Quarantine rules that have dogged US pets are lifted

For decades, it has been among the biggest gripes American expatriates have about London. Never mind the rain, the poor service in restaurants and the lack of iced water, why can't you bring your dawg with you?

Well, from next month you can, the Government announced yesterday, and the joy among the Yanks Over Here was unconfined.

The United States ambassador, William S Farish, threw a party at his Winfield House residence in Regent's Park to celebrate extending the Pet Travel Scheme to North America, which means dogs and cats can be brought in without having to spend six months in quarantine, if they are inoculated.

Several hundred American and Canadian dogs every month are expected to pass through Heathrow. The curbs have been long resented, and the embassy has been quietly but steadily lobbying to have them lifted.

"In this complex world we live in, it's a treat to have some really happy news to announce," the ambassador, genuinely delighted, told his guests, while Mrs Farish's dog Katie, a white bichon frisé, scuttled about under his feet. "It's a great day."

Katie, bought in England, will now be taken home to America for Christmas, and brought back in the new year. The Farishes gave away an earlier dog, Cotton, a Maltese terrier, who was unable to accompany them to the Court of St James's.

The Canadian high commissioner, Mel Cappe, also delighted, said he and his wife had to leave behind their 16-year-old cat, Butterscotch, when he was posted to London.

The move will mean George Bush will be able to bring the White House dogs, Barney and Spot, with him on official visits; former President Bill Clinton can have his chocolate labrador, Buddy, with him if he pops into London; and Elizabeth Taylor could be with Sugar, her white Maltese, which she had to leave behind, to her regret, when she arrived to be invested as an Honorary Dame.

American citizens at the ambassador's party stressed just what an issue leaving pets behind has been for compatriots posted to London in business, academia and the armed services. "I know several people who declined posts in the UK because they do not want to be separated from their pets," said Colonel Joseph Dye of the US Air Force, stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

Elliot Morley, the Animal Health minister who made the announcement in the Commons and repeated it in Winfield House, agreed. "Many who have the option to come and work in the UK can't bear to be separated from their pets," he said. Scientists had told him the risk of rabies from the US and Canada was very low.

The scheme was introduced in 2000, initially for western Europe, and has since been extended to more distant countries including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Pets have to be micro-chipped for identification, inoculated against rabies, and treated for tapeworms and ticks before travelling.