The Government broadly agrees with the Committee’s findings. On tick treatment, there is a greater risk that the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, might become established because of increasingly mild winters. However, the prevalence and incidences of other ticks and tick-mediated infections is also rising, in livestock as well as pets, such that tick treatment of pets alone is not the complete answer. the UK for many reasons, including habitat and climate change. Small numbers of localised infestations with non-native tick species have been reported in recent years. For these reasons, Defra strongly encourages pet owners to treat their pets to help protect their animals against ticks and tick transmitted diseases when travelling abroad. 8 Government Response: Moving animals across borders The rabies titre test is a good indication of the level of protection of an individual animal. However, it is not the only indication and we also need to see evidence of the place of origin of the animal, the vaccination programme, identification and pet passport or health certificates. Extra burdens on pet owners would be significant if rabies serology were to be re-introduced. Because the requirement is for only one titre to be taken during the lifetime of the animal, provided the rabies booster vaccination is up to date, we consider the serology test alone can be misleading. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. This Government remains vigilant to the risks posed by non-endemic diseases and we continue to monitor the disease situation carefully. Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements for dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain. Our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.