TERMS & CONDITIONS

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TERMS & CONDITIONS

Last updated: 11.09.2024

By booking with ANIMAL EXPRESS you agree to accept our Terms & Conditions

We reserve the right to refuse boarding in certain circumstances...see below.

All services are subject to availability and all reasonable constraints of weather, industrial action, civil unrest and anything else beyond our control. We reserve the right to cancel or amend scheduled and charter services where necessary, and for whatever reason. This may include arranging individual collections prior to the scheduled departure date by prior arrangement with the person then homing the animal. We cannot be held responsible for losses incurred by delayed collection or arrival, ill-health (human or animal), unavoidable delays or the failure of train, bridge or ferry services. We also cannot be held responsible for losses or delays resulting from mechanical breakdown or any other unforeseen circumstances. We will always attempt to re-book such delays onto the next available service, but this remains subject to availability. All bookings, whether original or re-made, are accepted on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis.

Bookings are made only when you have received a confirmation of payment reception which contains your personal eight (8) digit booking number. This unique number identifies your animal and MUST be used in ALL correspondence. We attempt to reply to all queries immediately, but cannot be held responsible for delays to payment receipt confirmations or anything else if you do not quote the Booking Reference Number for each animal.

PAYMENT

The full payment of the transport costs are due within twenty-four (24) hours of initial enquiry. Failure to make the payment will result in the space being offered to the next customer WITHOUT further notice. By paying you indicate you accept all terms and conditions contained herein.

We refund the payment to the following terms:

- Cancellation up to 15 days before the scheduled trip – refund of 50% of the initial payment per pet

- Cancellation within less than 15 days before the scheduled trip – no refund is possible

COLLECTION & DELIVERY

Having offered all ‘no-show’ space to the Waiting List we will close each trip to new enquiries ten (10) days before departure. If you have forgotten to pay the balance (in case of charter) or otherwise failed to provide the necessary forms your booking is then lost along with your deposit, even though the trip is yet to start. We require this time to plan collection and delivery times, make ferry bookings, etc, and inform other customers so that they may make their own arrangements, eg: booking time off work to receive their pet. There are very many people involved in making each trip run successfully and to time.

Our customers want us to provide a service to the lowest possible price. Leaving everything to the last moment drives costs UP, not down. We therefore ask for your understanding and that you book, respond and pay promptly.

EN ROUTE

Should an animal become unwell in transit we reserve the right to divert for the purpose of seeking veterinary help. Similary, we will divert for reasons of passport or other paperwork issues. By booking you agree to reimburse ANIMAL EXPRESS for any necessary treatment or costs related to documentation. The veterinarian will have sole discretion as to what is necessary.

TIPS FOR THE TRIP

NAMES: New owners often wish to rename a pet, but please do this on arrival, not before. This avoids confusion before and during the trip. Please use each animal’s Booking Reference in all correspondence and stick to using the name in his Passport until he arrives

FEEDING: Light meals are best given during the two days before travel. Dogs and cats tend to snooze away long trips and so their calorie needs fall greatly during transport. We provide food and water, but any special foods, clearly labelled, you wish to send along are fine, too.

TOYS & BLANKETS: These we also provide, but anything with a familiar smell is always reassuring for a pet. Feel free to send him off with your T-shirt (unwashed) or anything else that tells him you are not far away.

MEDICATION: Please bring written instructions for all treatments to be given enroute. Label everything with the animal’s name.

TRAVEL SICKNESS: Your vet may offer you pills for the trip, but please avoid their use before collection. Rather, label them clearly with the pet’s name and dosage, and hand them to our driver. Pets often travel better in a large transporter on motorways than they typically do in a car around town. We will give the medication should it subsequently prove necessary. DO NOT self-medicate. This will invalidate the ‘Fit-to-Travel’ status and may result in denied boarding.

LEADS, COLLARS & HARNESSES: Whether you are sending or receiving an animal, please give some thought to how you will handle it on the day. We use our own ‘transport’ leads and collars, but these are removed on arrival, so please come prepared if the delivery is at a point away from home.

PET CLASSIFICATION

`PRIVATE PET` means the pet has an owner. It even can be an adopted pet by meaning the owner has been physically in the country of origin when he adopted the pet.

Requirements by law: Passport with the name of an owner and his signature in the passport if the pet passport was issued after the 29 December 2014, Microchip registered with the name of the owner, valid Rabies vaccination, Echinococcus treatment to the UK & Ireland,`fit-to-travel check`

The owners declares this animal is his pet, and will travel as a consequence of his own physical movement and the animal will join him no later than 5 days before or after the owners travel at destination, otherwise commercial rules apply. No transfer of the ownership is involved.

`COMMERCIAL PET` means an adopted/bought animal when the new owner has not been physically in the country of origin, for an example Spain, to make the adoption/purchase there. An animal that is coming out of a rescue centre/ foster home or/and going to a rescue centre/foster home or an animal which is going to be sold or the ownership is going to be transferred, or the private pet can not join the owner within 5 days before or after the arrival of the pet owner.

Requirements by law: Microchip, Pet passport, valid Rabies vaccination, Echinococcus treatment to the UK & Ireland, EU Intra Trade Animal Health Certificate (Traces) according to the EC Directive 92/65/EEC.

Please note, the rabies vaccination called Rabisyva is in Spain a two shot vaccine. At primary vaccination the 2nd shot must be given 15 days apart from the 1st vaccination.

This allows the pet to travel after 21 days.

COLLECTION & LOADING RULES

Please note, Animal Express does not normally accept commercial animals younger than six (6) month of age as declared.

All dogs need to be vaccinated against canine distemper, kennel cough and parvovirus in addition to the standard rabies vaccination. This vaccination must be adminstered no less than twentyeight (30) days and no longer than one (1) year prior transport.

A tick and flea treatment should also be given no less than three (3) days and not more than six (6) weeks prior. All treatments must be correctly recorded in the pet passport by a registered vet.

Cats must be contained and thus available for us to load without the delay of having to catch your animal first.

Upon collection all travel documents including Pet Passports, Health Certificates, Third Country Certificates and Owner’s Declarations will be checked for validity and missing information, eg owners signatures in pet passports issued after the 29 December 2014. Invalid documents, including those that have been tampered with or altered in any way (except by a Vet and with proper annotation) will be rejected. Boarding will then be denied and no refund will be due. You will be provided with a written ‘Boarding Denied’ document stating why such action was necessary, and advising you on

Pet Passport checks include completion by a Vet of Section IX, the ‘Clinical Examination’ or ‘Fit-to-Travel’ declaration. Boarding will be denied if the Passport is not completed properly. Properly means legibly, with ALL entries including vaccine manufacturer and drug type completed in full. The Tapeworm entry MUST also include date AND time of day, and this must tally with any pre-notified schedule we have given you regarding when the animal will cross the relevant border.

Each Passport includes instructions as to what fields must be completed. DO NOT leave it to the vet to get this right. Check YOURSELF, and be sure BEFORE collection day.

PASSPORT CHECK LIST CHECK NOW! ...... DO NOT DELAY!

If you are unsure in any way send a scan of the relevant pages and we will check for you.

1...The Microchip must be readable and functioning properly.

2...The Rabies MUST be dated at least 12 weeks AFTER Date of Birth.

3...The Rabies MUST be dated ON OR AFTER Microchip implant.

4...The Rabies MUST be valid until at least until five (5) days after scheduled entry into the country of destination.

5...The Echinococcus treatment (dogs only) entry must include Date AND Time it was administered, and be given between one (1) and five (5) days before entering the relevant country(s).

Any alterations MUST be annotated, signed and stamped separately by a vet only. Better still, have the vet delete poor entries and complete a fresh line for clarity’s sake. Passport entries that even appear to have been altered unofficially WILL BE REFUSED BORDER CONTROL and will therefore result in Denied Boarding from us. No refund of monies will then be due.

All dogs must be presented un-muzzled. Dogs which are a danger in public, or which exhibit uncontrolled behaviour toward our staff or other animals will be denied boarding. This, at our sole discretion. Dogs must be fed during long journeys and it is impossible for us to safely re-muzzle an aggressive dog after food. Exceptions may be made on short domestic journeys where the dog can remain muzzled throughout. This, at our sole discretion and always within the water and food provision limits. Such cases MUST be agreed with us in advance.

Responsibility for dogs refused entry into the UK (or any other country) for any reason related to their breed, breed type, or any other reason or concern whatsoever, by any official authority, will return immediately to the owner as defined on the Owner’s Declaration. All related costs connected with such refused entry or seizure will be the sole responsibility of the owner or, if they are not immediately available, the customer or ‘responsible person.’ ANIMAL EXPRESS will be under no obligation to provide in any way for such animals from that point, and delivery will be considered to have taken place.

Our commitment to privacy

Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy, we provide this notice explaining our information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used.

The information we collect

Identity data which includes first name and last name and contact data such as billing address, collection and delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.

How we collect your personal data

We use only your direct interaction to collect data from you when filling our form to make a booking for your pet or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise.

The way we use information

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

Where we need to carry out the contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you, or where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests, or where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

Please note, we do not share your information with any third party unless directly involved in your booking.

Our commitment to data security

To prevent unauthorised access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.

How long might we retain your data?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

We will not keep your information for longer than is appropriate.

Your rights

Access:

You can ask for the personal information we hold about you and for details about how and for what purpose we use your information.

Rectification:

You can ask us to correct any personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Objection:

You can ask us to stop processing your personal information in certain circumstances.

Erasure:

You can ask us to delete any information we hold about you if the law and our data retention policies no longer require us to keep it.

Should you have concerns about our privacy policy or would like to exercise one of your rights, please get in touch.

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