks)
- London Heathrow airport
You can also arrive at one of these other approved entry points.
Ports
These are the approved ports:
- Harwich International Port
- Hull
- Portsmouth
Airports
These are the approved airports:
- Belfast
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Leeds Bradford
- London Gatwick
- Manchester
When you arrive in the UK
If your pet is going into quarantine, APHA will collect your pet. If you travel by:
- ferry, your pet will be collected from you before leaving the ferry
- Eurotunnel, your pet will be collected from you in Coquelles (Calais), France
- air, your pet will be collected from the plane when you land in the UK
If APHA has given you a licence for your pet to isolate at home and you arrive:
- at Dover or by Eurotunnel, take your pet to the Pet Vet Check Centre for its appointment
- by any other route, travel to the home where you will be staying as agreed with APHA - a vet will visit you there
At the quarantine facility
If your pet goes into quarantine on arrival in the UK, a vet will assess your pet and give it appropriate healthcare.
You will not have to pay for any essential healthcare that your pet needs while in quarantine.
Your pet will be:
- microchipped if necessary
- given a blood test to check if your pet has enough immunity against rabies - results of the blood test should take 3 days, but may take longer when large numbers of animals are entering the UK
- vaccinated for other diseases such as kennel cough and parvovirus
- given tapeworm treatment if it is a dog and the treatment is necessary
If the blood test shows that your pet does not have enough immunity against rabies
If your pet has not had a rabies vaccination, or does not have enough immunity, the vet will vaccinate your pet and keep it under observation in an authorised quarantine facility.
After 30 days your pet will have another blood test to check if the vaccine has worked.
Your pet will then move to isolation.
If the blood test shows that your pet has enough rabies immunity
If the blood test shows that your pet has enough rabies immunity, APHA will arrange for your pet to go into isolation.
Isolation after quarantine
APHA will tell you where your pet will need to go for isolation and how long your pet will need to be in isolation. This may be for up to 3 months.
Your pet may isolate:
- at isolation kennels if APHA still need to monitor it for signs of rabies or if your accommodation is not suitable for home isolation - you will not have to pay to isolate your pet in kennels
- at the home where you are staying in England or Scotland if APHA assess that your pet and home are suitable - they will send you a form for you and your host