Animal Health, Block C, Government Buildings, Whittington Road Worcs WR5 2LQ
Mrs A Fearn
Your Ref:
request-40551-
Our Ref: AH0840
[email address]
Date: 12 August 2010
Dear Mrs Fearn
PROVISION OF REQUESTED INFORMATION
Thank you for your request for information about the Pet Passport Scheme, which
we received on 3 July 2010. Your request has been considered under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
I enclose a copy of the information you requested:
Please can you furnish me with the following figures:
1. In the past 12 months (or if more readily available March 2009 -
March 2010), can you provide me with the numbers of pet dogs and
cats whose Microchip Identification has failed whilst passing
through Heathrow Airport under the Pet Travel Scheme (Pet
Passport).
2. As a result of the Micrichip's inability to be read (or found),
how many dogs/cats have had to undergo:
a. Quarantine
b. Return to Country of Origin or departure
c. Surgery to locate microchip for verification
3. How many owners have taken the decision to have their pet
euthanased rather than place their dogs/cats in quarantine or
return to Country of origin or departure.
1) Having searched for microchip failures between 01/03/09 and 28/02/10, of 4587
PETS failures, 45 were due to failed, missing or generally unreadable microchips.
Please note this figure does not include pets that were never microchipped, or
where a chip was read but not documented on EU pet passports or official third
country veterinary certificates.
2) The result of such a failure (i.e. whether a pet was re-exported, or quarantined)
are not logged, as a re-export would not determine a UK entry and a request to
enter a pet into quarantine would be under licence and would not necessarily advise
Head Office: Animal Health Corporate Centre, Block C, Government Buildings, Whittington Road, Worcester WR5 2LQ
t +44(0)1905 763355
f +44(0)1905 768851
e [email address]
Animal Health is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Assembly Government and the Food Standards Agency
www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth
as to the reasoning for quarantine. For example, a pet may be stopped at port
because six months has not passed from the date of blood testing - The import
licence would only state that the pet is to be quarantined until such a time that six
month passes, or until the pet becomes PETS compliant.
3) We do not hold figures for pets that are euthanized.
Please note these statistics were taken from the PETS System and as such, figures
therein are dependent on correct carrier entry.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any
non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any
other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of
the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by Animal Health will have been
produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details
on the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright on OPSI (Office of Public Sector
Information) at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm
Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be
protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the
information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before
reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information.
In keeping with the spirit and effect of the Freedom of Information Act
2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004, all information is assumed to be
releasable to the public unless exempt. The information you requested may now be
published on our website together with any related information that will provide a
key to its wider context.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. I also attach an Annex
giving contact details should you be unhappy with the services you have received.
Yours sincerely
(by email)
Norrie Stewart
Animal Health Information Manager
Email
[email address]
Head Office: Animal Health Corporate Centre, Block C, Government Buildings, Whittington Road, Worcester WR5 2LQ
t +44(0)1905 763355
f +44(0)1905 768851
e [email address]
Animal Health is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Assembly Government and the Food Standards Agency
www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth
Annex A
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request
and wish to make a complaint, you should write to Mrs Rosie Olley, Customer &
Stakeholder Services Manager, Corporate Office, Spur 3, Block C, Government
Buildings, Whittington Road, Worcester WR5 2LQ, who will arrange for an internal
review of your case.
If you are unhappy with the result of your request, your appeal must be received by
Animal Health within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Appeals received
after this deadline will not be accepted.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please note that
generally the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have
first exhausted the Animal Health complaints procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Head Office: Animal Health Corporate Centre, Block C, Government Buildings, Whittington Road, Worcester WR5 2LQ
t +44(0)1905 763355
f +44(0)1905 768851
e [email address]
Animal Health is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also works on behalf of the Scottish
Government, Welsh Assembly Government and the Food Standards Agency
www.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth
