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Under the current PETS Travel Scheme, cats and dogs can only fly into the UK by travelling in the cargo hold as “Live Animal Cargo”. The only exceptions to this are for Assistance Dogs (on a few routes) or if you are rich enough to be able to charter your own jet plane.
So far, there is no sign that this regime will be relaxed when the new PETS rules come into force on 1 Jan 2012 when the PETS rules become “harmonised” with the rest of the EU.
Until the “Pets in cabin” issue is addressed, UK exhibitors and breeders (as well as potential overseas visitors with animals) will still face an uneven playing field, as the following examples show:
- It costs up to 4 times the cost of a “Pet in Cabin” fee to fly an animal into the UK via Lufthansa cargo (from Lufthansa’s web site on 10 July 2012) and that excludes any ground handling fees in the UK
- There are also no permitted ports of entry in Northern Ireland
- Cargo terminals are often located well away from passenger check-in desks or arrival gates, which means that extra time (and money) is involved at both ends of the journey
It is not clear if the problem is due to outdated legislation, or just a commercial issue for the airlines. In an attempt to find the root cause of the issue, e-mails have been sent to both the UK and Irish Ministers responsible for animal-related legislation
For the attention of Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As the Director responsible for TICA in Western Europe (which includes the UK) and as a UK resident, I welcome last week's announcement that the PETS Scheme rules are to be harmonised with the rest of the EU from 1 Jan 2012.
TICA is the world's largest genetic registry of pedigree and household pet cats, and one of the major cat show licensing bodies in the world. Founded in 1979, TICA has been licensing cat shows in the UK since 2004 and the format has proved very popular. A few UK exhibitors have shown their cats in Europe and the US and also a few European and US exhibitors have shown their cats in the UK. However, the current PETS scheme mean that this is restricted to those either close to approved route termini or who are prepared to invest in the long wait required by the present rabies blood test.
The change in rules will also mean that importing kittens from elsewhere (for genetic diversity that improves health within a breed) will become easier and less costly for breeders - the vast majority of whom do this as an absorbing hobby rather than as a business venture.
However, true harmonisation can only be achieved if the government and airlines will now allow pets to travel in the cabin into and out of the UK - as airlines now do within Europe and also in the US.
Under the current PETS Scheme, unless one is rich enough to charter a private jet, all cats and dogs (except for a few exceptions for assistance dogs) must enter the UK as Live Animal Cargo in the aircraft hold. This is both expensive and also time consuming.
For example, Lufthansa's charge for Live Animal Cargo is up to 4 times the fee for a pet in cabin on European routes - and this excludes any ground handling charges at Heathrow ! Cargo terminals are usually situated well away from the passenger check-in desks and I also know from personal experience how much time and cost is involved in retrieving a cat from the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow.
Whilst I appreciate that the decision to allow pets in cabin may be a commercial one for each airline, I am left wondering if there is perhaps UK legislation left over from pre-PETS days that restricts animals from being carried in the cabin ?
I would be very grateful if your department could investigate what barriers there are to permitting pets in airline cabins on entering/leaving the UK, and I would be happy to supply any further information that DEFRA might need to do this.
I am also copying this e-mail to my local MP.
Any responses will be listed on this page. In the meantime, exhibitors and breeders might like to create a similar letter to send to their MP.
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