Is it me or is everyone leaving Spain? I have had so many enquiries over the last few months regarding long term kennelling and quite a few horror stories also.
It can take 6 to 7 months for your pet to be valid for entry to another Country, if they don’t already have a pet passport. You can either have them wait in Spain or quarantined in the country you are going to. Obviously, it can be a lot cheaper here and nicer for your dog or cat, given the weather, as they can be outside more, rather than being confined in a prison-like pen.
One of the things to be careful about here in Spain is where to leave your pet. Here are just two examples of what has gone very wrong. There are several people who look after dogs without a license, insurance and don’t pay tax. These people can offer a better deal, as they have no overheads. A customer of mine put her two dogs in such a place. The Guardia, who seem to be fining birds for flying at the moment to raise money, have been doing the rounds on such businesses and took seven dogs away. They fined the proprietor and also put a 1,000-euro, recovery fee on each dog. All the dog’s had to be paid for before the release of any one dog, so even though she could afford the fine, the other dog owners couldn’t and she had serious problems getting her dogs back.
I understand that the mass exodus is mostly due to financial problems but some cut corners end up being a false economy. I had a frantic call from a woman in the UK who had left her two dogs in an apartment in La Herradura and was paying someone 70 euros a week to feed, walk and generally take care of them. She paid upfront and he very quickly was nowhere to be seen. She was beside herself and we had to run a rescue mission and collect the dogs. They had a large bucket of water, thankfully, but no food and a lot of mess!
We took them home and they ate a lot! Normally when a dog comes to our kennels for the first time, they don’t eat for the first day. This is usually due to nerves or excitement because of the other dogs and is not a problem because if a dog doesn’t eat for four days, it’s the same as you or I not eating for one. These dogs had obviously not been fed or taken out for over a week. They are now staying here while they wait for their passports.
Someone, you trust, staying in your house or your pet going to a friend’s home is the only safe alternative to kennels. For more information contact claire@perrossi.com.