Non-commercial travels with pets
To comply with the rules for non-commercial travel, you must travel with a maximum of five pets (dogs, cats, or ferrets) and accompany them yourself.
Pets travelling without their owner
As a rule, pets must travel with their owners; however, you may give written permission to another person to accompany your pet for you. Nonetheless, you must be reunited with your pet within five days of its relocation. For travels from the EU/EEC, use this form:
For travels from countries outside the EU/EEC, use the following form to give your your permission to another person to travel with yout pet. Also note that you should declare that the travel is non-commercial on the pet's health certificate:
Owner's authorisation to carry out a non-commercial movement of pets (non EU/EEC) (PDF)
Upon request from the competent authorities, the owner must provide documentation showing that the movement of the animals is part of their own travel. Such documentation may include hotel reservations, invoices, boarding passes, flight or train tickets, etc., clearly indicating that the movement of the animals is related to the owner's travel.
Travelling with more than five animals
You can travel with up to five pets, but if there are more than five pets (dogs, cats or ferrets) you must provide proof of both of the following:
- they are participating in a competition, exhibition or sporting event (by providing for example a registration document)
- they are more than 6 months old