Dear friends

I have a 6 month old, labrador cross staffd.terier called "lexie." in spain (costa del sol).

My fiance and i now have to leave spain and return to UK in 1 month. However she was only given her worming and first shot 1 week ago.
No rabies or other test done yet.  I love my pup very much, one of the best things that ever happened to me, and i want nothing more than to bring her home to Scotland!  but in order to finish the blood test etc it could take up to 8 months apparently.

There is no way we can be in spain for these 8 or so months, and there is no way i could ever find another home for her- she is very special to me.
Are there any laws that allow me to put her into Quarantine in uk and get all the tests done there? Or something similar? Expensive?

If she was in quarantine in uk, at least i could be close by and visit her every day untill the test results came through and she was cleared.

Please can you help me? I dont know what to do....

Many thanks,
Fingal

Yes you can put her into quarantine and yes it is expensive. Have never done it myself but there will be those on here who have so the information will arrive shortly. I know Brainless has imported a dog so she will have the information if no one else does.

It is possible to place a dog in quarantine. If you begin the pet passport process now and get your dog vaccinated against rabies you could also shorten the kennel time-a bit and reply for an early release. 

Here is a link to official information about quarantine.

If she's not even been rabies vaccinated yet, it would take the exact same time to get her Pets Passport or have the period in quarantine. If she goes into quarantine as normal, she'd be out after 6 months and would be vaccinated when arriving in kennels. If she was rabies vaccinated *today* and put into quarantine in one month's time, then she'd have to be blood tested on arrival in quarantine and then wait 6 months  for pets passport clearance.

Quarantine is extremely expensive, in 1989 I paid £1800 for my Golden Retriever so it will be a lot more now -but I was able to visit him all the time and he was perfectly happy there.

Thankyou all for your rapid response.

It seems quarantine is going to be very expensive! certinaly to expensive for me at this time. i wish there was some other way around this. Also, i live in the highlands of scotland. The nearest quarantine centre is in aberdeen apparently, which costs around 100 pounds to get there and back, adding to the stress factor for us both. I dont know anybody in spain who would be able to babysit her until PETS all done, which i think would probably be the most viable and kindest way to do this. This is terribly heartbreaking. ...

I appreciate all your help and concern. Please it coming :)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what i should do....whats the right thing to do?

Many Thanks, Fingal

Dear Jeff,
Your post is giving me a wee ray of hope!

What is involved in an early release?

Rgds,
Fingal

Have you considered kenneling her in Spain, it could work out cheaper, although of course you may not be able to visit her.  But at least she would be able to go out for walks and lead a relatively normal doggy life instead of being totally incarcerated in quarantine.  Then when she has done her time you could drive over to collect her and have a holiday on the way home :)  I did a google search and there is a Brit run kennels in Costa Del Sol called Cat and Dog World but they do not give any prices.  There is early release from quarantine but it is not guaranteed.  Hope this helps.

That is a big help, thankyou very much :)

I had thought about it, but i worry that she may grow appart from me If i did not see her for 6 months?

They never forget - Ever!  Someone once told and I don't know if this is true (has anyone else heard this?), that after the first few days dogs will have no concept of the time they have spent away from you, so if this is true, then we suffer more than they do.  Perhaps a small consolation.  You may have do some remedial training though!

>that after the first few days dogs will have no concept of the time they have spent away from you,

I was told by a vet that the first month in kennels is the worst - that after a month the additional time adds no further stress to a dog.

I had my puppy 'fostered ' while she was waiting out her pet passport qualifying period - the total cost including the rabies/tick/ worming treatment and the cost of the transport to bring her over to around £2300 - - I'm afraid that I don't think 6 months quarantine would be much cheaper.

If you have friends that could keep her for the qualifying period than that would be your best option .

good luck

yvonne

We imported a dog through Quarantine, and the actual quarantine is about what you would expect to pay for boarding kennels, but of course is for 6 months.  You will have additonal import, transportaion and veterinary cost and Insurance.

If your pup hasn't started the Pet Passport procedures year, then she will need to stay quarantine for the full six months.  If the blood titre test had already been done (after she was chipped and then vaccinated against rabies) then you could apply for early release from quarantine for 6 months after the blood was drawn that gave the positive titre result.

I don't know any of the Quarantine kennels in Scotland, but am sure that meg Purnell of Overhill kennels near Bristol where our boy was well cared for could advise.  http://www.overhill.co.uk/

You will have to import the pup as Cargo and that in itself is quite expensive.  contact overhill and they should be able to give an idea of cost.

Sometimes it's best not to see the dogs.

My boyfriends parents have just returned from Thailand, bringing two dogs back with them, Boyfriends Mum has seen them once while she was in the UK sorting out the move back but his Dad doesn't want to see the dogs.  The dogs are in the midlands and they are in the Isle of Wight.  He made the point that he doesn't want to upset the dogs by only visiting now and again, so from the time he put them on the plane in Thailand, to the point where my boyfriend and I take them down he won't have seen them.  although he misses them I can see how it's best for the dogs nto to be upset by their visits and leaving.  My boyfriend visits now and again but the dogs got used to him not being around when he moved back to the UK 5 years ago. 

The dogs are perfectly happy and they won't forget who their owners are! 

They are half way though the period and doing ok.  Boyfriends Dad was extreamly happy when we went down and took one of my dogs with us, he misses the dogs and going for walks.

Although expensive I think either keeping her in Spain, or bringing her over will be of a similar cost.  It's hard but unless you can spend another 6 months in spain it's going to be costly, but worth it!

Thankyou ice queen!

I have recieved a rather disturbing email today from a kennel co. in spain run by 2 brits. (cat and dog world). They quoted me 4000 Euros for the duration of 6 months. This is a cost we simply can not afford. I only wish we knew someone who could look after her until her passport etc was sorted out.

This is starting to look a little grim...rather upsetting...

We have considered staying in spain also, until she is ready, but again, its another cost we cannot absorbe just now as our work is based in uk. It seems the heartbreaking descision of finding her a new home is drawing closer- But not untill i have exhausted myself, and every last possibility of a way around this.

Thankyou all for taking the time to reply to this thread, and help me with your advice and personal stories. It has been a great comfort to me.

Fingal BP

Quarantine is likely to be of similar cost. That is about £3200 (that works out at about £17.50 a day )

Just checked here http://www.overhill.co.uk/quarantine/quarantine.htm and the actual quarantien seems to be quite a bit cheaper 6 months for an Extra large dog for example £1740

Without Pet Travel scheme rules being completed (the waiting period after the titre blood is taken) the only way you can bring them into UK is to fly them in as freight, very expensive.  At least with the boarding in Spain you can bring the dog in by road.

Also you probably won't have to pay the whole boarding fee up front.  I know with quarantine it was I think in several instalments.

If you really cannot afford the expense I think you will have to look at re-homing yoru dog.

Tok too logn to edit so ignore my above post.

That Spanish boarding fee is about £3200 (that works out at about £17.50 a day ) more than Quarantien in UK.

Just checked here http://www.overhill.co.uk/quarantine/quarantine.htm and the actual quarantine seems to be quite a bit cheaper 6 months for an Extra large dog for example £1740

Without Pet Travel scheme rules being completed (the waiting period after the titre blood is taken),  you can bring them in and have the quarantine carriers pick them up from the Port, as in that page it mentions transport from DOVER, SOUTHAMPTON, PORTSMOUTH, and HARWICH). 

Best check with the kennels how to do it, but sounds feasible to me.. 

Also you probably won't have to pay the whole boarding fee up front.  I know with quarantine it was I think in several instalments.

If you really cannot afford the expense I think you will have to look at re-homing your dog.

I have recently imported a dog to the UK and it is costing £2000 for the 6 months quarantine. This included the collection from the airport, rabies vaccination, bloodtests and obviously all his food, etc. I actually thought it was really reasonable and you don't have to pay it in one go, monthly is fine with most the kennels I looked at. It is a lot of money but, you sound so attached to your dog it would be such a shame if you really do have to leave him behind :-(

You will also have to factor in the cost of getting your dog to the port for collection and also the cost of transporting her to the kennels with depend on how far away the kennel is from the port.  It is certainly not a cheap business. 

Could you stay behind in spain for a few months with her while she starts the process to get her passport and then save a little on quarantine back in Scotland?

Brainless, my boyfriends parents are currently paying monthly installments on their quarentine.  So it doesn't work out too bad!

Ice queen, tohelp the OP can you tell us how and how much the instalments are??? :)
Lea :)

Sorry I cant as I'm not sure how much it's costing them.  Plus it vary's from kennel to kennel on price which you can research on the internet, as these kennels are in the midlands I'm sure the OP isn't interested in using these ones!  The installments are just a 6th of total price! ;)

> Brainless, my boyfriends parents are currently paying monthly installments on their quarentine.  So it doesn't work out too bad!

I think we had to pay a deposit of the first two months quarantine and the other expenses like Insurance pick-up etc up front, then it was monthly or two monthly for the rest.

> Ice queen, tohelp the OP can you tell us how and how much the instalments are??? :)
> Lea :)

The link I gave had the price list for the kennels I used so should give them a reasonable idea.  I quoted the giant breed price as can't remember/don't know what size the OP's dog is.

I paid £110 per week including VAT for two medium dogs in kennels near Colchester.  I was invoiced monthly, so not too bad, but certainly enough, then they are worth it and I could (just) afford it.

We brought Jamica (Tibetan Mastiff over last year throu Quarantine.) The total cost was £2.300, This covered collection from Heathrow and taking to the kennels at Little Acre Cambridgeshire, where we live.  Jamica was spiolt rotten all the line she was the as was Bora, another TM that came in 2 years before from Slovakia.  I have also had 2 come through on Pet Passport in the last 4 years and all have come through with excellent temprement

I doubt you would be able to  know which of the dogs we PP'd & which spend time in kennels

Fingal,

If you let me know where you are in the Costa del Sol I may be able to put you in the direction of some people that may be willing to foster until the passport comes through or some kennels that certainly work out alot cheaper than what you have been quoted.  I am in the Granada Province (coastal) but the Costa del Sol is only a couple of hours away and possibly well worth you considering travelling.