Thursday- Cutting Through Red Tape

Today's appointment at the vet was for Bruno to receive his final check-up from this end of the world, and for the good vet to fill out the EU pet import forms.  To enter the Netherlands- you will need to use the form that is printed in both Dutch and English.  Dr. Ang was excellent- patient and meticulous.  I spoke to her about the reality of sedating Bruno.

After that, it was off to the AVA on Maxwell Road to get these forms stamped.  A very patient and kind lady helped me.  The first thing she asked me was if I had applied for the veterinary certificate from the AVA.  I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.  I showed her my folder of paperwork for Bruno.  She saw that it was not there and she saw my horror-stricken face.

In the end, all I had to do was fill out yet another form, wait for about an hour while she cut through red tape, waved her magic wand, collected all the documents I had on me.  There is an express service offered for this veterinary form that you will need in order for the AVA to then complete the EU forms and officially stamp them, certifying ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP.  The express service costs $46.  This veterinary form is not to be confused with the health certificate that your vet produces for you. ( I was confused.)  There is also a fixed window as to how long these forms are valid for.

While waiting, I learnt something else.  That is, the dog license your dog would need before you can even apply for an export permit from the AVA expires with the export permit.  Meaning if I brought Bruno back next summer, I would have to re-establish his residency as once Singaporean, and climb the paper mountain, again.