In yesterday’s blog introducing our Homeward Bound Campaign I mentioned that our dogs leaving France for other rescues or who are not accompanied by their new owners must move under TRACES rather than Pet Passports.
Today we have had LOTS of queries from people asking questions about TRACES and as we dont have much news from the refuge tonight I thought that I would explain about our experience.
The TRACES system is a management tool for tracking the movement of animals and products of animal origin from both outside of the European Union and within its territory. Dogs, cats and ferrets moving for sale, or re-homing (rescue animals) all need to moved under Balai conditions (TRACES). The online TRACES system generates an Intra Trade Animal Health Certificates (ITAHCs) which a rescue animal must have to travel to any other European country.
To us this seemed ridiculous as we took pride in how we transported our dogs. They always travelled in cages, in air-conditioned vehicles, with good collars and harness with competent volunteers who stopped frequently and used doubled ended leads. They always had Pet Passports. We were shocked and a wee bit offended to hear that unless we complied with TRACES our dogs could be quarantined and / or and we could be fined!
This was a hard blow for us but we are resilient so we asked DEFRA for advice. They suggested contacting our local Department of Agriculture. This was not easy despite the fact we are competent in French! Eventually, after lots of unanswered emails, phone calls and lots of research one of our French colleagues tracked down the person in the Aude region of France who was responsible for TRACES. This very competent lady had never heard of refuge dogs moving under TRACES but as she had dealt with the SPA Carcassonne and knew of our work, researched this and offered to help!
We were invited to a meeting with the regional department responsible for animal movements and I think it’s fair to say, this was a learning curve for all involved. Lots of people criticise the French bureaucracy but I have to say I was amazed at how helpful they were! Not only did they do their homework so to speak, they offered to complete the paperwork for us!
We were nervous when our first dog moved under TRACES. There was more paperwork, but we now do it automatically and have a procedure in place which we follow. However as all dogs travelling for more than 8 hours must travel by a DEFRA registered transporter and as we are in South West France, this is going to cost us money.
We will fundraise to pay for this and yes that will always be a struggle. Is that struggle worth the lost lives of dogs transported illegally? If it does indeed help then of course. The system is far from perfect, the world of animal transportation is far from perfect but like all changes you can embrace them or not.
Moving our dogs safely, in comfort was never an issue, we did that anyway but now instead of driving our dogs to their destination we concentrate our efforts on fundraising and paperwork. We don’t mind, we know our dogs won’t ever be quarantined, won’t be turned away at any border control and we won’t be fined so we can help more dogs.
If you are in France and want to take your own dog or cat to the UK you do not have to use TRACES. Provided you have a valid Pet passport you are safe to travel. If however, you have more than 5 animals you now need to complete a TRACES application. To do this you need to contact you nearest Department which deals with ‘Sante et Protection de l’animal et de l’enviroment’ who will issue you with a form to complete. This needs to be returned along with copies of the dogs passport, showing the microchip number, rabies vaccination dates and worming details of the dog. Your local vet also needs to complete a health certificate and all this needs to be lodged timeously and everything about TRACES is down to timing! When they are happy that all the information is valid and complete they will issue you with an Intra Trade Animal Health Certificate.
To all the refuges who are overwhelmed by the changes and we certainly were, just do it. Like a lot of things, its not fair on those who do things responsibly but that’s life. Its easy to do, a bit more paperwork, costs money but it might, just might, save lives and some dogs from horrific suffering and should there ever be an outbreak of disease, the outbreak should be easily traced and controlled.
The complexities of TRACES could never be explained in this blog and if you have any queries just call DEFRA and ask them. We have called many times and they have been very helpful indeed!
Thank you Moira. Very helpful indeed.