Listening,   
 then acting

A final tail...

Listening, then acting can change even a dog's life! Ximo has been part of the Whitehouse family living in western Europe, for years. But until now, he's never been able to join them at home in the UK.

That's because Ximo is a dog and his owner, Bill Whitehouse, couldn't face putting his friend through the stress of six months' quarantine.

But this year, there were scenes of joyful reunion as Ximo finally came home under the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS).

He's just one of more than 6,000 cats and dogs that have entered the UK since the scheme was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in February.

Says Bill Whitehouse, a telecommunications consultant from Solihull: "I planned well ahead to make sure that Ximo complied with the rules. Everything went very smoothly on the day and he went through the checks without any problem."

PETS has modernised the British quarantine rules so that cats and dogs can enter the UK having been in Western European countries, without being separated from their owners for six months. It is to be extended to rabies-free islands next year.

The animals must have been microchipped, vaccinated against rabies, blood tested and treated against parasites.

All the details are on the PETS website on www.maff.gov.uk/ animalh/quarantine or on the special PETS helpline on 0870 241 1710.