Ireland: Bringing pets

Jen, on Apr 27 2008, 12:38 PM, said:

Hi All, Just a quick question - Is there anyone who has brought over a dog to Ireland?
My sister is planning to move here from Botswana and has a little dauchshond that she would love to bring with her. She has been told by Elliots that the cost is about R12000 but the major cost is the kenneling in Ireland for 6 months while it is in quarantine.He told her the only place is the state vet facility.About €3000.
Anybody had any dealings in this regard??
He also told her that if you had someone in France who could take the dog for three months (no quarantine in France providing proof of vacinations etc) then it can be brought into Ireland. Any suggestions or advice?

Jen

The regulations are the same as for the UK.
The dog can be brought in through France, avoiding quarantine, but:
1. There is a 3 to 4 month wait period BEFORE the dog can leave for France (microchipping, Rabies injection, 30 days later drawing of blood and testing. 3 months after the blood is drawn, the dog can enter France). Of course, during this time, the dog stays home with you as normal.
2. On arrival in France (which must be a SIX month stay, not a THREE month stay), the dog is immediately AGAIN vaccinated, and the French vet enters this in the PETS passport, and draws a blood sample which is sent away for testing. SIX months after the date of this blood test, the dog can enter Ireland without any quarantine.
3. During the 6 month stay in France, the dog is not quarantined, and is quite free to move around and live with you like any other dog in France. If you can't live with the dog yourself in France, there are companies who specialise in taking care of this 6 month period for you - either in homestay or kennels (which are totally different to quarantine kennels - which require the dog to be totally contained in the kennel for 6 months, and while you can visit, the dog cannot leave its kennel). You can visit the dog, take him/her out for weekends etc.
I kennelled for 2 months, (including a visit over/weekend out), followed by a 3 month stay in a rental with them, followed by a final month in kennels, before they could travel over directly.

If you want details of the company I used, please PM me.