A man from Abingdon has started a petition asking the Government to re-join the EU Pet Passport scheme, after the Government’s Brexit deal left him hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

David Kirwin and his family have taken their dog Mona to France several times a year for the last 13 years, using the EU Pet Passport scheme.

Due to the Government’s Brexit deal, EU pet passports issued to pet owners residing in Great Britain are no longer valid for travel with pets to an EU country or Northern Ireland.

Pet owners from Britain who wish to visit the EU or Northern Ireland with their animals must now obtain an animal health certificate (AHC) each time they travel, which can cost up to £250.

Mr Kirwin described the certificate as ‘extortionately expensive’, ‘overly bureaucratic’ and ‘difficult’.

Oxford Mail: Mr Kirwin with family dog Mona (front right) (Picture: David Kirwin)Mr Kirwin with family dog Mona (front right) (Picture: David Kirwin)

It is stated on the Government website that to travel a pet now needs:

• a microchip

• a valid rabies vaccination

• an animal health certificate unless you have a pet passport issued in an EU country or Northern Ireland

• tapeworm treatment for dogs if you’re travelling directly to Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway or Malta

These added costs now mean it is more expensive to get Mona across the Channel to France, than the rest of the family put together.

He added that vets ‘want to be helping pets and animals, they do not want to be filling out forms’.

Mr Kirwin’s petition currently has 2,222 signatures. When it reaches 10,000 the Government will respond and at 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

He hopes his petition will ‘bring attention to this ridiculous situation that Brexit has left us in’ as he says ‘nobody voted for this’.

He said: “My petition is essentially asking the Government to renegotiate a better deal so we can re-join the scheme.

“It makes no sense that we are not part of it anymore as we have been part of it for so long. Our animals are the same animals they were last year but now we have to pay this extra fee.”

Oxford Mail: Mona on holiday in France last year (David Kirwin)Mona on holiday in France last year (David Kirwin)

Mr Kirwin noted that many vets started out offering the certificate at between £75 and £100, however in his experience many places are now charging between £200 and £250.

The high cost of the certificates also worry Mr Kirwin as he feels this could ‘lead to pets being abandoned or being left in places where they do not want to be left’.

He added: “The new scheme is essentially a punitive tax on pet owners which adversely effects those on lower incomes more than the wealthy”.