Travelling from Romania to Ireland with a dog

What to prepare

For direct non-commercial travel from Romania to Ireland, check your dog's identification, rabies vaccination, original EU pet passport and Ireland-specific tapeworm treatment. The trip must not involve a sale or transfer of ownership. Dates, document entries and who accompanies the dog all matter.

Identification and rabies vaccination

Your dog needs a qualifying microchip, or a clearly readable tattoo applied before 3 July 2011 where that legacy identification path applies. The rabies vaccination date must not precede the recorded identification or reading of the identification means.

For a primary rabies vaccination, your dog must have been at least 12 weeks old when vaccinated. The vaccination becomes valid when protective immunity is established, never earlier than 21 days after the manufacturer's primary vaccination protocol is completed. The authorised vaccine's stated onset can be later. A booster given within the preceding vaccination's validity continues that protection; a late booster is treated as a new primary vaccination.

Ireland does not accept the Article 9 young-animal derogation. A puppy whose rabies vaccination is not yet valid cannot use that exception for entry into Ireland.

Bring the original EU pet passport

An original, properly completed EU pet passport should accompany your dog. It must record the dog's identification, rabies vaccination and, for this route, the applicable Echinococcus multilocularis treatment. Ask your veterinarian and the Irish authority about unusual passport or travel-history circumstances.

For ordinary owner-accompanied travel within the EU, this guide does not require a separate non-commercial declaration. If an authorised person takes the dog instead, the owner must provide written authorisation and travel within five days before or after the dog. The written declaration confirming the relationship to the owner's movement must be attached to the passport; keep evidence of the owner's travel available. This is distinct from the declaration used for entry from outside the EU.

Check the rest of the journey

The ordinary maximum is five dogs, cats or ferrets in a non-commercial movement. More than five is allowed only for participation in a competition, exhibition, sporting event or training for one of those events, with written registration evidence; each animal must be more than six months old. The limit concerns the movement, rather than how the animals are divided between vehicles.

Ireland says original paperwork must accompany the animal, and pets arriving from EU countries may be subject to spot checks. Check your carrier's booking and carriage rules. This guide covers direct Romania → Ireland travel; check any transit-country requirements separately.