Update: Tales of travelling with my dogs

Hello, I’m sure you’re all up-to-date on this, but just in case you’re not aware, all dogs over 8 weeks old are now legally required to be microchipped.

Each microchip is linked to a central database containing the registered owner’s details. However, the old-fashioned collar and tag may not be entirely redundant yet. While compulsory microchipping has come into force, compulsory scanning of the microchip has not. Should your pooch go astray, it may be a while before it’s microchip is scanned. So an old-fashioned collar and tag may be a bit quicker at reuniting you both.

What do you think about microchipping? Would you like to see compulsory scanning of the microchip? Or do you think that a collar and tag is sufficient enough to reunite lost dogs with their owners?

The magazine article suggests pets should be allowed on Eurostar, planes etc, but the writer seems happily oblivious to the fact that not everyone likes animals, some people have dog phobias and many more have allergies. Why should they all be made uncomfortable or even ill, just because others want to treat their pets like children?

I have experience of pet travel by air, sea and the Channel Tunnel. It is a sorry experience. Flying into and out from France, dogs under 9kg can travel in a soft dog bag in a plane cabin. But this is not allowed when flying into and out from the UK, where all dogs are required to travel in the hold, at enormous expense. The argument is that, for safety, dogs need all to be processed at separate animal facilities at airports. Yet if French airports can do it, and if UK ports and Eurotunnel can do it, why can’t Heathrow and other UK airports? I asked this question of a DEFRA representative and his very honest answer was that flying dogs in the hold and processing them in the special facility at Heathrow is a major income generator for all the organisations involved, so that there is a strong incentive not to change the existing system. That system is a holdover from quarantine days, but with microchips and rabies jabs and pet passports it is a lucrative anachronism which is out of tune with other countries (even the USA) and with other UK ports of entry. It is time to lobby for change.

Turning to Eurostar, much the same arguments apply. Dogs are allowed on other trains in the UK, France and other European countries, so it isn’t a matter of the safety and concerns of other passengers. It comes down to the inadequacy of the outgoing customs facilities at St. Pancras (and in France) – outgoing only, because with Eurostar you are checked both out and ‘in’ by two sets of customs before you get on the train. This actually makes it particularly easy to check animal papers and chips, as any dog that doesn’t comply will be rejected by both the outgoing and receiving customs officials before it ever gets on the train. There is therefore no need for holding kennels or such. Again it’s time to lobby for change.

Taking pets out of the UK if you do not have a car is a nightmare. You have to take a train to Newhaven and catch the ferry to Dieppe. Only one foot passenger per ferry is allowed to take a dog, because the dog is taken away from you at Newhaven, put into a cage in a van, driven onto the ferry and left in the cage in the van during the crossing. As there is only one cage in the van, only one dog per ferry crossing is allowed.

All in all, the arrangements for owners taking pets abroad are truly anachronistic and badly need to be brought into line with other countries.

I’m possibly going to be a lone voice here, but I really wonder why folk even want to take their animals on holiday with them. Don’t get me wrong: we both love dogs and even like cats – some of them, anyway – but when we’ve had our own dogs we left them in kennels. They are – after all – animals, with somewhat different behavioural characteristics to humans. For a start, they’re significantly less hygienic and when I see owners who seem to relish dogs licking their faces I sometimes wonder if they ever really watch their animal to see where their tongues have been…

Dogs have evolved to tap into Humans’ herd instinct, which they achieve with remarkable success, but it does seem to me that some humans mistake this natural instinctive behaviour for something else, and feel they can’t bear to be separated from their dog for even a moment, imbuing these semi-feral and extremely unhygienic creatures with human emotions. We do allow many animals to travel – horses among others, and certain Bats – also carriers – can traverse quite large stretches of water. However, 99% of Rabies / Human infections throughout the world arise from dog bites.

So on balance, I think things should remain as they are. If we start making it easier for ‘pets’ to travel, I suspect we’ll soon be seated besides a 550 lb Belted Galloway in economy.