 The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS for short) allows pet dogs and cats from certain countries to enter the UK without quarantine as long as they meet certain rules. One of the qualifications for the PETS scheme is that the animal must be vaccinated against rabies and that their subsequent blood test shows that the vaccine has given the animal satisfactory protection against rabies.
Samples may be sent to CTDS Laboratories for rabies virus serology blood test**, these will then be submitted to BioBest, an approved rabies virus testing laboratory.
Test results are usually available within 7 days of receipt and the rabies serology certificates issued is fully accepted by the UK Government for the Pet Travel Scheme.
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Cost £35.00 Plus VAT**
Procedure:
- Submit 2 mls whole blood or 1ml separated serum with a completed rabies submission form** to CTDS Laboratories
- 5-7 days later you will receive a faxed report informing you of your patients rabies serology titre and its acceptability or not (this report cannot be used for the Pet Travel Scheme)
- In order for the veterinary surgeon to sign off the PETS certificate, the rabies neutralising antibody titre must be equal to or greater than 0.5 IU/ml
- 1-2 days later a copy of the rabies certificate will arrive in the post - it is very important that you keep this original certificate for use with the Pet Travel Scheme. If the certificate does not arrive within 2-3 days please notify CTDS immediately - subsequent duplicate lost certificates take a few days to generate and also unfortunately incur a £10 charge
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**It is very important that the correct submission form is used and that this is completed accurately and in full by the submitting veterinary surgeon. Rabies submission forms may be ordered from CTDS or downloaded here.
Please note that faxed copies of the submission form or certificate are not accepted.
Please remember the six month rule which is that the animal cannot enter the UK until at least six calendar months after the date of a successful blood sample.
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