Travelling to Italy with pets

The instructions provided concern only dogs, cats and other pet animals arriving in Italy together with their owner or an authorized person designated by their owner. Therefore, such instructions do not concern the movement of animals to be sold or transferred to another owner, including adoptions. For these cases, please refer to the procedures relating to commercial movements.

Since 29 December 2014, the European Union new health legislation has entered into force (Regulation No. 576/2013 EU and Regulation No. 577/2013EU). It applies to the non-commercial movement of pet animals into a Member State from another Member State or from a third country.

Such provisions are fundamental to protect public and animal health, with particular attention to the prevention of rabies, and they help in the fight against the illegal trade in pets without putting unjustified obstacles when travelling abroad with pet animals.

As a precautionary measure, it is generally recommended to start the procedures in good time before the estimated date of departure, since the most complex of them may require more than 4 months.

There are some general provisions concerning all dogs, cats and ferrets coming from both EU Member States and third countries:

• dogs, cats and ferrets shall be identified by a microchip (transponder) or a clearly legible tattoo, when applied before 3 July 2011
• it is prohibited to introduce in Italy dogs, cats and ferrets:
  1. aged less than 12 weeks that have not been vaccinated against rabies
  2. aged between 12 and 16 weeks that, although vaccinated against rabies, do not meet the validity requirements laid down in Annex III, Point 2, Letter e) to Regulation No. 576/2013 EU (the period of validity of the vaccination starts from when the protective immunity is established - not less than 21 days after completion of the vaccination protocol required by the manufacturer for the primary vaccination. It continues until the end of the period of protective immunity) and consequently are not yet protected against the disease.    

In fact, Italy does not make use of the possibilities of derogation from compulsory vaccination against rabies for young pet animals accorded to Member States by Articles 7 and 11 of Regulation No. 576/2013 EU.

• The maximum number of pet animals (dogs, cats and ferrets) that may accompany the owner or the authorized person during a single movement shall not exceed five (Article 5, Paragraph 1 of Regulation No. 576/2013 EU). By way of derogation and under certain conditions, the maximum number of pet animals (dogs, cats and ferrets) may exceed five if the non-commercial movement is for the purpose of participating in competitions, exhibitions or sporting events or in training for such events (Article 5, Paragraph 2 of Regulation No. 576/2013 EU).When the maximum number of pet animals (dogs, cats and ferrets) exceeds five and the conditions for derogation are not fulfilled:
  1. if the animals come from a EU country, they shall meet the requirements set out in   Directive 92/65/EEC as amended in order to be subjected to veterinary controls provided for in  Regulation  (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and the Concil  of 15 March 2017 as amended
  2. if the animals come from a third country, they shall meet the requirements set out in Directive 92/65/EEC as amended in order to be subjected to veterinary controls performed by border control posts (BCPs) as provided in  Regulation  (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and the Concil  of 15 March 2017..  
• Normally, the owner or the authorized person shall accompany the animal during a non-commercial movement. However, on duly justified and documented grounds, the pet animal shall be considered as accompanying its owner or the authorized person even if its non-commercial movement takes place up to five days earlier or later than the movement of the owner or the authorized person, or if it takes place in a different physical location than that occupied by the owner or the authorized person
• A preventive treatment against ticks and echinococcus is NOT required for the introduction of pet animals in Italy.  

In addition to the general provisions, different conditions apply depending on whether animals come from EU Member States or third countries.