Your pet to Denmark: thirteen banned breeds and four weeks for the register

Yes, your dog or cat may come to Denmark, on the ordinary EU papers: a chip, a European pet passport and a valid rabies vaccination. A tapeworm treatment is not needed from the Netherlands; Your Europe names it only for Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Northern Ireland. What Denmark adds begins after the border. The finding at Fødevarestyrelsen: thirteen dog breeds and every crossbreed containing one of them are banned, for everyone, with no possibility of exemption. And every dog must be in the Danish dog register within four weeks. The trap is the crossbreed whose ancestry you do not have on paper.

What does every animal need to cross the border?

For a move with your own animal the scheme for non-commercial movement applies. The requirements:

Requirement	What applies
Chip	a microchip to ISO standard 11784, or a legible tattoo from before 3 July 2011
Passport	a valid European pet passport, issued by an authorised vet
Rabies	at least 12 weeks old at vaccination, chipped before vaccination, valid after 21 days
Tapeworm	not needed for Denmark
Number	at most five dogs, cats or ferrets together, in one vehicle
Timing	the animal travels with you, or up to five days before or after with a person authorised in writing

A booster given while the previous one is still valid counts immediately; if you let the previous one lapse, the new one counts as a first vaccination and you wait 21 days again. Police, customs or the veterinary authority can ask you to show that your animal's journey belongs to your own journey, for example with a booking confirmation or a ticket.

For a cat or ferret the basic requirements are the same: chip, passport and rabies vaccination. The Danish rules below on breeds, register and insurance concern dogs only.

Which dog breeds are banned?

The Danish Dog Act bans keeping and breeding these thirteen breeds, and also crossbreeds containing one or more of them: pit bull terrier, tosa inu, American Staffordshire terrier, fila brasileiro, dogo argentino, American bulldog, boerboel, kangal, Central Asian ovcharka, Caucasian ovcharka, South Russian ovcharka, tornjak and sarplaninac.

There is no exemption, and in case of doubt you must prove the ancestry. Fødevarestyrelsen writes that it is forbidden for everyone, including tourists, to bring such a dog to Denmark; only transit is excepted. If the police doubt the breed, they can require you to document the breed or type, with a pedigree or a statement about the parents and earlier generations. A judgement based on appearance and behaviour does not count. If you have a crossbreed without papers, sort this out before you move.

What must I arrange after arrival?

Three things, all for dogs.

The dog register. Every dog that comes to Denmark must be in Dansk Hunderegister at the latest four weeks after arrival. You do this with a form on the register's site, with the fifteen-digit chip number, the breed and the date of birth from the passport. Registration costs a one-off 145 kroner per dog.

The collar. The Dog Act requires a dog from four months old to wear a collar with a tag showing the owner's name and address.

The insurance. Whoever keeps a dog in Denmark is, under the Dog Act, liable for the damage the dog causes, and is obliged to insure it for that. Check whether your Dutch liability insurance still covers you after the move, and otherwise arrange a Danish one.

How does this fit into the move?

The animals travel with you in the car, and the papers must be in order if the police, customs or the veterinary authority ask for them. Have the vet in the Netherlands check chip, passport and vaccination well before you leave, so that a lapsed jab does not cost another 21 days at the last moment. Where the rest of the move stands, you read in the step-by-step plan for Denmark.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Denmark or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.