Moving a pet to the EU — chip, vaccine and titre test

A pet never travels in the removal vehicle

Let us clear that up first, because it is the question we are asked most: a dog or a cat does not travel in the van with the furniture. Never. The vehicle is not climate-controlled for living creatures, it can stand at a border for hours, and an animal shut in a closed space in summer heat is a real danger, not a formality.

Your pet travels with you — by car or by air — under its own rules, with its own paperwork. This article is about that paperwork.

Three steps, and the order is not optional

This is where people most often lose months. The steps cannot be done out of order: if the vaccine is given before the microchip, it does not count and has to be repeated.

• Microchip. First. The chip must meet ISO standard 11784/11785. Its number goes into the passport and everything afterwards is tied to it.
• Rabies vaccination. Only after the chip. The animal must be at least 12 weeks old at the time, and the vaccine becomes valid 21 days later.
• Antibody titration. Blood is taken no earlier than 30 days after the vaccine and sent to a laboratory the EU recognises. The result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml.

Serbia is not on the list of countries exempt from titration, so this third step is compulsory.

Why you plan it four months ahead

Add the deadlines up and the picture is clear:

• the vaccine is valid only after 21 days;
• blood is taken no earlier than 30 days after the vaccine;
• from the blood sample to entry into the EU, three months must pass;
• the laboratory result itself takes two to four weeks.

So from the first visit to the vet to the day your pet may enter the EU is at least four months. If you are planning the move for autumn, you go to the vet in spring.

This is the commonest reason a move is postponed or a pet has to stay with relatives for a while — and it could have been avoided with one telephone call made in time.

What you carry on the day

The animal's passport with the chip number, the rabies vaccination record and the titration result, all in one folder, with you rather than in any luggage. Officers at the border ask for the passport, not for an explanation.

Keep a copy on your phone as well. A lost folder on a four-month process is not something you want to rebuild from the road.

Breeds and countries with extra rules

Some countries, Germany among them, keep a list of breeds restricted from entry — chiefly pit bull and Staffordshire terrier types. The rules can differ between federal states, so they are checked for the specific address rather than for the country.

There is also a limit on numbers: at most five animals, and the movement must be non-commercial — the owner travels with them, or at most five days before or after.

How this fits with the move itself

The order that causes least stress: the vet first, to start the clocks running, and only then agree the transport date. That way your belongings do not arrive while your pet is still not allowed to.

From our side: moving day is the worst part of the whole business for an animal — noise, open doors, strangers. Leave your pet with someone that day, or shut it in one room that we empty last. For transporting an animal within Serbia we have a separate service.

Frequently asked questions