DOG charities in the county have welcomed Government plans to abolish quarantine laws and introduce a pet passport scheme.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown announced last week that pets that have been microchipped, vaccinated and blood tested will no longer be subjected to the six-month quarantine period which has been mandatory in the UK for 98 years.

The new system will abolish current anti-rabies regulations for animals coming from western Europe and other rabies-free islands and introduce a passport scheme phased in over the next 12 months.

The announcement comes after years of campaigning by the Quarantine Reform Campaign, made up of the RSPCA, Passports for Pets and Vets in Support of Change.

Celia Strange, secretary of the Chilterns Dog Rescue Society in Chesham, said: "Personally, I think it is a very good idea as long as it is carefully controlled.

"Dogs need to be thoroughly inoculated if it is going to work, so checks can be made."

She added: "I think quarantine can be damaging. In one case, a dog actually died. But today we have far more updated methods to make proper checks on dogs."

Caroline Breach, 24, assistant manager at the Dog Rescue and Welfare Society, High Wycombe, agreed.

She said: "I am in favour of it. To a lot of dogs it causes a lot of stress to be confined in kennels.

"As long as it is carried out properly, it is a good idea."

The QRC is now urging the Government to implement the pet passports system before the new millennium to prevent thousands more animals being subjected to an unnecessary period in quarantine.

Lady Fretwell, of Passports for Pets, said: "We have received hundreds of heartbreaking stories about the distress that quarantine has caused and the long-term behavioural effects suffered by pets.

"This is an historic event that will be warmly welcomed by pet owners everywhere."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.