In late July Kyrenia Animal Rescue was devastated to learn that North Cyprus would be ejected from the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS). Any animals travelling to the UK after 30th September 2004 would now face six months in quarantine. Twelve cats and dogs waiting to travel to the UK now faced uncertain futures. As the news spread other pet owners approached KAR pleading for help. To make matters worse none of the airlines serving North Cyprus were transporting animals, and they are prohibited from travelling via airports in South Cyprus. With apparently no way out and a month to the deadline, the race was on …
The
Campaign
KAR immediately began
lobbying to have North Cyprus reinstated into the Pet Travel Scheme, and also
to challenge the European Commission ruling preventing animals from crossing
the “green line”. UK authorities,
European Commissioners, the British High Commission, the North Cypriot
President and Prime Ministers, the media and many organisations in the UK and
South Cyprus were informed of the problem and asked for their support. All the
owners of animals previously sent abroad were contacted and most provided us
with testimonials and promised to lobby the UK authorities.
Most of the twelve
animals waiting to travel had served part of their six month quarantine
requirement. Their owners were informed
of the problem and told of their options. Some decided to begin proceedings to
bring their animals back to the UK early. One cat, Poppy, had completed her six
months and was just waiting on a flight. KAR began to put pressure on the
airlines to secure flights for those animals who could leave by the end of the
month. Turkish Airlines, who we had
used to transport animals in the past until they arbitrarily suspended flights,
told us tersely that they would not be reinstated. That left only Cyprus Turkish Airlines, who theoretically could
transport a limited number of animals when the aircraft used was a Boeing 737. In reality, due to the demand for flights
(by people) they had been using larger aircraft, without pressurised cargo
holds for most of the summer. Daily
phone calls to their agent yielded a promise that some suitable flights would
be available on Mondays during September.
Newcomer Onur Air entered
the fray – they sympathised with our problem and were keen to gain a license to
fly animals to the UK but predicted that the negotiations with Heathrow
authorities would take “weeks”.
Then, a
breakthrough. Poppy left on the 9th
September, and on the 10th KAR was able to fly out five other cats
to their grateful owners. On the same day we heard from Onur Air that their
license to transport animals had been granted (although a problem later
developed with this – see Max’s story.
Later in the month three
dogs were secured flights, two to serve six months quarantine and one with a
few months left to do.
Why was it not possible
to send animals to the South (now EU) and fly from their airports, provided all
the paperwork was in order? KAR wrote
to EU Commissioner for Cyprus, Adrian van der Meer and received a reply
explaining that the crossing of animals across the “green line” had been
prohibited because the EU “does not have any track record of the animal health
situation in the North…(and) would like to have the maximum protection of its
citizens and animals against disease”.
He said that the EU had undertaken to review the matter when “adequate
veterinary and public health standards had been achieved”. This despite the fact that the UK had been
accepting animals from North Cyprus for the last two years.
The DEFRA website makes
it clear that the reasons for the changes are political. It states: “Had the referendum which took
place in 2004 on the unification of Cyprus been sucessful, the difficulty pet
owners in Northern Cyprus are now facing would not exist. However the referendum proposal was rejected
and as the EU does not recognize Northern Cyprus, the UK has no option but to
regard pets coming from that country as coming from an unlisted country…” The
animals of North Cyprus have been left out in the cold, despite the fact that
the referendum was rejected only by the Greek side.
Kedi’s
Story
Kedi had literally
appeared on Elizabeth Smith’s doorstep while she was staying at a friend’s
villa in Catalkoy. She became very attached to the pretty white and tabby cat
and decided to give her a home in the UK with the help of KAR. By the end of July she had spent four months
in North Cyprus, and was due to travel in December. Because six months quarantine would be prohibitively expensive,
the Smith’s decided to bring Kedi home early.
Defra agreed that as Kedi had her sucessful blood test three months
previously, she would only be required to serve another three months in
quarantine in the UK, but only if she arrived
before September 30.
A UK Import License was applied for,
but by the time it arrived there were no flights available. Kedi left on the 1st October,
landing in the UK ten hours after the deadline. Despite appeals for leniency to Defra, they have stated that Kedi
must now do six months quarantine. The Smiths continue too fight this decision.
Georgie’s
Story
Georgie, a young black
and white terrier with a knack for making friends and escape artist
extraordinaire, is now serving six months quarantine in the UK.
The Mortlock family were
staying at Oscar’s Resort when she adopted them. She was in poor condition, and
not at all streetwise. Concerned about the her future Mortlocks emailed
KAR on their return. Meanwhile another
call had been received from tourists reporting seeing the little dog being
beaten with a stick. KAR called at
Oscars, and found Georgie staying with another family in one of the villas! The
Mortlock’s had just made the decision to bring her home to the UK under the
PETS scheme when the changes were announced.
They were heartbroken, initially thinking that the cost of quarantine
was out of the question and they would have to abandon the little dog they had
all fallen in love with. Eventually
they found a smaller quarantine premises that was more affordable and Georgie travelled on 21st
September. “It was lovely to see her so
clean and shiny and wholesome, after the way she was when we left Cyprus” they
emailed to KAR. They also reported that
upon arrival at Gatwick, Georgie has managed to escape from her carrier box,
despite the precaution of extra luggage straps, and was hiding in the luggage
hold!
Max’s
Story
Sengul Turner went to
live in North Cyprus last August with her son and two and a half year old
golden retriever dog, Max. Three months
later she returned to the UK due to personal problems. Max was left with her
brother with the view that the family would arrange the microchipping, rabies
vaccine and blood test he would need to travel back to the UK under the Pet
Travel Scheme. (Because of time constraints this had not been done when he
first came to Cyprus). Max was due to
travel on 1st August 2004, so after ten months of waiting Sengul
travelled to the TRNC to make the final arrangements. Unfortunately limitations on the size of cargo meant that Max’s
crate was too large (by 4cm) to go in a Boeing 737, it required an Airbus. KTA’s larger planes do not have air in the
cargo hold, and no other airlines were able to transport animals. Returning to the UK bitterly disappointed
Sengul continued desperately to get Max onto a flight, with time running
out. On Friday 10th
September she received a phone call from Onur Air, to say that they now had a
license to carry animals and would be able to take Max on the 13th
September. It would cost her £500 but
she was delighted although she would not believe it until he was on a plane and
on his way home. On the morning of the
13th she received a phone call from her brother, he had just been
informed that there was no oxygen in the cargo of the plane. She says “I have tried everything now and I
am at my wit’s end… My only consolation is that my family in Cyprus love him
too and do not mind him staying with them, but he is our dog and we would still
wish for him to come home”.
With the deadline now
expired Max has no chance of returning to his home unless the regulations can
be changed.
The
German Connection
Travel to Germany for
animals has always more straightforward
- the only requirement being a rabies
vaccination one month before travel, and the animals are released immediately
upon arrival. That would also all
change at the end of September, when a blood test would be necessary. Early
this year KAR’s Rescue Centre was filmed by a German TV crew visiting Cyprus,
and the resulting documentary shown on German television. Within days KAR had been contacted by two
animal rescue centres in Germany offering to rehome animals from the
Centre. Contacts in Germany made
enquiries for us and discovered that the two people were genuine animal lovers
with a successful track record of rehoming.
The opportunity to rehome additional animals abroad was a godsend for
KAR. The first five dogs were sent in June, followed by two cats in July. The animals travelled as “excess baggage”
accompanying holiday makers who had offered to help. In early September four kittens travelled to a new home, and with
the regulations changing at the end of the month, the final consignment of
three dogs was planned for the 25th. However at the airport, CTA refused to allow them to accompany
one of our supporters as excess baggage, and the dogs returned to the Centre.
Ajax
and Goldy’s Story
Ironically, the last dogs
to leave North Cyprus for Germany were two four month old German pointer
puppies: Ajax and Goldy. Their owners
are students who adopted the dogs while working on the turtle project in the Karpas.
They took them to the Society for the Protection of Animals in Lefkosa, when
they returned to Germany, but a few days later decided to bring them home. A KAR volunteer agreed to help the students
independently, retrieved the puppies from the SPA, took them home with her and
began making the arrangements.
Kaleidoscope Travel found a German tourist willing to take the puppies
as excess baggage. They were due to travel on Saturday – September to their new
home in Berlin. However, on the Friday
afternoon Turkish Airlines announced that a larger aircraft had been
substituted for that flight, due to pressure of numbers, and did not have
a pressurised compartment. With less than two weeks till the end of the
month, an alternative flight was urgently sought. Eventually a passenger travelling to Hamburg was found, although
it would mean a longer trip for the owners.
On Saturday 25th, to the extreme relief of all concerned,
Ajax and Goldy left Ercan with no
problems. In Hamburg, their owners took
them out for a walk along the river before heading home. They did not seem
phased at all by their epic journey.
The
Background
The Pet Travel Scheme was
established in 2000 to enable pet animals to be able to travel freely within
Europe, (and between Europe and some other designated countries) without
quarantine. After extensive
negotiations North Cyprus was permitted to join in 2002, and in November of
that year a little Cyprus terrier called Pip was the first animal to travel to
the UK. As far as North Cyprus is
concerned, most animals leaving under the scheme travel to the UK. Over the past two years KAR has sent 23
animals to new homes there. They have also given help and advice to many
members of the public to enable them to send pets themselves. The UK ‘s
regulations on the import of pet animals are probably the toughest in the
world. The animal must be microchipped, given a rabies vaccination, and a month
later a blood test to check that the vaccination has been successful. The test must be done in a UK
laboratory. If positive, the animal can
travel six months after the date of the test. An import license must be
obtained from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and
because there are no direct flights from North Cyprus a quarantine
kennels/cattery must be found to collect the animal and take it into quarantine
“with a view to early release”. After paperwork is checked release is usually
in two to three days). All the animals sent from North Cyprus under the scheme
have been approved for early release without a problem.
|
Celia and Ian Bell : Travels in Europe with Our Pets Over the past ten years
we have made four journeys in our camper to Europe. These holidays averaged four months. On the first occasion we had just one dog, Vladamir, now 16, on
the second Carob joined us and was one year.
The third trip saw a young cat, Samedi, as well as the two dogs with
us, on our last trip it was just three dogs, the latest being Naughty Knight. All our animals are
regularly innoculated against rabies and have their obligatory worm injection/pills
administered by a qualified vet. Our happy camping
journeys have taken us to Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany,
Hungary, Romania, Switzerland, Slovenia and Croatia, to name a few of the
countries we stayed in. On no
occasion were we shown anything but respect and welcome when our pet’s
documents were submitted for inspection, either at national borders or
campsites. On our return to North
Cyprus the pets went into quarantine in Lefkosa. We are appalled that
officialdom may now ban us from continuing this family tradition of camping
in Europe…. |
What Hope for the Future?
With the deadline now passed,
three dogs remain at KAR’s Rescue Centre, continuing with the PETS process in the hope that by the time
they are ready to travel, a solution will have been found.
The Quarantine Abolition
Fighting Fund (Quaff) a voluntary organisation with eight years of experience
of fighting for change in the UK quarantine regulations says that they would be happy to help
individuals caught up in the current limbo.
From their research into the current situation, they advise that
following microchipping, a rabies vaccination and blood test, cats or dogs in
North Cyprus have the right to enter
any EU member state (including South Cyprus) three months from the date of the
blood test. The animal must be
accompanied by an official EU Heath Certificate issued by the country of entry.
The exception is the UK, whose regulations insist that an animal must have
resided for six months in an “approved” country from the date of the blood
test. North Cyprus of course, is no
longer “approved”.
In a letter to Cyprus
Today, Quaff concludes “ Having discussed the issue with both Defra and the
appropriate department in the European Commission, we much regret that there
appears little prospect for change in the foreseeable
future”. For more
information see Quaff’s website at www.dip.demon.co.uk