Taking a dog to France HELP!!!

[emmalouise]

I've had my dog about 18 months now in Korea but I am hoping to move to France in June. I do not want to go without him but I am finding it really hard to get information on regulations and quarantine as the embassy site is in Korean and French and I'm not very good at either. It did say though if you do not have the correct documents they may destroy the animal so I'm worried.

I know most of the documents I need but can't figure out if there is a quarantine period when coming from South Korea?
If you have any info please let me know.:confused:

[elli120]

Hi. I am currently preparing my dog for travel to the EU mainland and it seems that most countries in the EU have the same regulations.
The UK and Ireland does not apply to this information.

The advice I was given by SoHee at Chunghwa Animal Hospital (see vet clinics list on here) relates to most of mainland Europe (there are some exceptions and you should contact her or another travel expert) directly:

This is the list of requirements SoHee sent me recently:
1. Microchip + Rabies booster shot (Inactivated only)
2. Wait for 3-4 weeks
3. And then take a blood sample and send the blood serum to EU approved laboratory for RNATT(Rabies Neutralizing Antibody Titer Test)
4. About a month later, the test result will be sent, and if the test result is more than 0.5 IU/ml, the dog can leave Korea anytime after 90 days from the blood collection date.
5. As long as you give the dog a rabies booster shot up to dates every year, the test result remains forever.

I would advise you to email SoHee at Chunghwa - doctor@cwhospital.com - and she will give you the exact details for France as they may be slightly different from the above.

She estimated that the entire process takes around 4-5 months.

RE - Quarantine: I think ( but I'm no expert) that if the above process is not done fully the animal will be subjected to quarantine.

[sophie931]

I brought my dog from Korea to the czech republic in September and as a european country I'm nearly 100% that it has the same rules as france. The first thing you need to do is get your dog microchipped with an ISO approved microchip. Then you can have your dog blood tested for rabies antibodies. It gets sent off to a lab in korea and you get the results back in about two weeks. My vet also gave my dog another rabies shot after he took the blood test, just in case my dog failed. If your dog fails you can get another blood test done a month after the rabies shot is administered. Once your dog has passed the blood test you need to download the EU form for France and fill it out. This form, along with the blood test certificate, and the quarantine form the airport office gives you on the day of travel is (as far as I'm aware) all that you will need. I stressed myself out so much when I was leaving and when I arrived here they briefly looked at my documents, took a brief glance at my dog, didn't even read the microchip. My other friend took her dog to Germany and they didn't check any of her documents, just waved her through. The process really isn't that bad, and once you are in France you can start the process for your dogs pet passport. Oh also, dont listen to the incheon quarantine office, if ever there was a group of people who deserved to be fired for complete incompetence, its them!

[sophie931]

Also, check out www.pettravel.com, they have all the information you need and they also have all the relevant documents available for download. I got my EU form from them.

[mimis]

Stressful isn't it? Check out this EU website, it has the most relevant info bringing a pet into the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/nocomm_third_en.htm Go to 2) OTHER THIRD COUNTRIES. You can also find the health certificate there (the same one sophie931 is talking about I think) and print it.

As long as your dog has all the necessary vaccinations and documents (+ISO microchip), you shouldn't have to deal with any quarantine. Just make sure you have the serological test on Rabies covered, without it they can send the animal straight back to South-Korea (my government office told me this as they don't usually allow animals to go into quarantine except in special cases). Though maybe every country deals with it differently:confused:

I would also suggest to go to Chunghwa Animal Hospital in Itaewon, as they have experience with it. If you want to go in June and you haven't done the Rabies test yet, you won't be able to make it I'm afraid. ("Rabies vaccination and in addition testing carried out by an approved lab on a blood sample taken three months before movement will be required for entry.")
If you go to the vet today you would be able to enter France on July 7th - provided your dog "passes" the Rabies test. But if your dog needs a Rabies booster shot first because his last Rabies vaccination has been a while ago, you have to add another 3-4 weeks. Though at least that way you can be sure he will "pass" the Rabies test. Totally it takes about 4 months.

It's a lot of planning and searching and stressing and all the while I keep hearing stories about people who walked through Animal Quarantine back home with them barely looking at the documents and dog, but the response I got from my government office was very strict and scary:( But I suppose that's their job...

Anyways, it will all be worth it in the end^^ Good luck!

[LolaMarigolda]

The previous posters covered the regs quite well. I feel the need to add that the FAVN test must be done by an approved lab; there are no approved labs on the peninsula. The US has two (the DOD lab in Texas and Kansas State University). It costs approximately $100us to Fed Ex the samples to the US.

The pet travel place listed previously also sells the ISO compatible chips. They come individually packaged so you can take them to a vet to be implanted or do it yourself.

[sophie931]

Blood results no longer need to go to another country. Korea has three approved labs, mine was processed in Korea. Most vets also stock ISO microchips, and if they don't have them, I have been told it is very easy for them to get them.

[LolaMarigolda]

Blood results no longer need to go to another country. Korea has three approved labs, mine was processed in Korea. Most vets also stock ISO microchips, and if they don't have them, I have been told it is very easy for them to get them.

Can you post the site that shows they are now approved because everything I've seen doesn't mention them.

[mimis]

Can you post the site that shows they are now approved because everything I've seen doesn't mention them.

Yes, you can do it in Korea! I just got the test results back from my dog myself:)

Here's the official EU website:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/approval_en.htm. (Approved Korean labs: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/approval_en.htm#korea)

Also, we went to Chunghwa Animal Hospital and had everything done there, incl. the ISO microchip, it was all very easy.

[sophie931]

I got my dogs blood test tested at a lab in Korea. There are three approved labs. My dogs blood was sent to;

National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, NVRQS
480 Anyang 6-dong
Manangu, Anyang city
Gyeonggi-do 430-824

I had my dogs blood tested there nearly a year ago so this is not a new process, and vets in Korea should know this information. I had the addresses before I visited my vet, but he told me before I had chance to show him.
\

[emmalouise]

Thank you for all the help and advice it was a life saver... there is def a lab in Korea and everything is on track.

[queenie]

I just brough two cats to Bulgaria from Korea and all the advive above was basically what I followed and everything was fine - they didn't even look at my papers at all when I arrived here!
Someone mentioned www.pettravel.com. I was so stressed out I even bought some of the forms for the airline - total waste of money as you dont need them. Just in case anyone was also going to buy them!
I put my cats through cargo as one is a pretty big cat and didn't realise they dont get checked on throughout the flight -with aeroflot anyways. I would also check this out with whatever airline you will use as my cats were pretty traumatised after the long journey. Totally fine and dandy now though :-)
Good luck with it all and try not to worry and stress out too much, like I did!
If you have all your paperwork then it really easy :-)