Has anyone had experience of exporting a pup.  I know in uk you can rabies vacs at 4 weeks with another at 12.
I have a lovely home waiting for one of my litter in kenya.  They rabies vac at 8 weeks old there. Has anybody here exported to that area and was it difficult?  I have explained to the prospective owners they are looking at pup being ready early January does this seem about right they where born 21 sept. Or am I reading wrong info and they can go earlier?
Thanks

It's pointless doing an early rabies vaccination when you only need one if done at 12 weeks or 3 months (can't remember which it is without checking) and personally I certainly would not want a pup of mine done earlier. Personally I wouldn't export as far as that either unless I already knew the person well, but that's by the by. I have no idea what Kenya's laws are like, they may not need a 3 week wait after rabies vacc, you'd need to find out.

I'm very confused here. My understanding was that Rabies vaccination was not done in the UK until the puppy was 3 whole calendar months of age.

jan don't be confused.
In UK the jab can be done at 4 weeks with another at 12 weeks (seems pointless having 1st one done).
In Kenya they rabies jab at 8 weeks, and my prospective owner has asked the question why it is different? he was hoping to have his pup before 4 months old which i have told him is not going to happen. He was keen to bond with pup and his young daughter before that age. My vet has said 12 weeks only and won't budge on the date, which is fair enough UK have different rules than other countries and the puppy buyer will have to understand that things work differently. Fortunately they are in the UK for the winter. So I have given them the option of having pup at 12 weeks and they can 'bond' with it in the UK while all paperwork and flights are organised.

I just wondered if anybody on here had experienced exporting a pup to an African country before

Thank you Diddles and good that they will be in the UK to care for puppy while travel arrangements etc are made. I suggest you contact DEFRA. They should be able to advise on import/export requirements etc

Surely the only rules that matter are the ones of the receiving country. Your pup doesn't need a rabies jab to be exported as far as I am aware. The Rabies jab is for pups who want to come back into the UK. If your pup is going to Kenya and staying then see what that country says about importing a pup from a rabies free country.

I suggest you contact DEFRA. They should be able to advise on import/export requirements etc

DEFRA can't advice on countries other than the UK and will just say to contact the relevant organisation in the other country.

If your pup is going to Kenya and staying then see what that country says about importing a pup from a rabies free country.

That's a good point. A pup from my next litter will be going to Spain, and the same rules there applies as it did when I exported a kitten to Sweden last year: As we are a rabies free country, as long as the animal is exported BEFORE the age of 12 weeks, it doesn't need rabies vaccination. However a country that demands rabies vacc at 8 weeks may well have different rules.

Canine/ Feline Import Licence For Dogs and Cats

Requirements for obtaining an Import Permit are:

To import a dog or cat into Kenya we require the following:

A formal letter from the pet owner requesting for a permit.
A certified copy of the pet owners passport
Current Health Certificate from a Veterinary doctor
A vaccination card of the pet (rabies) signed by a Veterinary doctor
A fee of R100.00 in cash or postal order payable to Kenya High Commission
Processing time is one day
Conditions for importing a canine or feline animal into Kenya

No canine or feline animal shall be imported into Kenya from any country
unless:
(a) The animal is accompanied by the certificate of a veterinary surgeon, signed not more than five days prior to the date of departure from the country of origin, certifying that the animal is free from clinical symptoms of any contagious or infectious disease.
(b)(i) The animal is accompanied by a valid Rabies vaccination certificate stating-
the type, manufacturer and Batch No. of the vaccine;
the apparent age of the animal at the time of vaccination;
the date of vaccination
(b)(ii) Animals vaccinated against Rabies less than six months prior to arrival in Kenya must also be accompanied by a certificate signed by a Government Veterinary Officer of the country of origin stating that there has been no case of Rabies within 30 miles of the place of origin of the animal within the preceding six months.
(c) The animal is accompanied by a certificate from the Captain of the ship or aircraft in which the animal travelled to Kenya certifying that the animal has not left the craft between the place of embarkation and the place of entry into Kenya, and has been isolated from all other canine and feline animals throughout the journey.
Any animal arriving into Kenya without the certificates stated above will be kept in quarantine, at the expenses of the owner, for up to six months with the exception that:-
(a) dogs and cats, imported directly from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden or the United Kingdom, need not have certificates as per para. 1 (b) above;
(b) animals in transit for less than 48 hours need not have certificates as per para. 1 (b) above, but will be kept in isolation, at the owners expense, during this period. Such animals will only be allowed to leave Kenya by air or sea.
The arrival of any animal entering Kenya other than by sea at Mombasa or by air at Nairobi must be reported to the nearest veterinary office within three days of arrival.
Validity of Rabies Vaccines - A certificate of Rabies vaccination is valid for all canines which are over the age of six months at vaccination and for all felines which are over the age of four months at vaccination, for the period specified, providing that one of the following approved vaccines has been used:
a) Phenolized (inactivated) vaccine:
Canines and felines: One month to 12 months, post vaccination.
b) Living Avianized vaccine (Flury or Kelev strain)
Canines: One month to 36 months, post vaccination.
Felines: One month to 12 months, post vaccination


So if I am reading his correctly NO dog can be imported into Kenya unless over 6 months of age?

So if I am reading his correctly NO dog can be imported into Kenya unless over 6 months of age

That's not how I read it, dogs from the UK appear to be exempt from having the certificate regarding rabies

You're probably right and it would make the most sense! Not explained very well though, is it. To me, being accompanied by a vaccination certificate and having BEEN vaccinated isn't necessarily the same thing at all. Especially as I can't see anything about microchipping.

No it's not but it's probably a translation from the original which may be in any one of the 67 Kenyan languages inclucing Bantu Swahili  !

have contacted defra and kenyan high commision. pup will deffo need rabies at 12 weeks. they have also emailed me info on export certificates and necessary documentation required.

thanks for the info it is a mind field!!! i am sure it will get sorted, one step at a time.

Slightly off topic but have just read Dog World news item regarding two cases of Rabies in the Netherlands. Imported puppies from Bulgaria are affected. How long will we be Rabies free when we know of cargoes of puppies being shipped here from Eastern Europe ?

This is so interesting.  Where I am in Canada rabies is not usually given till about 4 months and we try to separate it from other vacs by a couple of weeks.  It must be given by 6 months and if importing from the U.S. a puppy under 6 months does not have to have it's rabies.  Rabies reports are very, very low now.  Not completely eradicated but officials tell us we have been successful in eliminating Racoon Rabies, which is thought to have slipped in across the U.S. border.

I think folks here would be horrified to hear of rabies being given so early.  I had no idea.

After that report in the Netherlands I really hope the border controls are more thorough in who they stop and search. Difficult though. Given that it might only be a matter of time before it does slip through who has considered getting all their dogs vaccinated for rabies?

It really doesn't bear thinking about. It wouldn't take long before rabies would become endemic in wild animals in this country, imagine the panic amongst all those people who have been feeding foxes in the towns and cities. Currently my dog is not vaccinated against rabies, it's not something I wouldn't want to do unless I have to. Not keen on shoving yet another load of chemicals into my dog. We have lived so long in this country without the spectre of rabies. During the 1980's we lived in Berlin for three years and one year there was a rabied stoat discovered and everyone was warned to be careful and look out for any further signs. It worried me as a young mum with two small children.

Only one of mine is current for Rabies as she travelled to the USA in Dec 2010, so actually hers runs out shortly.

Like others I don't want to vaccinate against Rabies unless I have/need to.

I saw a tv programme on puppy importation from not always scrupuless people. the risk that we run of something being bought in is enormouse its only a matter of time. Think it was a panorama type programme

I couldn't understand why they went from vaccination, titre testing and then  a 6 month wait (without any retest, so why the wait?).

I would have been happy if they had reduced it to Vaccination, titre test, a month later, and travel/return as soon as test results back.

I had one of mien titre tested 4 months after vaccination so she would comply for Scandinavia, and she failed.  so how many pups and dogs have had Rabies vaccinations that haven't taken, especially these underage ones with falsified age pet passports coming in.

All my dogs are rabies vaccinated and I have them titre tested as well. I've had dogs' fail' the blood test in the past
so am extra cautious even though the test is no longer compulsory. However, as my vet explained, even with vaccination and testing we do not know for sure how protected our dogs would be in the event of exposure to rabies should we have an outbreak here. But this is the best we can do.
The subject of imported puppies has come up before on this forum. I am at a loss to understand how this can happen considering the hoops we have to jump through to get our pet dogs back into the UK following a trip to France. Yet lorries carrying unvaccinated puppies of dubious origin have been able to get into the UK and puppies are being sold in service stations and car boot sales apparently.

I think it's because the port people only check the documents and the chips tally.  don't know what they do with litters but most people I spoke to and my own experience is that your given the scanner and they compare the readout with the document.  At no point did the staff actually look at/handle the dog.

Even fi they scanned each themselves how many would recognise that a puppy was not mature enough to be 16+ weeks old, so pet passports with fame dates of birth allow them to come through.

> is that your given the scanner and they compare the readout with the document.

Yes that was my experience too, my car has foil on the back windows so the passport control officer couldn't see what we were doing, we merely scanned each dog and handed the scanner back for her to check the passport. We had 5 passports and 5 dogs in the car but could have had 12 to be honest!