By Andrew Adamides
IN A HEART-RENDING twist to the UK quarantine saga, pets taken to the UK from Cyprus may still have to endure six months in quarantine, even if plans to scrap the system for rabies-free countries go ahead.
The reason is because of the connection of the occupied areas – themselves free of rabies – to Turkey, where rabies is still common.
The plans announced on Wednesday by the British government suggest that, within the next few years, the outdated quarantine system will be replaced by ‘pet passports’: tiny microchips injected into the animals’ necks certifying them as coming from rabies-free countries.
When entering the UK, animals would go through a separate channel at customs, where their chips would be scanned and papers checked. If they fail the checks, they would then either be sent back where they came from or compelled to six months in quarantine.
The proposals, drawn up by an advisory committee, will include a list of places covered by the new rulings. As well as European Union nations, these are expected to include Australia, New Zealand, Malta, the Falklands and Hawaii, which are all rabies-free. The US and Canada would not be covered, as it is feared that if they were, animals travelling from these countries might swamp the system.
It is estimated the numbers of animals entering the UK will rise from 8,000 a year to 250,000 under the proposed new laws.
No decision has yet been taken on Cyprus, but the issue has been described as tricky, since many British servicemen take animals with them when they return to the UK.
Pavlos Economides, head of the Veterinary Department told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the point had been raised before, and that the UK had nothing to worry about as there was co-operation between the Greek and Turkish sides on animal control.
There have been no reported cases of rabies in the north, he said, and certainly no cases in the free areas, which have now abandoned quarantine in favour of a six-month observation period, where the animal remains at home.
Coincidentally, he said that after talks with Sweden, he had yesterday received a letter from the Swedish veterinary department accepting Cyprus as rabies free and informing him that animals travelling to Sweden from Cyprus would not have to go through quarantine.
Economides warned that if Cyprus were to be excluded from any new British ruling, it would protest very strongly.
But even if the ruling does come into force, animals returning to the UK in the near future will still have to face quarantine, as the new laws won’t come into effect for at least four years.
And British Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has admitted that there is no money in his budget to pay for the implementation of the hardware necessary for the scheme, or the training of animal inspectors, and that no estimates have even been made of the cost involved.
According to recent studies, dog owners pay £1,387 Sterling to consign their pets to the misery of quarantine for six months. Cat owners pay £1, 279. Since 1975, 3,000 animals have died in quarantine in the UK, and the RSPCA says many pet owners try to smuggle animals in, fearful they may not survive the quarantine.
