Pets and people have much in common when it comes to free movement in and out of Britain and Ireland. The announcement yesterday by the British government that it is to end the strict quarantine controls on cats and dogs introduced over 100 years ago as a (successful) means of controlling rabies will in due course be followed by the Government here. This welcome change of policy is a response to recent technological and administrative changes. It brings both countries closer to common European practice, in recognition of the progress made in combatting rabies. It will have a significant impact on tourism and even on labour mobility.
The passports for pets scheme will substitute microchips, blood tests, vaccination and veterinary certification for the six-month quarantine regime which proved a costly and emotionally trying barrier for people bringing cats and dogs to Britain and Ireland. It will still involve strict regulation, but takes more humane and realistic account of the much larger travelling public, many of whom want to bring their pets with them. It is estimated that some 350,000 people could take up the scheme in its first full year in Britain and Northern Ireland after April 2001. From another perspective, it is reckoned that over 3,000 pets died in quarantine over the last 25 years. Given these pressures, it is not surprising that smuggling of animals is expected to decline sharply as a result of the new regulations. And the cost difference is also substantial; whereas a six-month quarantine could cost £2,000, the new arrangements would be one tenth of that sum.
Ireland has little option but to follow the change of British policy because of the disease-free status of the two islands, the Border and the long tradition of co-operation and consultation between the two governments on animal health, including rabies control, and finally, of course, the free movement of such pets between these islands. There has been close consultation on this change of policy too. The Irish scheme is expected to mirror the changes announced in London yesterday, taking account of the pilot scheme there. Last year licences were issued for importing 126 cats and 59 dogs to the State, most of them from the US, Canada and Europe. This number is likely to increase sharply after these changes are introduced. The price of British-Irish interdependence in quarantine regulations and free movement of cat and dog pets - as in the case of free movement of people - is that a common regulatory regime is followed by the two governments. Realistically, the larger state is in a strong position to set the norms, with as much consultation as possible. Ireland has had no option but to follow the British policy on the European Union's Schengen scheme for closer co-operation on migration from which both states secured an opt-out in the Treaty of Amsterdam. Recent changes of British policy in this domain have been mirrored here too. Historically the extent of close co-operation between the two governments on free movement of people, immigration and asylum policies has been kept a closely guarded secret within the administrations. Policy on cats and dogs can set a precedent for more open government on these issues.