What is a pet passport and does my pet need it?

Is an upcoming vacation giving you nightmares because your pet cannot tag along in this adventure? Are you upset that a trip to your favorite destination will not be much fun without your furry friend around? We understand how that must feel. But, nobody said that you have to leave your little bundle of joy behind. With pet travel arrangements becoming a breeze these days, going on endless adventures together is a reality. In fact, you can easily take your four legged buddy with you not only around the country but also across the international borders. Yes, that’s possible. All you have to do is get your companion a pet passport. Just like you need a passport to travel, your pet needs it too. After all, your pet would want to flaunt the stamped travel pages amongst its peers?!

Wondering where to begin? Let us help you with it.

Is pet passport an absolute necessity?

Truth be told, a pet passport is not really necessary for your pet to fly to different nations. However, having a pet passport does make the process of traveling easy when you hit the airport. A pet passport in the US means a set of certificates and health records that you must have at the time of entering the airport. On the other hand, the Pet Travel Scheme or PETS, rolled out in the United Kingdom is a pet passport program that certain European Union countries as well as USA adhere to. It was done to regulate health standards for pets flying to UK from the member countries. This way, any country that is part of the scheme can issue pet passport which allows registered pets to skip quarantine before hopping on the flight to member nations. However, rules may vary slightly from one member state to another.

How to apply for a pet passport?

To acquire a pet passport, the first step towards it is taking your pet for examining to a veterinarian certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The process begins with all the necessary tests run by the vet to ascertain that your pet is in a good health to travel. Based on the results, the vet will draft health certificates and documentation that will be proof enough to state that your pet is fit for flying. There are a number of tests which are done, a rabies shot being the basic, and others can be different based on the requirements of the destination you and your pet are traveling to. Apart from that, the vet will place a microchip or a tattooed serial number under your pet’s skin. This is done to ensure that if at all your pet goes missing during travel, you can identify them. Certainly getting a pet passport doesn’t come for free. An amount of fee will be charged by your vet depending on the tests, vaccines and certificates. Also, there is not a fixed amount for getting a pet passport since it is not standardized in the US. So, it will be entirely dependent on the fee that a vet charges and the documentation required by the destination country you’re flying to.

On a side note, while it is not absolutely necessary to have a pet passport, it is almost imperative that you research about the certifications needed and the time required for certain vaccines to be injected because every destination has its own rules and regulations pertaining to pet travel. With all these aspects taken care of, you can start making plans for a trip with your pet.