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Pet Travel



Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret into Ireland from another EU country or certain listed countries, including Northern Ireland

PLEASE NOTE THE BELOW POINTS BEFORE PROCEEDING:

  • To be considered a non-Commercial movement; The pet must arrive in Ireland with their owner.
    • If the owner cannot travel with the pet directly, an authorised person may travel with the pet, provided the owner’s journey is within 5 days and the pet is accompanied by written permission from the owner.
    • If the animal is not travelling to Ireland within 5 days of its owner, it is considered unaccompanied and is subject to the rules regarding UNACCOMPANIED OR COMMERCIAL MOVEMENTS.
  • All pets must be accompanied by original paperwork, not copies.
  • The number of Animals allowed to travel with a party under the non-commercial rules is FIVE. If your party is travelling with more than FIVE animals, they will be they will be subject to UNACCOMPANIED OR COMMERCIAL MOVEMENTS.
  • Service animals must comply with the rules on EU pet travel.
  • It is important to note that entry requirements to Ireland are set based on where the Animal is travelling from, not the country that it was born or usually resides in. (If an Irish pet goes with  its owners on holidays to Brazil and then tries to re-enter Ireland, it must follow the rules below on entry from Brazil). Irish/EU citizens should always prepare their pet for re-entry to Ireland BEFORE they leave Ireland.
  • It is also important to note that EU pet passports must be properly and fully completed to be valid for travel. Simply having one does not allow your pet automatic entry into Ireland, they must still abide by the rules below.

Please read through the information below carefully. If you have any questions on pet travel after reading, please contact:

Email address: livetrade@agriculture.gov.ie

  • telephone from within Ireland: 01 607 2827
  • telephone from outside of Ireland: 00353 1 6072827

Coming from an EU Member State or One of the Countries/Territories Listed Below:


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1. Been Microchipped

The microchip must be inserted before the rabies vaccination is administered and must be readable by a device compatible with ISO standard 11785. If the microchip cannot be read when you enter Ireland, your pet may be required to be quarantined under official control or refused entry into Ireland. You may bring your own microchip scanner with you, if the microchip is not readable by a device compatible with ISO standard 11785.

2. A valid Rabies Vaccination

  1. The vaccination must be given after the microchip is inserted.
  2. The pet must be at least 12 weeks old before the vaccination is given, and it must be given by a vet authorised by the authorities of your country.
  3. You must wait until the appropriate immunity has developed, as stated by the datasheet of the vaccination given, which must be at least 21 days after the primary vaccination is given, before you can bring the dog, cat or ferret to Ireland. If the datasheet of the vaccination used says that immunity is not present until day 30 after vaccination, then you must wait 30 days before travel and your vet should record the same in the health certificate.

A rabies vaccination with a 1 or 3-year validity period is acceptable for entry into Ireland, but please see explanations below RE primary vs booster.

Once there has been no break in coverage after a primary rabies vaccination, subsequent vaccinations are considered booster and not primary vaccinations.

If there has been a break in coverage, the next vaccination will be considered a primary vaccination and the appropriate waiting period will apply. 

In the case of booster vaccinations, the waiting period does not apply.

All dogs, cats and ferrets entering Ireland must comply with these requirements. There are no exemptions to this rule. If you are travelling from an area which has been declared rabies-free, your dog, cat and ferret still needs to comply with the rabies vaccination requirements.

3. Is Accompanied by a Valid EU Pet Passport (if you are an EU Resident), or EU Health certificate (if you are a non-EU Resident).

Ireland accepts pet passports from all EU countries, Northern Ireland and from the following European countries/territories: Andorra, Gibraltar, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City State.

A valid passport is a passport issued by an EU country or a country/ territory listed above, which certifies that the rabies vaccine given is valid.

Vets in non-EU countries (apart from the European countries/territories listed above) may not complete, sign or stamp the section on rabies vaccination or the rabies serological test in the passport. If they were to do so, this would make the pet passport invalid for travel.

PLEASE NOTE: From 22nd April 2026; EU pet passports are only valid for animals whose owners primarily reside within the EU (regardless of citizenship). If you are not primarily a resident within the EU, your animal will need to be accompanied by an EU health Certificate (See below)

If your pet dog, cat or ferret does not have a pet passport issued by an EU country or the countries/territories listed above, it must be accompanied by an EU Health certificate before entering an EU country, including Ireland.

An EU Health certificate must be:

  • completed by your veterinary practitioner, AND
  • signed and endorsed by an Official (State) Veterinarian of the country of departure, within 10 days of pets arrival into the EU, AND
  • immediately upon arriving into the EU, signed and endorsed by the EU country which performed the compliance checks

An Official State Veterinarian is a veterinarian directly employed by the government in the country of departure.

If the pet is travelling by sea, the validity is extended by the number of days of travel by sea.

The endorsed certificate is valid for travel between EU Member States for up to 6 months, or until the anti-rabies vaccination expires, whichever is the earliest. 

PLEASE NOTE: this is between EU Member States only, and not to travel out of the EU and back in again. If the pet leaves the EU at any stage, then a new health certificate will be required.

4. Has Been Administered Tapeworm Treatment for Dogs

If your dog is entering Ireland from any country apart from Finland, Malta, Norway or Northern Ireland, a vet must treat your dog for tapeworm (specifically Echinococcus multilocularis) and record the treatment in the pet passport or EU health certificate before each time you intend to travel to Ireland.

The treatment must contain praziquantel and must be administered by a veterinarian no less than 24 hours (1 day) and no more than 120 hours (5 days) before the scheduled arrival time of the dog in Ireland.

PLEASE NOTE: The requirement for tapeworm treatment is only needed for dogs.

5. Compliance Checks

You do not have to books a compliance check in advance. However, you may be subject to spot checks. So please keep your documents on your person at all times when travelling.

6. Non-Compliant animals

If you do not follow these rules, or your pet fails the spot compliance checks, it may be refused entry into Ireland or may be placed into quarantine under official control for the necessary tests or vaccinations.

PLEASE NOTE: That pursuant to Reg. 12 (7) of SI 141/2020: All costs incurred in relation seizure and quarantine of your animal will be payable by the person who has possession or control of the animal concerned. Failure to do so may result in the permanent seizure of your animal.

 Please ask for details of our quarantine facility and make contact with the quarantine facility immediately to make arrangements for your pet and to ensure that you are fully aware of the costs and requirements associated with this process.

 

If any of the following situations apply to you:

  • you are buying a dog, cat or ferret abroad and having it shipped to Ireland, that is, you are not going to collect it and travel home with it, or
  • your pet is in another country and you want to have it shipped to Ireland, that is, you are not going to collect it and travel home with it
  • you are travelling to Ireland to buy, sell or gift a dog, cat or ferret, or if any change of ownership is involved after arrival, including delivery of a purchased or rehomed animal
  • if you are travelling with more than 5 pets (the exception is if you are travelling for a  show/competition, and you will need to provide written confirmation livetrade@agriculture.gov.ie

then your pet may not enter Ireland under pet travel rules. These pets must follow a different set of rules as only pets travelling directly with their owners can use the pet travel rules for entry. Please see section on Bringing an Unaccompanied Pet Cat, Dog or Ferret into Ireland.