In recent years, more and more people have been interested in taking care of street dogs from other EU countries. Associations and individuals work to get the dogs out of municipal and private fences and find new homes for them in Sweden.
When introducing dogs, ID-marking, valid vaccination against rabies, passports and notification to the customs are required.
Pet or commercial animal?But the rules are not crystal clear and differ depending on whether the dog is classified as a pet or a commercial animal. For commercial animals, in addition to the above requirements, veterinary inspection and registration is also required in TRACES, a common EU database, which makes it possible to track and monitor animals.
Listen to the clip above when your dog should be classified as a pet.
The County Administrative Board is requesting clearer guidelines and increased cooperation between the authorities involved.
- We need to have a clear structure on our imports. Clear rules and clear follow-up, that is to say that everything goes right, says Helen Haaranen Loor veterinarian Östergötland County Administrative Board.
The Swedish Agricultural Agency is currently working on reviewing the import.
"We have now done a review of our handling of import cases and we are constantly looking for improvements and opportunities to make it even better," says Lotta Hofverberg, unit manager for the fight against infection.