Does the vaccine last 12 months or 2 yeras, i have been getting conflicting ideas. Vet says 2 years but when we went to Belgium last year they were saying every 12 months?

If you want to travel in Europe you will need to make sure the Rabies jab is done within the year of last one, and at least 30 days before travel.

If you are just keeping the Pets travel up to date for renetry then every two years is fine.

I haven't travelled with mine since 2002, so have only boostered every two eyars, adn the yougnest hasn't been anywhere.

I intend to go abroad in November so will have to get them boostered a month before, as it will be more than a year since they were last done, as some countries require them to be done yearly.

The one dog was done in feb last year  and able to travel some months later but i am hoping to travel to Holland in nov/dec time. My vet says only needs rebooster every 2 years tho

Rabies vaccines vary from country to country. What a vaccine manufacturer recommends and what each country 'accept' varies drastically. If you travel regularly to Europe, you will find that most countries require a yearly vaccination program. A vaccine issued in Europe may 'last' for one year, but on returning home your vet may inform you that the same vaccine should be given two yearly :rolleyes:

Thnx. Just decided to ring Defra and they say if it is just a visit then 2 years is fine if that is what vet has said. (Depending on which vaccine is used) Only every 12 months if dog is going to reside in other european country

My vets advised me to check what the law is in the country I am intending to visit & vaccinate accordingly The Vaccine they use is a bi yearly one according to his PP

Different vaccines last for different lengths of time. My vet uses one which covers a dog for five years, however most are one or two years.
Max is covered for two years, as she was vaccinated by a vet in the Neston area. Both vets have recommended that you double check with the country you are going to for their requirements, but most should be happy with the five year vaccine.

Moonmaiden ,This is misinformation from your vet.  Many vets are very confused about this and they don't want to be held responsible for their clients having travel with dogs disrupted or prevented, so they ere on the side of caution and recommend a jab every year.  This is totally overkill.  The rabies jab is extremely potent and there is no need to give it more often than necessary.  Different countries have different laws regarding rabies jabs and the UK (Defra) specifies that you need only innoculate in accordance with the recommendations from the vaccine manufacturer.  The jab I use works for 3 years, for eg, not 2.  If you lived, permanently, in Belgium (or France or any number of other places) then you would have to abide by their rules, which specify an annual injection.  However, since you don't live there and are only visiting temporarily, and are a UK resident, then you need only abide by UK rules.  Every 2-3 years is fine.

I have relations who live in France, and there was a recent rabies scare a couple of years ago near them. The owners of all dogs off-lead in public had a few days to prove that their dog had been rabies jabbed within a year - this didn't only apply to resident dogs, but also any visiting dogs from other countries, including UK Pet Passport dogs. If the jab was done over 12 months previously the dog was destroyed.

Moonmaiden ,This is misinformation from your vet

Not according to DEFRA & he told me to checkwith the countries I could visit as to the Law regarding visiting animals Some may require visiting animals to have had a vaccination within 12 months & some have no requirement other than a PP valid in the UK. He did say 99% of the time the valid PP would be all that was needed but better save than sorry. & the Rabies vaccine he used quite clearly stated 2 years BTW

BTW as the Rabies vaccination is the only Vaccination my puppy will getting(his last blood test showed he wouldn't need boosting for parvo etc)he will not as at risk as dogs who are routinely boosted every year/2/3years for parvo etc as his immune system will not have been challenged as much

Just as people coming to UK have to abide by our entry rules (blood test and 6 month wait) so we when travelling also have to abide by local rule, shiwh in many of the EEC countries require yearly Rabies booster.

JG - I think that is hearsay and scaremongering :(

There is already a lot of misinformation going around about this in the UK and among UK vets, without propagating it on Champdogs.  :(

Brainless and Moonmaiden - the Pet Passport scheme is not exclusive to the UK - it is an agreement drawn up between participating EU countries which states exactly what is required.  As long as your dog is vaccinated under the scheme in the country in which you are resident then you don't need to have annual vaccinations.

Here is an email exchange I had with DEFRA on this subject:

"Hi,

Please could you help me?

We are in the process of having our dog Pet-Passported and want to
travel to France with her.

Our rabies vaccine is valid for 3 years, according to our vet and the
vaccine manufacturer.

However, we have heard from other sources that French rabies
requirements are for a rabies vaccine annually, and that to be sure of
not running into problems when in France, we should have the vaccine
annually.

Please could you advise us whether we should have it annually or 3
yearly?"

Reply:

Good Morning,

As far as PETS is concerned, since 03/07/04 the manufacturer's datasheet
validity time is what is accepted, i.e. if the datasheet states the
vaccine is valid for three years then it is valid for three years for
PETS.

We cannot comment on national laws, except when they impact on PETS.
However, since 03/07/04 there should be no problems as THE TWO AREAS ARE EXCLUSIVE. If you wish to travel as part of PETS then you must comply
with the PETS rules: if you wish to live in France then you must comply
with French national law.

Hope this helps"

Yet again, scaremongers told me this this was "wrong" in some way, so I emailed DEFRA several months later with the same question:

"Hello,

Myself, and several other dog owners and, it seems, several vets I 
know of, are very confused about one element of the Pet Passport scheme.

Namely, this is the issue of whether we should have annual rabies 
boosters, or 3 yearly rabies boosters.

My dog has recently received her Pet Passport.  The vaccine is valid 
for 3 years according to the vaccine manufacturer, and the next date 
for a booster to be given is 2008 in the Passport itself.

However, my vet and several other vets I've been told about, have 
suggested having the booster annually, because they say that the 
requirements for other European countries (France, for eg) are for 
annual rabies vaccinations and we might run into trouble when abroad 
if we are having boosters only every 3 years.

I emailed yourselves (Defra) about this in February and was told that 
we need only abide by the laws of the country the dog is resident 
in.  I was told that, if the dog is resident in the UK and is only on 
holiday in (say) France under the PETs scheme, then 3 yearly boosters 
will be accepted by the French authorities - even though the laws in 
France require annual boosters for French dogs.  Is this right?

Since then I've spoken to several other dog owners who all say they 
have been advised by their vets to have the vaccine annually.  One 
owner said she had emailed you with this question and the reply she 
had received from you had confused her even more and so she was going 
to stick with what her vet advised, which was annual vaccination 
(even though the vaccine is valid for 3 years).  Another owner said 
she emailed you with this question and received no reply.

We are very confused and understandably concerned.  We do not want to 
risk taking our dogs abroad only to be denied entry with them because 
they have not had annual boosters.  But neither do we want to incur 
the expense of annual boosters, or give our dogs unnecessary rabies 
jabs.

Please could you confirm (for once and for all), whether foreign 
authorities will accept animals under the PETs scheme when the 
animals are having 3 yearly rabies boosters?"

Reply:

"As far as PETS is concerned, since 03/07/04 the manufacturer's datasheet
validity time is what is accepted in all EU countries, i.e. if the
datasheet states the vaccine is valid for three years then it is valid
for three years for PETS.

We cannot comment on national laws, except when they impact on PETS.
However, since 03/07/04 there should be no problems as the two areas are
exclusive. If you wish to travel as part of PETS then you must comply
with the PETS rules: if you wish to live in another EU country then you
must comply with their national law."

My reply:

"Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

Please could you tell me if I am understanding this correctly:

If we lived in another PETs country, then we would have to comply 
with their national law, I fully understand that.  BUT we do NOT have 
to comply with it if we are only visiting under the PETs scheme, is 
that right??  (We have only to comply with the PETs scheme and not 
with national laws of other countries - is that correct?)

I do feel a bit that your answer is unclear and indecisive - it's the 
same answer almost to the word which I was sent when I asked this 
question in February, and it's the same answer a friend of mine 
received when she emailed with the same question.

We do NOT have to comply with national laws if we are only visiting 
under the PETs scheme, is that right??"

Their reply:

"1) Yes, if you lived in another country then your pets would be subject
to that countries national laws.

2) If you are on holiday in another country for a short amount of time
(up to a month) then your pet must comply with the rules of the scheme
and that countries national laws will not apply."

Personally, I am satisfied from this exchange that it is only necessary to have rabies jabs as recommended by the vaccine manufacturer and not annually.

However, draw whatever conclusions you want from it!

123, you may think what you like, but the fact remains that was the emergency regulation. Of course, if you can guarantee that there won't be an emergency when you take your dog abroad, you won't have that problem, will you? :rolleyes:

JG,

"that countries national laws will not apply"

Emergency or no emergency, the French authorities would be breaking the law and rules of the Pet Passport scheme if they destroyed any UK dogs under those circumstances.  They would be jeopardising France's involvement in the scheme as a result.  I very much doubt this happened in the way that you described.  And I very much doubt that any UK dogs "would" have been destroyed.  I think you can only say something like that if indeed there WERE UK dogs which were destroyed because they had not had an annual vaccination.  If no dogs fell into this category, as it seems from what you say, than we are talking in hypotheticals and sorry but that's not "evidence" of anything. :(

There is already a lot of confusion surrounding this issue without confusing it further by scaremongering with mention of special emergency measures, which aren't discussed in any other legal document or mentioned in the Pet Passport scheme and which are explicitly contradicted with what DEFRA have described regarding the Pet Passport: "that countries national laws will not apply".