BRITAIN FACES RABIES THREAT

UKIP Euro-MP Paul Nuttall said: “Rabies is a terrifying disease. Nobody should be able to decree that British people be put needlessly at risk. Rabies has not been caught in the UK since 1902. We have to keep it that way.”

At present, all dogs, cats and ferrets must be vaccinated against rabies seven months before they travel to the UK and must then undergo a blood test to ensure they are protected. But the new EU law, due to come into force in December 2011, will scrap the delay between vaccination and travel, as well as the blood test.            
                                                                                

It means owners will be able to wait to vaccinate their pets right up to the day before they travel and the animals won’t even be checked to see if the jab has worked. Rabies expert Dr Paul Burr said: “We are going to get cases of rabies in the UK just so that there can be harmonized pet travel.