Taking your pet to Greece: microchip, 21 days after the jab, and the boat

Yes, your dog or cat can simply come to Greece, and it is the easiest paperwork of the whole move. Within the EU one set of rules applies: the animal is microchipped, is vaccinated against rabies at a point completed at least 21 days before departure, and travels on a European pet passport that an authorised vet has filled in. No quarantine, no import permit, no blood test. Since 22 April 2026 those rules are in a new regulation, (EU) 2026/131, and that is where the only real change for a relocating family sits: a maximum of five animals per vehicle. Where it goes wrong is not the border but the calendar: whoever gives the jab too late waits three weeks.

What has to be in order before departure?

The European Commission lists it, and the order is binding:

• The chip first. The animal is identified with a microchip; a tattoo only counts if it was applied before 3 July 2011.
• Then the rabies vaccination. The animal is at least twelve weeks old at the jab, and the vaccination date is not before the date on which the chip was implanted or read. A jab before the chip does not count.
• Then wait. The validity of a first vaccination only starts 21 days after completion of the vaccination protocol. A booster counts immediately, provided it was given within the validity of the previous one.
• The passport. A European pet passport, filled in and issued by an authorised vet, with the chip number and the vaccination details. It is valid for life as long as the vaccination is current, and it is only issued to owners who live in the EU — so arrange it in the Netherlands.

A passport of the old model remains valid if it was issued before 22 April 2026; the transitional model may be issued until 1 January 2028.

Step	When	What to watch
Chip	first	before the vaccination, otherwise the jab does not count
Rabies vaccination	animal at least 12 weeks old	date after the chip
Waiting time after first jab	21 days	only then is the animal ready to travel
Pet passport	by an authorised vet	only for owners living in the EU
Tapeworm treatment	not needed for Greece	only for Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland and Norway

Does my dog need worming?

Not for Greece. The treatment against the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, 24 to 120 hours before arrival, is only compulsory for dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway. On the internet the treatment shows up as a general EU requirement; it isn't one. For cats and ferrets it doesn't exist at all.

How many animals may come, and do I have to travel myself?

A maximum of five dogs, cats or ferrets per vehicle, and they travel with the owner and under the owner's direct responsibility. Two exceptions are usable for a move. If you cannot travel at the same time yourself, an authorised person may transport the animal, provided you travel within five days before or after the animal and a written declaration is attached to the passport. And more than five animals is only allowed for competitions, exhibitions or sporting events, with proof of registration and animals older than six months — a family with six cats falls outside that and then comes under the trade rules.

All of this applies to private transport without a transfer of ownership. Whoever sells or hands over an animal falls under the trade conditions.

What about a puppy or kitten?

An animal younger than twelve weeks cannot yet be vaccinated, and an animal of twelve to sixteen weeks has not yet completed the 21 days. Some EU countries admit such young animals with a declaration that the animal has had no contact with wild animals, or together with the vaccinated mother. Whether Greece allows that is not on the European pages; whoever wants to travel with a litter asks the Greek veterinary service in advance. The safe route is simpler: wait until the animal is sixteen weeks old and the 21 days are up.

And the ferry?

The boat is the real planning point. The European rules are about the border, not about the shipping company. Whoever sails via Ancona, Bari or Brindisi deals with the company's own conditions: a cabin the animal may enter, or a kennel on deck. Book it together, well ahead, and ask — in July and August a pet cabin is not a given.

What it roughly costs — the vet, the passport, the crossing — is in the cost indication for Greece. For the rest of the move, and why the car does have a deadline and your household goods don't, see the other articles of this phase.

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 Greece or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.