The University of Bristol and Companion Care have launched The Great Pet Travel Survey 2012 to assess disease risks in the UK following the simplification of Pet Travel Scheme rules.

Companion Care and The University of Bristol say that there is a great deal of concern about what risks changes in the Pet Travel Scheme Rules pose to the health of the human and dog population in the UK.

Robert White-Adams MRCVS from Companion Care said: "At present there is minimal data available to answer this question as current data logging is minimal and paperwork checking at ports can be variable. We therefore have little idea of how many UK-resident dogs travel abroad, where they visit, how long they stay and what they are doing whilst abroad.

The survey will collect and analyse information about the travel patterns of UK resident dogs, in and around mainland Europe, over the last decade.

Robert added: "The data to be collated by the survey will fill the data void and enable us to provide a quantitative assessment of the disease risk, as well as gaining an understanding of owner awareness of risks face by dogs travelling in Europe.

Owners of dogs with Pet Passports are being encouraged to fill in the short questionnaire, which is available now at  http://www.greatpetsurvey.co.uk/.   All completed questionnaires will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 of Pets at Home vouchers!

The questionnaire will be live online until 30th June 2012 and all data will be analysed by the University of Bristol.

Dr Morgan said: "Without this information we have only a vague idea of the risks that the loss of border controls may pose. The answer could be that there is little additional risk or it could be that the UK dog (and human) population could face some severe disease threats. As it stands now, we just don't know enough to make an informed judgement."

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