Your dog or cat to Luxembourg: the pet passport, and then the commune

Yes, your dog or cat may simply come along to Luxembourg, and for the journey itself the European basic rules suffice: a chip, a valid rabies vaccination and the EU pet passport. Luxembourg asks for no tapeworm treatment, no blood test and no quarantine. What it costs is the vet in the Netherlands and then, for a dog, an annual municipal tax of at least 10 euros. The find on guichet.lu: whoever comes from abroad with a dog must declare it to their Luxembourg commune within one month, with proof of liability insurance with an insurer allowed to operate in Luxembourg. The trap is the order at the vet: first the chip, then the jab, otherwise the vaccination does not count.

What does my pet need for the journey?

Within the EU three requirements apply to dogs, cats and ferrets, and the NVWA lists them:

• A chip, with the number and the date of insertion in the passport. Chip and vaccination may be on the same day, but the chip must be there when the jab is given, otherwise the vaccination is not valid.
• A valid rabies vaccination. The animal must be at least twelve weeks old at the first jab, and a first vaccination only becomes valid after 21 days. A booster is valid immediately — provided you give it before the previous one expires. If you let it lapse, the next one counts as a first jab again, with another 21 days of waiting.
• The EU pet passport, which you request from your vet and which stays valid as long as the vaccinations are up to date.

Luxembourg is not on the list of countries that require a treatment against the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis; those are Finland, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Northern Ireland. You may travel with at most five animals; above that the rules for trade apply, unless the animals are going to a competition or exhibition.

When	What
Well before departure	chip, then rabies vaccination, passport at the vet
After a first vaccination	wait 21 days before you travel
Within a month of your move	declare the dog to the commune
Every year	dog tax to the commune, at least 10 euros

May a puppy come along that has not been vaccinated yet?

To Luxembourg yes, under conditions. Luxembourg is one of the countries that admit a young animal that is under twelve weeks old and not yet vaccinated, or between twelve and sixteen weeks old and not yet fully protected. The animal then needs a declaration in its passport that it has had no contact since birth with wild animals that can carry rabies, or it must travel with its mother, whose passport shows she was vaccinated before giving birth.

Mind the way back: the Netherlands does not admit such young animals. The NVWA writes that an animal must be at least fifteen weeks old before it may come to the Netherlands. So a puppy you buy in Luxembourg is not something you simply take along on a family visit.

What do I have to arrange in Luxembourg for my dog?

Declaring the dog is not optional, and the insurance is a condition. Whoever moves from abroad to Luxembourg declares their dog to the commune within one month. With it you hand in proof of liability insurance with a company approved or authorised in Luxembourg — a certificate from the insurer or a copy of the policy. So check before the move whether your Dutch policy covers that, or take one out in Luxembourg.

For the declaration the vet makes a certificate stating the breed or type, whether the dog is considered potentially dangerous, the sex, the colour, the chip number and the rabies vaccination status. You receive a receipt from the commune, signed by the mayor. If you later move within Luxembourg, you declare the dog to the new commune within a month, with that receipt.

After that you pay dog tax every year, at least 10 euros; the amount differs per commune. In built-up areas, on public transport, in the common parts of apartment buildings and in car parks the dog must be on a lead. Communes can designate off-lead zones.

And if my dog is considered dangerous?

Then there is work to do beforehand. For a dog classified as potentially dangerous you first take a theory course and then apply for a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture — before you get the dog. Before the age of eighteen months the dog must pass an obedience course with an exam, and depending on breed or type be neutered. If your breed is on that list, start months in advance; the NVWA points out that some countries do not admit certain breeds at all.

The rules on guichet.lu on declaration, insurance and tax concern dogs; for a cat, the journey with chip, jab and passport is the main work. How the animal fits into your whole move is in the step-by-step plan for Luxembourg.

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