Expat Animal Companions Must Be Allowed Swift Entry into the UK from Gulf States

Expat Animal Companions Must Be Allowed Swift Entry into the UK from Gulf States

London – With the war in Iran causing conflict across the Middle East, reports are indicating people fleeing Gulf states are being faced with the impossible decision of leaving behind their beloved companions due to UK pet import regulations. In response, PETA has rushed an urgent letter (available here) to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, asking her to relax the UK’s strict time-bound regulations to allow people to travel to the UK with their animal companions.

Currently, unless animals are vaccinated against rabies 21 days prior to travel, receive a tapeworm treatment 1-5 days prior, and receive an Animal Health Certificate – issued by an authorised veterinarian no more than 10 days before entry to Great Britain – they aren’t allowed into the UK. As a result of these and other countries’ regulations, many people are reported to have left their beloved companions – who are entirely dependent on their human guardians for their survival – behind. Animal shelters across the Gulf region are reportedly “overwhelmed”.

“Separating animal companions from their guardians is another tragedy for those fleeing Gulf states, and it will only result in more heartbreak and unnecessarily lost lives,” says PETA Senior Vice President Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is calling on the UK government to offer a solution to help humans and animals safely escape being caught in the crossfires.”

The animal protection group notes that during the Ukraine crisis, several European countries – Including Austria, Belgium, Hungary and Croatia – temporarily relaxed pet import rules to allow refugees to bring their companion animals, with veterinary checks and quarantine measures implemented after arrival.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For regular updates, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

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