Guniea Pigs Will Fly

‘IT was always going to happen – as soon as dogs got passports, all their mates were going to want passports.

Sam’s photo did not do him justice

And so we learn in this morning’s Telegraph that gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs are going to get them.

So are cats, rabbits, rats and mice. And canaries, budgerigars, terrapins, tropical fish and even earth worms.

The new ruling, tested by the guinea pigs and announced yesterday by animal health minister Ben Bradshaw, means that all of the above will now be able to holiday all over Europe and North America.

They will even be able to look for work in other EU countries.

However, ferrets are not included – and nor are they the only ones unhappy with the scheme.

Peter Jinman, president of the British Veterinary Association, said: ‘There must be active monitoring of pets arriving in Britain.

‘Since the passport scheme was extended to North America, the monitoring has been passive. As a result, for the first time in this country we are recording diseases such as brucella canis and leishmania infantum, which can severely affect or kill people.

‘We do not want to see the same thing happening with diseases that are in Europe but not so far in Britain.’

Like being foreign, for example…

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Posted: 4th, July 2003 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink