I will be moving my two ferrets to the UK this late August.
Thanks to the new PETS scheme by the EU (governing body European Union),
dogs, cats and ferrets do not have to be quarantined for six months upon
arrival to the UK. The U.S. is an approved third-country where with the
proper pre-requisites and paperwork for a third-country veterinarian
certificate, your domestic ferrets can enter the UK without the traumatic
experience of a six-month quarantine.
Your pet first must be fitted with a microchip that is ISO Standard
(International Stnardards Organisation). The AVID friendchip, which is
the most common in the US I believe, is an ISO standard. If you obtain
a chip that is NOT ISO standard, then you must provide a proper reader
to scan it when you arrive in the designated country. My worst case
scenerio - AVID (the only chip available at my old vet) isn't ISO
standard, then I fork over an additional $30 to rent a reader for a month
to bring with me on the plane. I'd then ship it back to the company.
But I've read some information saying that they are ISO standard, and I
will be placing a call to the company to confirm shortly.
After the microchip has been fitted and recorded/read, your ferret can
get it's yearly rabies shots. This MUST come AFTER the microchip and
you should have a rabies certificate of the vacination that INCLUDES the
microchip number of your ferret.
One month after that rabies shot, you can then have a vet (oh by the way,
the vet must be APHIS accredited by the USDA) needs to draw blood from
your ferret to send to the ONLY EU approved lab in the U.S. at Kansas
State University. It's just protocol, to check that the ferret doesn't
have rabies. The date that the blood is drawn, begins the six month
rule. That is - six months after the blood is drawn to be sent into KSU
to test for rabies, the ferret is eligable to be checked into a transport
company (i.e. British Airways) to travel abroad.
Ten days before being checked in, the ferret needs to get a certificate
of health from the vet as well for the airlines.
48-24 hours before check-in the ferret also must receive treatment
against ticks and tapeworms.
The paper work for all of this can be overwhelming. I've spent countless
hours the past six months figuring this all out correctly. I just
graduated from college in December and needed to travel abroad then.
Luckily I boarded my ferrets to recieve their chips/shots for that
period. We are now in another state, and will be moving once again for
my remaining six months in the US. Luckily the way that I have raised
them, they are quite eager to explore new places. They actually enjoy
the vets, and whenever I bust out with my car-safe travelling case they
both jump in as soon as possible. Then they'll just wait there! They
like dogs and cats (but they like themselves the most). When they were
ever boarded, they were both placed in their second cage. But I
understand that some ferrets aren't as open to new experiences. Any
situation can be traumatic. I tried to approach each situation with
their well-being as the #1 priority in my mind. I will be moving with
my two ferrets to England in late August for school/training to become a
solicitor in the UK.
I was previously in Nevada and there was no USDA import/export examiner
vet in the area. Thankfully i'm currently in an interim period in
Arizona, where I was able to meet up with a USDA import/export examiner
to clarify all info to make this move as easy as possible. I suggest
you contact your local USDA representative as well.
This is a link in regards to the USDA and taking your pet to a foreign
country; you can find a local representative for any questions:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/exp-pets.html
I don't know which country in the EU you are dealing with, but here are
some helpful links in regards to the UK:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm
"Bringing Pets into the UK"
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/ferret.htm
"PETS Ferrets"
Best luck and best regards-
JPL
[Posted in FML issue 5166]
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